A Little Homestead History
On a morning filled with errands yesterday, I decided to finally stop at the Clay County courthouse and pull the land records for our farm. We knew it had been one of the earlier farms in South Dakota and I was curious to know more.
Lo and behold, the Register of Deeds not only gave me access to all the land records, they helped me find the copy of the original Homestead Certificate!
An Anders (also recorded as Andrew) Sankson took out Homestead Certificate Number 634 for ...his 160 acres in Clay County, Dakota Territory on February 26, 1876.
Lo and behold, the Register of Deeds not only gave me access to all the land records, they helped me find the copy of the original Homestead Certificate!
An Anders (also recorded as Andrew) Sankson took out Homestead Certificate Number 634 for ...his 160 acres in Clay County, Dakota Territory on February 26, 1876.
That is really quite early for South Dakota--a full 12 years before we even became a state and the same year that Custer was wiped out in the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The bulk of South Dakota was not really homesteaded until the 1880's. For a reference, the homestead that Laura Ingalls Wilder's family settled on near De Smet didn't happen until 1880.
After that, farm history got fairly interesting in 1896 when Anders sold the farm to an Anna Silkenson for $2,800. She quickly flipped it by first selling it contract for deed to a Sven Johnson and then just 5 months later, splitting it into 2 parcels of 80 each and selling those to two OTHER people. Needless to say, everyone ended up in court and finally in 1903, an Alfred Johnson was able to take possession of the entire parcel once more.
The farm was only sold in its entirety once more, in 1919 to A. T. Nelson for $18,000 and stayed in that family until the 1990's. Our parcel was split off by the family estate in 1996 and we are very proud to own this little farm that will be 140 years old next year!
After that, farm history got fairly interesting in 1896 when Anders sold the farm to an Anna Silkenson for $2,800. She quickly flipped it by first selling it contract for deed to a Sven Johnson and then just 5 months later, splitting it into 2 parcels of 80 each and selling those to two OTHER people. Needless to say, everyone ended up in court and finally in 1903, an Alfred Johnson was able to take possession of the entire parcel once more.
The farm was only sold in its entirety once more, in 1919 to A. T. Nelson for $18,000 and stayed in that family until the 1990's. Our parcel was split off by the family estate in 1996 and we are very proud to own this little farm that will be 140 years old next year!
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