USA > New York > Washington County > Gazetteer and business directory of Washington County, N.Y. for 1871 > Part 7
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How to Secure the Public Lands,
OR THE ENTRY OF THE SAME UNDER THE PRE-EMPTION AND HOMESTEAD LAWS.
The following circular gives all necessary | tract, with its area ; the Register will then information as to the procedure necessary in purchasing and securing the public lands :
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GEN'L LAND OFFICE, July 19, 1865.
Numerous questions having arisen as to the mode of procedure to purchase public lands, or acquire title to the same by bounty land locations, by pre-emptions or by home- Head, this circular is communicated for the information of all concerned.
In order to acquire title to public lande the following steps must be taken ;
1. Application must be made to the Reg- ister of the district land office in which the land desired may be situated.
A list of all the land offices in the United States is furnished by the Department, with the seats of the different offices, where it is the duty of the Register and Receiver to be in attendance, and give proper facilities and information to persons desirous of obtaining lands.
The minimum price of ordinary public lande is $1.25 per acre. The even or re- served sections falling within railroad Crante are increased to double the minimum price, being $2,50 per acre.
Lails once offered at public sale, and not afterwards kept out of market by reserva- tion, or otherwise, so as to prevent free competition, may be entered or located.
certify to the receiver whether the land is vacant, with its price ; and when found to be so, the applicant must pay that price per acre, or may locate the same with land warrant, and thereafter the Receiver will give him a "duplicate receipt." which he is required to surrender previous to the delivery to him of the parent, which may be had either by application for it to the Register or to the General Land Office.
3. If the tract has not been offered at public sale it is not liable to ordinary pri- vate entry. but may be secured by a party legally qualified, upon his compliance with the requirements of the pre-emption laws of 4th September, 1841, and 3d March, 1 43; and after such party shall have made ac- tual settlement for such a length of time as will show he designs it for his perma- nent home, and is acting in good faith, building a house and residing therein, he may proceed to the district land office, es- tablish his pre-emption claim according to law, by proving his actual residence and cultivation, and showing that he is other- wise within the purview of these acts .- Then he can enter the land at $1.25, either in cash or with bounty land warrant, unless the premises should be $2,50 acre lands. In that case the whole parchase-money can be paid in cash, or wue-half in cash, the residue with a bounty land warrant.
4. But if parties legally qualified desire 2. By the applicant tiling with the Regis- to obtain title under the Homestead Act ter his written application describing the 1 of 20th May, 1862, they can do so on com-
.
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LAW MAXIMS.
plying with the Department Circular, dated. 30th October. 1862.
5. The law confines Homestead entries to surveyed lands; and although, in cer- tain States and Territories noted in the sub- joined list. pre-emptory may go on land be- fore survey. yet they can only establish their claim after return of survey, but must file their pre-emption declaration within three months after receipt of official plat. at the local land-office where the settlement was made before survey. Where, however, it was made after survey, the claimant must file within three months after date of set- tlement : and where actual residence and cultivation have been long enough to show
that the claimant has made the land his permanent home, he can establish his claim and pay for the same at any time before the date of the public sale of lands within the range in which his settlement may fall.
6. All unoffered surveyed lands not ac- quired under pre-emption, homestead, or otherwise, under express legal sanction, must be offered at public sale under the President's Proclamation, and struck off to the highest bidder, as required by act of April 24, 1820.
J. M. EDMUNDS, Commissioner General Land Office.
LAW MAXIMS.
1. A promise of a debtor to give "satis- factory security" for the payment of a por- tion of his debt, is a sufficient considera- tion for a release of the residue by his creditor.
2. Administrators are liable to account for interest on funds in their hands, al- though no profit shall have been made upon them. unless the exigencies of the estate rendered it prudent that they should hold the funds thus uninvested.
3. Any person who voluntarily becomes an agent for another, and in that capacity obtains information to which as a stranger he could have had no access, is bound in subsequent dealing with his principal. as purchaser of the property that formed the subject of his agency, to communicate such information.
4. When a honge is rendered untenanta- ble in consequence of improvements made on the adjoining lot, the owner of such cannot recover damages, because it is pre- sumed that he had knowledge of the ap- proaching danger in time to protect him- self from it.
5. When a merchant ship is abandoned by order of the master, for the purpose of saving life. and a part of the crew subse- quently meet the vessel so abandoned and Bring her safe into port, they will be enti- tled to salvare.
