America on the Horizon

February 31st 1862 Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act 

this opened up the American West for emigrant GMR's.

My Ancestors arrived in Philadelphia and New York starting in 1874 moving west into Dakota Territory, homesteading in Hutchinson and Turner Counties.
Below is an original Homestead claim for Heinrich Adrian...
Brooda met Isaac Adrian mien groot Grootfoda
Brother to Isaac Adrian my great Grandfather

Below is a map for Rosefield Township, I have marked ancestor land for

the Peter Tieszen groot Grootfada...

To file your homestead claim after five years had passed of hard manual labor improving and living on the land

you could file for the deed.  You had to be 21 and be able to prove what I stated above.  Here is the proof submitted by my ancestor Jakob Adrian he was 26 years old at the time a GMR  Naturalized American Citizen homesteading in McCook County, Dakota Territory.

Only 40% of GMR's that started the Homesteading process actually obtained a deed, 

that is how difficult the situation!

He states a house was built May 8th 1878

Farmer

SW section 24-100-56

Section 13-100-56

Cultivated, actual residence

Sod house 18' by 32'

Sod stable 18' by 32'

well of water 13 feet deep

40 acres of breaking

total value $250.00

Wife (Maria Loewen she was not named on the document) and two children 

(Rev. J.J. and Cornelius they are also not named on the document), 

lived continuously on the land since first establishing

Never absent

raised crops on the land for the past six seasons

Heinrich Buller was the called witness

(the rest is illegible)

As a small girl mien Foda took us to see the soddy, I have clear memories of the outing being a huge fan of Little House I had to pretend I was Laura;)

It was also one of the few times I heard... 

mien Foda  Plautdietsch onn en je' lach

my Fathers  low German and laughter

It is gone now no bones of the original sod structures remain.

front of Document...

Low German Mennonite Plautdietsch words used above...

• groot  sounds like gr-oat  =   great
• Broda  sounds like bro-da   =   Brother
• groot Grootfoda  sounds like gr-oat gr-oat fodda  =   Great Grandfather
• mein  sounds like mine  =   my
• met  sounds like met   =   to
• Gott sound like  got    =   God
• Saajne sounds like  za (long A)-yene     =   Bless
• onn = and
• en je' lach = laughter

Gott Saajne!
God Bless!