PROVING THE OLDEST DATES

The Idaho State Historical Society has confirmed our date of Saturday, July 14, for the celebration of the Julian and Ina Dobson Homestead. Save the date. Everyone is invited. We’re calling it “An Afternoon at the Old Dobson Place.” At least, that’s what we’re calling it today.

Meanwhile, I have been working to establish proof that Julian and Ina settled on the home place prior to 1904 when the patent was issued. It’s clear that they had to have been there earlier than 1904 in order to meet the criteria for the patent application, but in order to establish an earlier date, I have to provide documentation or else the date on the “century farm” sign will be 1904. I hated to accept that date unless I had to. After all, my dad was born on the homestead in 1904, not to mention that Aunt Ethel was born there in 1897. So, I wrote the National Archives, paid the required $40, and received a packet that included Julian’s land patent application.

The homestead application establishing Julian’s claim to the land is dated September 7, 1898,  and stipulates the following: “It is required of the homestead settler that he shall reside upon and cultivate the land embraced in his homestead entry for a period of five years from the time of filing the affidavit, being also the date of entry. An abandonment of the land for more than six months works in forfeiture of the claim. Further, within two years from the expiration of the said five years, he must file proof of his actual settlement and cultivation, failing to do which, his entry will be canceled.”

Then, in bigger print that can’t be missed, the applicant is advised that “Final proof must be made within seven years from date of this receipt, and payment made . . .” I had to laugh. Human nature in 1898 was the same as human nature today. They might have added, “so don’t tell us you didn’t know. . .”

 

That homestead application was the initial step and specified the conditions Julian had to meet. Then, five years later, on November 18, 1903, he took the next step in the process. “I, Julian Dobson,” reads the document, “do hereby give notice of my intention to make final proof to establish my claim to the land above described and that I expect to prove my residence and cultivation before the clerk of district court at Orofino, Idaho, on January 14, 1904. . .”

The above notice was then published in the Peck Press printed at Peck, Idaho, such publication being a necessary part of the process. A copy of this notice is included in the packet.

On the “Homestead Proof – Testimony of Claimant,” Julian specifies the improvements:

·        Built log house Nov. 14, 1896, and established residence at once.

·        Frame and log house 18x24

·        Chicken house 10x12

·        About 120 acres fenced and cross fenced

·        Two acres orchard

·        60 acres broken

·        Well and cistern

·        Improvements are worth $800

He has a wife and four children, he says (and doesn’t add that another is on the way) and residence has been continuous.

He states he has raised seven crops and provides a history as follows:

·        20 acres in 1897

·        35 acres in 1898

·        40 acres in 1899

·        45acres 1900

·        50 acres 1901

·        60 acres 1902 and 1903

With regard to the character of the land, Julian states: “Forty acres timbered agricultural land and rest of it is prairie. Most value for farming and grazing.”

Included with this “testimony of claimant,” are the testimonies of two witnesses, John Chandler and William Cunningham. Mr. Chandler, 72 years of age, says he doesn’t know when Julian made settlement because he was living on the land when he [Chandler] came into the vicinity in April 1897. He states that Julian has a house, barn, chicken house, granary, and hog house, the size of which he doesn’t know, but they are as good as the ordinary buildings in the locality. Mr. Cunningham’s comments are much the same, though he provides that Julian established residence in the early part of 1896.

So there it is – documentation – and it is just as Ina has said. KW

[Photo 1: Bean harvest on the Julian Dobson homestead, 1897. No machinery was used at this time -- the beans were pulled by hand and later threshed on the barn floor with flails. Left to right: Ross Pratt, June Dobson, Julian Dobson, Frank Dickson, Perry Chandler, Charley Boehm (boy), John Boehm, Clarence Chandler, Marshall Brooks.

Photo 2: The residence of Mrs. Ina Dobson. Ina is in the foreground with her four children: Myrtle, Ethel, Pearl, and Irl. Sitting on the lumber is Ida Chandler Dickson, Ina's sister-in-law. Julian Dobson is standing to the right. The cabin was built in November 1896. The kitchen, which is unfinished in both of these pictures, was added in 1901.

Photo 3: As the kitchen is still unfinished, the year must still be 1901. Ina stands in the yard with her children.]