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Arkansas Donation Lands - details
What are Donation Lands? The following article by Desmond Walls Allen appeared in Professional Genealogists of Arkansas, Inc. Newsletter in September, 1990. New, updated material is set off in square brackets. Arkansas Donation Lands One of the big attractions of Arkansas to settlers in eastern states was the state's generous land policy. Arkansas was, like twenty-nine other states, a public domain land state - all the land originally belonged to the federal government. The federal government began transferring land to the state and individuals soon after Indian titles had been transferred, Spanish land claims examined, and the surveys started. With land so cheap and plentiful, some of the early settlers who had obtained land from the federal government or other settlers moved on to better locations. The land they left behind, if unsold, reverted to the custody of the county for want of payment of taxes. The lands forfeited for unpaid taxes were first subject to a sheriff's sale, and if still unclaimed, reverted to the state. The state needed a base of taxpayers, not vacant lands, so in 1840, the first Arkansas donation law was passed providing a means to return the lands to taxpayers. For more information about Arkansas' attractions, read "Migration into Arkansas, 1820-1880: Incentives and Means of Travel" by Robert B. Walz, Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Volume 17 (1958), pages 309 - 324. Walz mentions the donation laws and the ease of obtaining free and cheap land through a variety of means. An examination of the laws affecting donation lands is helpful in understanding the process and the changes it underwent. After examination of the laws, this article will examine the paper trail created by the donation process and the records available. How can this material be helpful to family historians? The donation process as part of inducements to move to Arkansas may explain why a family chose to leave North Carolina or Tennessee and settle here. Tracing land is sometimes easier than tracing people. Part of the body of records created by donation laws can help overcome that big stumbling block in Southern research: burned courthouses. The Laws An act approved 23 December 1840, gave the state auditor the right to donate lands which had been forfeited for non-payment of seven years' taxes, advertised for sale at a public auction but had failed to sell at the sale or be redeemed. Donation grants were limited to 160 acres and compensation had to be made to persons who had previously made improvements on the land. Donation grants were obtained from the state auditor and if the donee lived on the land, he had to cultivate at least three acres, or if he did not live on the donated parcel, he had to cultivate at least five acres and he had twelve months to meet the requirements. A certificate from a local justice of the peace attesting to the cultivation requirements had to be filed with the state auditor and a copy also had to be filed with the deed. The donee could not sell the parcel of land until the transaction was final. An amendment to the act was passed 5 January 1843, changing the seven year period of unpaid taxes to five years and extending the twelve months in which the donee had to meet the cultivation requirements to eighteen months. Town lots were excluded from the donation process. In 1850, an act was passed (12 December) to prevent speculation in donation lands and to give away more donation land. Under this law, a head of household could claim a quarter section, 160 acres, plus a quarter section for his wife and each of his minor children. The donee had to sign an affidavit attesting to his citizenship in Arkansas and saying the land was for his and his family's benefit and not for speculation. These affidavits had to be made before either the state auditor or circuit clerk and those made before a circuit clerk had to be filed by the applicant in the auditor's office. Lands registered in the names of minors could not be sold or transferred until the children reached their majority. Lands claimed in the name of the wife and minor children were not subject to the cultivation requirement. On 11 January 1851, a law was passed concerning improvements which had been made on donated lands. Donees were given three months to pay the person who had made the improvement twice the value of the improvement. If the donee failed to pay, the person who made the improvement could purchase the land by paying all the back taxes and associated costs. An amendment to this law was passed 22 January 1855, extending repurchase rights to assignees of the owners of improvements on the lands in question. If improvements had been made by more than one person, either had the right to purchase the land, but had to compensate the other. In 1868, Act 20, "An Act to Provide for the Appointment of a Commissioner of Immigration and State Lands, and Defining the Duties of that Office" was passed creating what is now the State Land Commissioner's Office. The Commissioner was to "take possession and have charge of all the books, papers, evidences of titles, plats and maps" for internal improvement lands, seminary lands, saline lands, and swamp lands. The state auditor was to prepare a list of lands forfeited for taxes and the Commissioner was to dispose of the lands "as is now, or may hereafter be provided by law." The year 1868 was also when a broad new taxation act went into effect resulting in major changes in the format of tax books. In 1871, an act approved 10 February defined the forfeited land process giving the state auditor control of the lands until after the close of the sale, then the lands unsold were turned over to the Commissioner of State Lands. Apparently the 1868 act had been vague in its wording. Act 35 of 1871, "An act regulating the assessment and collection of the revenue of the State of Arkansas" defined the tax process in detail, including how forfeited lands were to be