Veterans who Homesteaded

Charles Page was a veteran and Black homesteader who went west with the Exoduster movement. He homesteaded in the Black colony of Nicodemus, Kansas. He proved up and acquired the patent to his land in June 1887. Between proving up and receiving his patent he moved to Atchison, Kansas. There he made a name for himself and became wealthy working as a houseman.

Abraham Hall was a civil war veteran, railroad porter, Nicodemus homesteader, and business owner. Hall enlisted into the Union Army serving in the 117th U.S. colored troops infantry, Company B for three years. He lived in Chicago working as a Porter for the Pullman Palace Car Company before deciding to take a chance out west by filing for a homestead claim in 1885. 

Albert Fisher filed a homestead claim at the Kirwin, Kansas Land Office in 1879, and worked diligently to prove up on this claim with his wife, Eliza. Albert Fisher was one of the first settlers in the Wildhorse township of Graham County, Kansas and was incredibly involved within his community. Fisher was also a Civil War veteran. In 1885, he was chosen to be a part of Graham County’s Republican convention.

Benson enlisted in the U.S. Army on February 25, 1875. Caleb Benson served with the 10th Cavalry in Companies D & K. During his service, Benson participated in the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War, and the Philippine American War. On July 6, 1905, he received a relinquished homestead claim from Captain Whitehead near Fort Robinson. Soon Benson’s company was called to the Philippines for 18 months. Once he returned he married and lived on his homestead.

Benjamin Jackson was a Buffalo soldier and a Kinkaid homesteader in central Nebraska whose homestead land became involved in an extortion scheme. Jackson joined the army in 1881 serving in Company M of the 9th US Calvary during the Indian Wars. Benjamin Jackson filed for his own homestead in Wheeler County, Nebraska in 1904. Shortly after proving up on his homestead, but before he received his patent, Jackson made an agreement to exchange his homestead for land in Oklahoma.

David Imes was born around 1840 in Pennsylvania. Born free, he was the eldest son of John and Elizabeth Imes. In 1863, while he was in Ohio, Imes registered to fight in the Civil War. He served as a Private with Company K, with the 5th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment United States Colored Troops (USCT). Following his time in the Colored Troops, Imes moved to Joyfield Township, Benzie County, Michigan. Here, he married his wife Emaline and filed for a homestead claim.

One of the first people to file a claim under the Homestead Act of 1862 was Daniel Freeman. The site of his claim is now the site of Homestead National Historical Park. This site commemorates the lives and accomplishments of all pioneers and the changes brought about by the Homestead Act. Legend has it that Daniel Freeman filed his claim 10 minutes after midnight at the Land Office in Brownville, NE on January 1, 1863, the first day the Homestead Act went into effect.

At 21 years old Francis followed in his parent’s steps and filed for a homestead claim near Blackdom, New Mexico. While proving up on his homestead, Boyer was conscripted into the Army as a Private First Class and fought in WWI. He served from August 3, 1918 to July 17, 1919. Francis, his parents, and four of his brothers moved to Vado, New Mexico in the mid-1920s in hopes of creating a "black city" after Blackdom did not work out.

Kenneth "Ken" Deardorff was the last person to acquire a patent, or title, to land under the Homestead Act. He received the title to his 50 acre Alaska homestead on the Stony River in 1988.

Robert Ball Anderson was born into slavery on March 1, 1843. He ran away from the Ball plantation in the fall of 1864 and joined the Union army. He served with the 125th Colored Infantry. In 1870 moved to Nebraska, staking a homestead claim in Butler County. Several years of drought and grasshopper plagues forced him to lose his claim, but he then moved to Box Butte County, Nebraska, where he would eventually own more than 2000 acres of land.