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Land Grants

 
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roger.pape
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Joined: 17 Mar 2009
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Location: Liverpool, NY

PostPosted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 12:32 pm    Post subject: Land Grants Reply with quote

After the Revolutionary War, land acquired or purchased in areas beyond the original colonies was owned by the federal government. (There are still disputes about the legality of some land acquired from Native Americans.) Ownership of any property in states like Missouri can ultimately be traced back to a grant from the U.S. Government. Sale of this public land was first authorized by the April 24, 1820 Act of Congress.

Among my mother’s papers were three parchments that were the original land patents for Grandfather Henry Frerking’s farm. This land was acquired from the government by his uncle William Frerking. It was located several miles west-northwest of Concordia and can be seen in the 1877 plat overlay map. Switching to the 1930 overlay, you will see the farm then owned by Henry Frerking.

Examining these documents, one can observe some interesting history. William Frerking’s first land grant for 40 acres was obtained directly from the government (for $1.25/acre at that time). Note that William bought the property on or before 1845 while he was still living in St. Louis. After coming to the U.S. on the Burmah in 1837 with three of his brothers and his uncle Friedrich Dierking, he lived in St. Louis for some length of time. (Note. He was married to Wilhelmine Dierking Niemeier at Holy Ghost German Protestant Evangelical Church, St. Louis, on July 1, 1840.) His uncle Friedrich was the first of the Hanoverians to purchase land in the Concordia area late in 1838 and moved there shortly after that. (See Frizzell, Independent Immigrants) Friedrich Dierking apparently influenced William and others to follow him there.

This first land patent can also be found on the Bureau of Land Management website. selecting ‘Missouri’ and searching for the name Frerking (certificate 23164). Another patent was issued to him (under the name Wilhelm rather than William) in 1851 for the NE quarter of the NW quarter of that same section (certificate 30088), but I have not seen the original of that document. Interestingly, while the contents of the documents posted on-line are identical to the parchment copies given to the land owner, they are in portrait format rather than landscape format. Both have the same handwriting. It appears that the BLM made two different copies, one sent to the landowner and another retained in their office.

By 1850, William expanded his farm, acquiring two more pieces of property as shown in the latter two grants posted above. Note that these two grants are what is referred to “military bounty grants”. These grants were authorized by Acts of Congress from time to time providing free land to soldiers who served in various wars. Being strapped for cash but having plenty of land available, it was a way to entice men into serving in the military. Many of these soldiers had no intention of farming the land so they sold their rights to others. It is not clear how the local farmers got in touch with people who had such grants. These two of the patents that William received were assigned to him by two different solders who had served in the Mexican War shortly before that time, under authorization of the Feb. 11, 1847 Act of Congress.

What is particularly interesting about the three land patents that I have posted is that they cover a period of five years in which there were three different presidents; namely James Polk, Zachary Taylor, and Millard Fillmore. Note that the second patent is dated June 1, 1850, just one month before Taylor ate that fateful bowl of cherries and died in office. The third patent was dated Aug. 4, 1840, just one month after Taylor died and Vice President Millard Fillmore became president.

These old land patents provide an interesting look into past history; however, there are several points that one should keep in mind. First of all, the dates shown on these documents is the date that the grant was recorded in the Washington office, not when the land was purchased The purchase was first recorded in the local land office (Clinton, MO for Lafayette County at that time) and then forwarded on to Washington, DC where it was recorded in the BLM office and the certificate was issued. This process took a considerable amount of time in those days. Typically, time between when the land was purchased and the certificate was drawn up was a year or more, sometimes a lot more. For example, several plots of land were purchased by Friedrich Frerking on June 5, 1840 (see Rodewald, Descending Love). One of these was recorded in the Washington office on Nov. 1, 1848 (certificate 21046).. It was re-recorded along with a second of these plots on April 1, 1850 (certificate 29478).

Secondly, some people who have these documents are excited, thinking they have the signature of a president. However, closer examination shows that the handwriting of the president’s “signature” is the same as the rest of the document.

I’d be happy to hear from others of you who have any of these patents in your possession.
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