Sue and Charlie Eickhoff Discuss Patrick Kennedy's Papers
<p>Ms. Eickhoff shared the homestead, timber claim, and citizenship papers of her great-grandfather with UNL History Harvest graduate student assistant Rob Voss.</p>
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Sue and Charlie Eickhoff, Nebraska City History Harvest, 2010
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Patrick Kennedy's Homestead Certificate, 1891
Homesteading
<p>This is Patrick Kennedy's homestead certificate given in accordance with the 1862 Homestead Act, securing his right to the 160 acres of land in Cedar County, Nebraska. Seeking to create more yeoman farmers, believed to be the backbone of antebellum America in the North, the Republican authors and advocates of the of the Homestead Act managed to pass it only after the Southern Democrats left the 37th Congress. Signed into law on May 20, 1862 the Homestead Act required the potential homesteader to be 21 years of age or older, or be the head of a family when filing an a claim for a federal land grant, live on the land for five years and have made improvements, and finally file the deed of title. After 1873 homesteaders in Nebraska and Kansas often filed claims for additional land under the Timber Culture Act seeking to enlarge their land holdings through claiming improvements planting trees.</p>
For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/HistoryHarvest?feature=watch">History Harvest YouTube Channel</a>.
Sue and Charlie Eickhoff, Nebraska City History Harvest, 2010
1891
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Russel Taylor's Letter to the Secretary of the Interior, September 19, 1913
<p>Russel Taylor wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Interior, explaining his inability to build a house and make the proper improvements to his homestead land by the proper date, as required by law. Russel was a school teacher, as well as a farmer, and when his wife fell ill he was unable to keep up with all the tasks of homesteading. He wrote to the Secretary of the Interior inquiring if he could use the new law extending the improvement time to 12 months instead of six months, as he would have time once school was out of session.</p>
<p>For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/HistoryHarvest"> History Harvest YouTube Channel.</a></p>
Russel Taylor
Warren Taylor, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
1913-09-19
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Russel Taylor's Homestead Application, May 20, 1913
<p>Mr. Warren Taylor provided some homesteading documentation from his paternal grandfather, Russel Taylor. This is Russel Taylor's homestead application, approved for 160 acres of land near Cheyenne, Wyoming on May 20th, 1913. Wyoming had a large community of African American homesteaders, which was a motivation of Russel's to move. He hoped to farm the land, while also working as a school teacher. The land proved poor for farming, and Russel and his wife Henrietta later migrated to Omaha with a large portion of the African American community from Wyoming.</p>
<p>For interviews and oral histories of this and other items please visit the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/HistoryHarvest"> History Harvest YouTube Channel.</a></p>
Russel Taylor
Warren Taylor, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
1913-05-20
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English
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Cheyenne (Wyoming)