In 1861 G-G-G-Grandfather Carl Buse buys land from the Federal Government

When America was being settled, most of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains was owned by the government. It was in the government’s interest to sell the land, not only for cash, but to press settlement, and thus extending America’s interests farther west. You could outright purchase land, but they would also provide incentive for soldiers to fight in the wars by giving them varying amounts of land of their choice. A typical soldier could receive 120 acres of the land of his choosing (assuming it wasn’t already owned of course), or if he didn’t want to move and settle land, he could sell it to someone else who would in turn pick and settle some land.
(document below on the left)
Thus was the case with Carl Buse. In 1861, in Goodhue county, Carl exercised a solder’s claim to 120 acres that he has purchased from him at some point in time. The solder was a Private Armand Lefils in Captain Marshall’s Company of Georgia Militia in the War of 1812. Nothing is known of what Carl paid to Armand for his warrant, as that was a private transaction between the two of them.

The land description really sounds confusing, and I will try to break this down, but if you bear with the explanation, then look at the map that is attached it will all make sense. It’s the East half of the North East quarter, and the North West quarter of the North East quarter of Section 33 in township one hundred and twelve, north of Range fifteen West in the district of lands subject to the sale at Henderson, Minnesota containing one hundred and twenty acres.

What County and Township is this in?

This really isn’t too difficult, and I could walk up to this exact piece of land today. All counties are broken into townships, and those townships are numbered based upon longitudes, called meridians. With a map that I won’t go into, the text of ‘’ in township one hundred and twelve, north of Range fifteen West in the district of lands subject to the sale at Henderson, Minnesota containing one hundred and twenty acres.’’ Refers to Featherstone township in Goodhue County. If you look at the attached map, you will see this description at the top.

What section of the township is this in?

In each township, each section (square mile) is numbered, starting from the NE corner of the township, going west, usually 6 miles, then drop a mile down, and number back to the east and repeat the process, most townships are made up of 36 square miles. So Carl purchased land in section 33, so now we know what section (square mile) of the township his land is in.



Where exactly in the section is the land?

In describing a section of land, it always described in halves or quarters, unless you are getting down to lots in a town. So, he received (purchased, as he bought it from Armand, but didn’t have to pay the government anything, Armand could have received it free) two pieces of land totally 120 acres. One of them was East half of the North East quarter. So, if you divide this section or square mile, into four squares, and look at the North East quarter, he has the East half of that. As there are 640 acres in a square mile, thus 160 acres in a quarter, and he bought half of that quarter, so he bought 80 acres. The other piece is in the NW quarter of the NE quarter, so if we look at the NE quarter of the section, then taking that quarter and dividing into yet four more quarters, the NW corner was the final 40 acres, to total 120. If you look at the land, they are actually connected forming sort of an ‘L’ pieced shape of ground.

Thud, went the family skeleton falling out of the closet - John Henry Jahn

Well, sometimes when you least expect it, one of the family skeletons comes falling out of the closet.  In reaseaching the Jahn family, I knew that John Henry Jahn, the younger brother of my great-grandfather Gottlieb Jahn, and son of the Reverend Johannes Jahn had died at St. Peter.  What I had not realized that his address there was the State Hospital.  He died there on July 15, 1932.  Upon looking at his cause of death, the cause was Paresis.  Curious already, I googled the term, and got the following definition from medterms.com.

General paresis: Progressive dementia and generalized paralysis due to chronic inflammation of the covering and substance of the brain (meningoencephalitis). General paresis is a part of late (tertiary) syphilis, occurring a decade or more after the initial infection.

So, while this is about all I know, it certainly has my curiousity up, and may explain why I wasn't finding any obituary for John, so far at least.

Today I found some records of Saint Peter State Hospital which shows he was admitted February 5, and died the following July 15th.  I hope to do some more follow up, but as the records at the Minnesota Historical Society seem to have a gap then, I probably won't be able to find any more information, but I do hope to contact the hospital directly for more information if I'm allowed access as one other piece of critical information found was his case number.

 

The John Morrow Slaves of 1850 Hickman County, Kentucky

I always wondered why Debbie treated me the way she does, and this answers it, having slaves runs in her blood. Debbie's G-G-G-G-Grandfather, John Morrow in 1850 Hickman County, Kentucky, in the very southwest corner of Kentucky, was a slave owner. In 1850 they done a Slave 'Schedule' which was in effect a census or count of the slaves. The Slave Schedule to the left shows John Morrow, the slave owner, and on the line of his name is the first slave, a 60 year old, female black slave. The list of slaves continues up the next column, showing 10 slaves including several children and a baby. One interesting line is 4th line from the top. This is a 9 year old male mulatto, which also happens to be listed as a runaway, hmmm, bet there's any interesting story here!

Naturalization Papers for G-Great-Grandfather Henry Hanigson and his brother-in-law Ernest Buse

I recently found my great-great-grandfather Henry Hanigsen's 'First' Naturalization Papers, along with his brother-in-law Ernest Buse 'First' Papers. To see how Henry is related please look at the report on the left.

The process to become a United States Citizen was a two step process. The first process, which is commonly referred to as 'First Papers' was filled out, which would vary somewhat from area to area, but they were basically stating when they came to the U.S., where they came from, and they were intending on becoming a U.S. citizen, and they were also renouncing any allegiances to their home country.

The 'Second Papers' usually were filed a few years later and required two witnesses who knew them to swear that they knew the individual who was applying and that the applicant was an upstanding person. After this, they were U.S. citizens.

A couple things I noticed on the papers. They were both filed at the same time, so Henry and Ernest both filed together. The date on the papers that they arrived in the U.S., was the same date, but while this often happened, family members coming together was a common occurrence where some of the young men would come over, establish roots and send for the balance of the family. But, I don't believe that was really the case, from what I have been able to find, I believe that they came separately, but who was to know whether they did or did not. Also, legend has it that Henry could not read or write English, and if you closely at the signatures, they seemed to be signed by the same person, I believe that Ernest signed both papers.

One of the reasons that the probably filed their 'First Papers' in 1868 was that they had just moved to what was to become Fergus Falls (they were the first settlers, along with another of their brother-in-laws, who married a sister of Ernest and Henry's wife, Ana), they were wanting to purchase land, and if you were not already a U.S. citizen, you had to have filed 'First Papers', thus I believe their motivation to file, as this was approximately 14 to 16 years after they came over to the U.S.

What I intend to post at this site

My intentions are to post my latest little (and hopefull big) finds so that family members can share in some of the more interesting things that I have recently run across, and maybe a few of those more interesting ones from the past. Hope you enjoy.