sold or disposed of. An 1877 law (Act 34 of 1877) protected the rights of minors, femmes covert, persons of unsound mind and persons in confinement in matters relating to lands forfeited for taxes. The initial trend in laws regulating donation lands was toward less strict requirements; however, the law passed in 1879 (Act 59 of 1879) reflected more stringent requirements. The applicant had to have cleared, fenced and readied five acres for cultivation if he resided on the land, or ten acres if he did not. He still had eighteen months to make the necessary improvements. Affidavits required had to be filed with the Commissioner of State Lands rather than the auditor's office. Donation claims could be converted to cash purchases in the process of proving the claim. Act 75 of 1881 restricted qualifications again, limiting donations to those applicants who actually resided on the land or whose land was contiguous to the desired donation land. Donees could not sell the timber off the land until the claim process was complete. They still had to fulfill the clearing, fencing and cultivation requirement of five acres within eighteen months. Donees were limited to one donation grant only or a cumulative total of 160 acres of donated land. Act 138 of 1887, "An Act for the Donation of Forfeited Lands," approved 4 April 1887, described the process by which lands forfeited for taxes in Arkansas could be given away as 'donation' lands. The person who applied for the vacant lands had to be either the head of a family or at least twenty-one years old and a citizen or have already applied for naturalization. The parcel of land had to be in one 'body' and could not exceed 160 acres. The land could also be adjacent to land the applicant already owned, in which case the requirement the land be occupied would be fulfilled. The person who wanted the vacant land, the donee, made application to the Commissioner of State Lands and filed an affidavit saying he or she met the qualifications set by law, and the land would not go to benefit anyone else, and that this was their first application for donation land. The affidavit could be made before the Land Commissioner, a county or circuit clerk, or a notary public of the county where the lands were. The Land Commissioner then issued a certificate which said application had been made and if the donee met all the requirements, in three years, the land would be formally given to the donee. The donee had to build a house and use it as a personal residence within three months after the certificate was issued. He had to reside continuously on the land for three years and had to clear, fence and cultivate at least five acres before the three years was up. Within a month of the end of the three years, the applicant had to have an official survey done by the county surveyor. Then the applicant had to go before the county or circuit clerk and give testimony about meeting all the obligations. Two "disinterested and respectable" witnesses, citizens of the same county where the land was located, had to testify in the donee's behalf. The surveyor's certificate and testimony of the applicant and witnesses had to be filed in the Commissioner of State Lands' office within sixty days after the three year term of residence expired. Everything in order, the Commissioner issued a deed to the donee. If the donee changed his mind before his residence term expired, he could relinquish his right to the land and the land was up for donation again, but the new applicant had to start the three years over on his own behalf. During the residency period, if the applicant and his family moved away for six months, the donation claim could be contested by any citizen who filed an affidavit of abandonment, corroborated by the testimony of two witnesses. A hearing procedure was established by law for contested donation claims. The donee was prohibited from selling the timber off his claim until he had received his deed. Donated lands were not taxable until the deed had been issued. After a year from the application date, the donee could prove six months of continued residence and buy the land from the state. Aliens had to be naturalized citizens before the deed could be issued. If the donee died before his residency requirement was completed, his rights went first to his widow, and if she was deceased, to his children. In the case of minor children, the guardian or administrator of the estate could complete the process. If there was no living widow or children, the rights went first to the father, and if he was deceased, then to the donee's mother, and in the event of her death, to the brothers and sisters of the donee. In the case of a deceased donee, the residency requirement was waived, but cultivation had to be maintained. Act 29 of 1891, "An Act to Amend an Act Entitled, 'An Act for the Donation of Forfeited Lands, Approved April 4, 1887,'" clarified the residency requirement in cases where applicants could not, because of hindering causes, take up residence on the land. The delay could not be more than eighteen months and testimony had to support the reasons. The three year residency was still required, beginning after the delay ended. Act 41 of 1893, "An Act to amend section 3 of an act entitled, 'An Act for the donation of forfeited lands,'" loosened the part of the original act which barred a second donation application by any person. If a claim was not perfected because of mistake or accident, the donee could try again, after submitting testimony about the situation. To learn more about these laws, the session laws should be consulted. Copies of the Acts of Arkansas series are available in law libraries, or on microfilm at the Arkansas History Commission or Library of Congress. Resulting Records in the State Land Office Application and fulfillment of the terms and conditions of the various donation laws created records at the state and county level. County deed and tax books should be examined carefully - any mention in deeds of a 'donation' should be a clue to search for more records. The State Land Commissioner's Office maintains a set of books which lists lands forfeited for taxes. The records begin about the time of the creation of the State Land Commissioner's Office, 1868. One series in the set lists acreage, the other lots in towns and subdivisions. Town lots were not subject to donation, so examination should be made of the acreage series. These books are called 'the Glasscock books' after their creator. The Glasscock books are arranged by legal description, that is, township and range, thereunder by section. They show all the lands which have reverted to the state for non-payment of taxes. These books are still in use by the State Land Commissioner's staff. The columns in the Glasscock books list:
