The week's transcription project is the Land Patent Grant issued to John G. Paulson, who was born in Lunde, Telemark, Norway in 1841. John and his family came to America in 1880 and along with him was his mother Gunnild Johnsdatter and she continued to live with John, even though her children Paul and Toline lived not too far away in Grant County, Minnesota. John was my 3x-great uncle and my cousin Ed Ostrom's 2x great-uncle. Gunnild was my 3x and Ed's 2x great-grandmother.
The U.S. government was interested in expanding into the Midwest. The railroad companies were increasing their system to tracks, making for easier travel. Along with this was inexpensive available land. In some cases, large 160-acre plots of land could be obtained by only a few dollars and 5-year investment in time and improvements to the land. John was able to participate in one such application.
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| IMAGE: TImber-Culture Patent Certificate #2134 issued to John G. Paulson in 1899 for 160 acres in Richland County, North Dakota. Provided by the U.S. Department of Land Management [1] |
The record being transcribed is a fill-in-the-blanks form. The unique information has been handwritten onto the provided blanks. I have shown this information by using red. Any comments I made are surrounded by square brackets [ ].
497 [rubber-stamped]
The United States of America,
To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting:
Timber-Culture Certificate No. 2134 }
Application 13196 }
Whereas there has been deposited in the GENERAL LAND OFFICE of the United States a CERTIFICATE of the Register of the Land Office at Fargo North Dakota, whereby it appears that pursuant to the Acts of Congress approved March 3, 1873, March 13, 1874, and June 14, 1878, "to encourage the growth of timber on the Western Prairies," the claim of John G. Paulson has been established and duly consummated in conformity to law for the North East quarter of Section thirteen on Township one hundred and twenty-nine North of Range forty-nine West of the Fifth Principal Meridian in North Dakota containing one hundred and sixty acres according to the Official Plat of the Survey of the said Land returned to the GENERAL LAND OFFICE by the SURVEYOR GENERAL.
Now know ye, that there is therefore granted by the UNITED STATES unto the said John G. Paulson the tract of land above described, and to his heirs and assigns forever, subject to any vested and accrued water rights for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, or other purposes, and rights to ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such water rights as may be recognized and acknowledged by the local customs, laws, and decisions of courts, and also subject to rhe right of the proprietor of a vein or lode to extract and remove his ore therefrom, should the same be found to penetrate or intersent the premises hereby granted, as provided by law.
In testimony whereof I, William McKinley PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, have caused these letters to be made Patent, and the Seal of the GENERAL LAND OFFICE to be hereunto affixed.
[SEAL}
Given under my hand, at the CITY OF WASHINGTON, the third day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-fourth
By the President: William McKinley
By F M McKean Secretary
C.H. Brush Recorder of the General Land Office
6—876
--------transcription ends --------
Source:
1.) U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records, online database with images, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov : accessed 09 March 2018), entry for Timber-Culture Certificate No. 2134 for John G. Paulson, 03 August 1899 Richland County, North Dakota.
A quick look at a map finds this in Richland County, North Dakota. When John settled into farming and planting trees in Greenfield Township. Between 1905-1910 Greenfield Township became Greendale Township, as it is today. Richland is the most south-eastern county in North Dakota, with neighboring states Minnesota to the east and South Dakota to the south.
The term "Timber-Culture Certificate" was mentioned earlier and I wanted to learn more about that. Wikipedia has a good explanation that you can read here. In summary, it tells that those homesteaders applying for land through the Timber Land Act would be allowed 160 acres if they agreed to plant 40 acres of it into trees. The theory was that timber was needed because the land was mostly made up of grasses. Homesteaders had to grow and cultivate these trees for 10 years. The idea was to make lumber available for people moving into the area. The idea of growing trees may have been attractive to John since he worked in the forest industry while he was living in Norway.
Amanuensis Monday is a weekly blog theme that was started by John Newmark, the author of TransylvanianDutch blog. John defines Amanuensis as "A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another." I also appreciate the good work and format examples of San Diego genealogist Randy Seaver of the blog Genea-musings. Thanks, guys.
I am reminded that transcribing helps me to learn what a document contains. I have learned over time that I have a tendency to "skim" over an item; a bad trait for a researcher who needs to learn even the smallest details documented records contain. Transcribing helps me to slow down; to capture all aspects of the paper in hand. It also gives me a better opportunity to share the document with you.
Thank you so much for stopping in to read this post. It is a treat for me that you did. I hope your week is off to a good start and that you are having a good day too.
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