DONATION LAND LAW

On September 27, 1850, the United States Congress passed the Donation land Act. This act set down the rules for acquiring land in the Oregon Territory. By the conclusion of the Land Act in 1855, it had resulted in some 30,000 new immigrants to Oregon and a total of 7,437 patents granted covering about 2,500,000 acres.

The Donation Land Law provided that each resident white or half-breed settler who was a citizen of the United States or who within a year declared his intention of becoming a citizen could receive 320 acres in his own name and, if married, another 320 acres in the name of his wife.

Originally the law was to expire in 1853. The time was extended to December 1855 and provided for those settlers who arrived in Oregon after the 1850 date to receive 160 acres, if single, and 320 acres (160 acres in the wife’s name) if married. The law required four successive years residence on the donation land claim before making application for certification, however the Act of 1853 made it possible for the claimants to purchase their claims for $1.25 per acre after two successive years of residence on the land.

The law further provided there had to be three disinterested witnesses to the fact of continued residence and cultivation.

DONATION LAND CLAIMERS IN HUGO REGION

It was during the 1850’s that three donation land claimers settled in Hugo, Oregon:
Hiram and Caroline Niday and the Walker brothers, Augustus and Wesley.

Hiram Niday
Donation Land Claim
Certificate Number: 1479
Notification Number: 692 (DC 40)
Claimant’s Name: Hiram Niday
County in Oregon: Josephine County
Date & Place Birth: 1822, Lawrence County, Ohio
Arrival In Oregon: September 15, 1852
Date Claim Settled: December 6, 1853

Wesley R. Walker
Donation Land Claim
Certificate Number: 778
Notification Number: 699
Claimant’s Name: Wesley R. Walker
County in Oregon: Josephine County
Date & Place Birth: 1824, Henderson County, Kentucky
Arrival In Oregon: October 12, 1852
Date Claim Settled: March 1, 1855

Patents by President Andrew Johnson, July 26, 1866

Augustus L. Walker
Donation Land Claim
Certificate Number: 861
Notification Number: 700
Claimant’s Name: Augustus L. Walker
County in Oregon: Josephine County
Date & Place Birth: 1829, Henderson County, Kentucky
Arrival In Oregon: October 12, 1852
Date Claim Settled: March 1, 1855

Patent by President Andrew Johnson, August 7, 1866

MORE INFORMATION

The Niday donation land claim became the Sexton Place after Caroline(Stumbo) Niday married David Sexton in 1857. 1

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1 Hugo Neighborhood 2005. APPLEGATE TRAIL: BOYCE PROPERTY. OR-JA-00-34-06-35-Boyce Property. Brochure 20 in Hugo Emigrant Trails Series. Hugo, OR.