The key to using the Glasscock books is knowing the section, range and township of the legal description of the land. [Note: and with the completion of this new (April 2000) index to the first ledger, that information is now available.] Photocopies from these books are available by mail - each section requires at least one photocopy. Write Commissioner of State Lands, 109 State Capitol, Little Rock, AR 72201, to request copies of the Glasscock book pages for a particular section of land. [Other than this index, there are no alphabetical name indexes to these records.] Inquire about current photocopy prices. From the information in the Glasscock books, it is possible to follow records about donation entries into another series of books, Ledgers of Donation Deeds which begin about 1871. The 'D' numbers in the 'disposition and remarks' column of the Glasscock books refer to a series of ten ledgers in which the donation numbers are recorded in sequential (thus roughly chronological) order. [This book contains the index to the first of the ten ledgers.] The Ledgers of Donation Deeds list:
Information from these two sources in the State Land Commissioner's office can be very useful in revealing the source of an ancestor's land acquisition (or loss of land if forfeited for taxes and unsold through the sale process). Special thanks for information about the records available in the State Land Commissioner's Office go to G. Stephen Hollowell, Executive Aide, for his knowledge and helpfulness. Thanks, too, of course, go to Charlie Daniels, Commissioner of State Lands (when this article was written), for making the records available (and hiring Steve). Steve is the nephew of Evalena Berry, the prominent expert on the history of Cleburne County. Records at the Arkansas History Commission Some of the paperwork, the case files, supporting the information in these ledgers was transferred from the State Land Commissioner's Office to the Arkansas History Commission in 1987 as Record Group #101. According to the title transfer record, 18 cubic feet of donation applications, 1871-1936, were transferred. They were maintained in deed number sequence which is roughly chronological. Various blocks of donation proofs were also transferred and were also filed by deed number. These records do not cover the donation claims before the War Between the States. [These records in the custody of the Arkansas History Commission languished in an unprocessed collection and were not available for researchers to use for many years. As of 2009, one an alleged archivist is working on the collection. Rather than retain provenance, he's just alphabetizing the files. And complaining about the dust.] The following information about the case file papers is included here to give researchers an idea of the kind of information that will be available after the material is processed and made available. Generally, the records which will be available about donation lands date from 1871. Early donation land records, those from the auditor's office, do not appear to be a part of these records. An application, the first paper filed, has little information other than the land description and original signature of the donee. The Certificate of Donation was more or less the Land Commissioner's acknowledgment of the claim initiation. The Proof of Improvement was a form signed by the county surveyor attesting to the existence of the required improvements and completion of the survey. The 'meat' of the file, so far as family historians are concerned, is in the proof statements of the donee and his two witnesses. The first question to the claimant was "What is your name - written in full and correctly spelled - your age and post-office address?" The answer to the question about nativity often lists a birthplace. Part of question four asked "Of whom does your family consist...?" Other questions covered improvements, residency periods, cultivation, and description of the house. Again, there is an original signature of the donee. On to the neighbors - two witnesses each depose and sign a series of questions about the donee's land and improvements. A typical Donation Proof shows the deed was mailed to the circuit clerk of the county in which the land was located, presumably to be recorded. If the donee died during the three-year period required to complete the donation process, there is a good possibility the death date will be in the records. Research Implications These records are not good waters for a fishing expedition. [And that's what makes these indexes so valuable.] There should be some indication from other records, family papers or family tradition, the land in question is donation land. This donation process is entirely separate from federal homestead records; however, the term 'homestead' is used rather loosely in family tradition, meaning anything from a formal, federal homestead application, to 'old home place'. If a search of the State Land Office tract books, those showing initial acquisition from the federal government, does not reveal a homestead, purchase or other acquisition, perhaps the 'homestead' was state donation lands. Copyright (c) 2000 Desmond Walls Allen Contact us: Arkansas Research, Inc., PO Box 303, Conway, AR 72033 |
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