Land Entry File

(The testimony of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case. This form will be used in final homestead proof and commutation proof.)

HOMESTEAD PROOF.


TESTIMONY OF WITNESS.


Alvin H. Wilcox being called as a witness in support
of the homestead entry of Dugald Campbell
for N 1/2 SE/4 + S 1/2 NE/4 Sec 36 Tp 138
R 43
testifies as follows:
    Quest. 1. What is your post-office address?
    Ans. Detroit Becker County Minn
    Quest. 2. What is your occuptation? Ans. Surveyor
    Quest. 3. Are you well acquanted with Duguald Campbell
    the claimant in this case, and how long have you known him ?
    Ans. Yes, have known him between 8 & 9 years.
    Quest. 4. How old do you know or believe claimant to be? Ans. About 55 years
    Quest. 5. Is claimant the head of a family, or a single person; and, if the head of a family, of whom does the family consist?
    Ans. Head of a family, consisting of a wife and child
    Quest. 6. Is claimant a native-born citizen of the United States> If not, what steps has he taken to become a citizen? (State your knowledge in this regard.)
    Ans. Is Forign born but has been naturalized a citizen of the country
    Quest. 7. Has claimant been an inhabitant of the land above described?
    Ans. Yes
    Quest. 8. Do you live in the vicinity of the land, and are you acquinted with the same?
    Ans. Yes
    Quest. 9. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on this land? (If so, state what they are, and whether the springs or mineral deposits are valuable.) Ans. No
    Quest. 10. Is the land more valuable for agriculrual than mineral purposes?
    Ans. Yes
    Quest. 11. When did claimant first make settlement on the land?
    Ans. I believe he settled on May 1870. There in June 1871 when I went into the county - saw him.
    Quest. 12. When did claimant establish residence upon the land?
    Ans. I believe about July 1870
    Quest. 13. Up to what time has claimant resided upon land?
    Ans. The present time
    Quest. 14. Has his residence been continuous during the period named?
    Ans. Yes
    Quest. 15. If claimant had a family during said period of residence, did the family reside on the land?
    Ans. Yes
    Quest. 16. When was the claimant's house built upon the land?
    Ans. I believe in the summer of 1870 was living there when I knew him in 1871
    Quest. 17. What other imporovements have been made on the land?
    Ans. A stable about 12 X 20 feet in size. A good well. A grainery 8 X 16 feet in size. 50 acres fenced.
    Quest. 18. What is the total value of improvements?
    Ans. $800
    Quest. 19. For what purpose has the land been used by claimant?
    Ans. For farming
    Quest. 20. How much of the land has been broken and cultivated, and what crops, if any, have been raised?
    Ans. About 50 acres. Raised wheat oats corn potatoes vegetables
    Quest. 21. Has claimant made a homestead entry for other land than that the above described? (State your knowledge in this regards.)
    Ans. Not to my knowledge
    Quest. 22. Has calimant alienated any portion of the land - this is, conveyed it to some one else; and if so, to whom and for what purpose? (State you knowledge in this regard.)
    Ans. Not that I know of
    Quest. 23. Is it your belief that Dugald Campbell the claimant, has acted in good faith in the settlement and improvement of the said land as a homestead? Have you any knowledge to the contrary?
    Ans. Yes. Have no knowledge to the contrary.
    Quest. 24. Are you interested in this claim?
    Ans. No
    Alvin H. Wilcox

    I HEREBY CERTIFY that witness is a person of respectabilty; that each question and answer in the foregoing testimony was read to him before he signed his name thereto; and that the same was subscribed and sworn to before me this 19 day of November , 1879.
    That the judge of the Dist Court is absent from the County of Becker.

    John Cromb
    Deputy Clerk Dist Court
    Becker Co Minn


    NOTE.-The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to the following Section of the Revised Statues, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecte him to the full extent of the law.

    TITLE LXX.-CRIMES.-CH. 4.

    SEC. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or cerify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subcribes any material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, note more than five years, and shall, moreover, thereafter be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United State until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See § 1750.]

Homestead Proof - Testimony of Witness.

Note: Handwritten entries on the form are indicated by bold italics .