7. An agreement by the holder of a note to give the principal debtor time for pay- ment, without depriving himself of the right to sue, does not discharge the surety.
8. A seller of goods who accepts, at the time of sale, the note of a third party. not endorsed by the buyer, in payment. can- not in case the note is not paid, hold the buyer responsible for the value of the goods.
9. A day-book copied from a "blotter" in which charges are first made, will not be received in evidence as a book of origi- nal entries.
10. Common carriers are not liable for extraordinary results of negligence that could not have been foreseen by ordinary skill and foresight.
11. A bidder at & Sheriff's sale may re- tract his bid at any time before the prop- erty is knocked down to him, whatever may be the conditions of the sale.
12. Acknowledgment of debt to a stran- ger does not preclude the operation of the statute.
13. The fruits and crass on the farm or garden of an intestate descend to the heir.
14. Agents are solely liable to their prin- cipals.
15. A deposit of money in bank by a bus- her.
6. A person who has been led to sell good4 by means of false pretenses, cannot recover them from one who has purchased them in good faith from the fraudulent | band, in the name of his wife, survives to rendor.
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LAW MAXIMS.
16. Money paid on Sunday contracts may be recovered.
17. A debtor may give preference to one creditor over another, unless fraud or special legislation can be proved.
16. A court cannot give judgment for a Iarrer sum than that specified in the ver- dict.
19. Imbecility on the part of either bowhand or wife, invalidates the mar- riage.
0). An action for malicious prosecution will lie, though nothing further was done than sning out warrants.
21. An agreement not to continue the practice of a profession or business in any specified town, if the party so agreeing has received a consideration for the same, is valid.
22. When A consigns goods to B to sell on commission, and B delivers them to C, in payment of his own antecedent debts, A can recover their value.
23. A finder of property is compelled to make diligent inquiry for the owner there- uf, and to restore the same. If, on finding such property, he attempts to conceal such fact, he may be prosecuted for larceny.
24. A private person may obtain an in- junction to prevent a public mischief by which he is affected in common with others.
25. Any person interested may obtain an injunction to restrain the State or a munici- pal corporation from maintaining a nuisance on its lands.
26. A discharge under the insolvent laws of one State will not discharge the insol- vent from a contract made with a citizen of another State.
27. To prosecute a party with any other motive than to bring him to justice, is malicious prosecution, and actionable as ruch.
28. Ministers of the gospel, residing in any incorporated town, are not exempt from jury, military, or fire service.
2. When a person contracts to build a houve, and is prevented by sickness from fuiching it, he can recover for the part per- formed, if such part is beneficial to the other party.
31. In a suit for enticing away a man's wife, actual proof of the marriage is not ne- er. ary. Cohabitation, reputation, and the aimirsion of marriage by the parties, are suficient.
31 Permanent erections and fixtures. riade by a mortgageor after the execution of Un mortgage upon land conveyed by it, be- Come a part of the mortgaged premises.
32. When a marriage is denied, and plain- tlf has given sufficient evidence to estab- 1:4h it, the defendant cannot examine the wife to disprove the marriage.
33. The amount of an express debt can- not be enlarged by application.
31. Contracts for advertisements in Son- day newspapers cannot be enforced.
35. A seller of goods, chattels, or other property, commits no fraud, in law. when he neglects to tell the purchaser of any flaws, defects, or unsoundness in the same.
36. The opinions of witnesses. as to the value of a dog that has been killed. are not admissible in evidence. The value of the animal is to be decided by the jury.
37. If any person pats a fence on or plows the land of another, he is liable for trespass whether the owner has sustained injury or not.
38. If a person, who is unable from ill- ness to sign his will, has his hand guided in making his mark, the signature is valid.
39. When land trespassed upor is occu- pied by a tenant, he alone can bring the action.
40. To say of a person, "If he does not come and make terms with me, I will make a bankrupt of him and ruin him." or any such threatening language, is actionable, without proof of special damage.
41. In an action for slander, the party making the complaint must prove the words alleged : other words of like meaning will not suffice.
42. In a suit of damages for seduction, proof of pregnancy, and the birth of a child, is not essential. It is sufficient if the ill- ness of the girl, whereby she was unable to labor, was produced by shame for the seduc- tion ; and this is such a loss of service as will sustain the action.
43. Addressing to a wife a letter contain- ing matter defamatory to the character of her husband is a publication, and renders the writer amenable to damages.
41. A parent cannot sustain an action for any wrong done to a child, unless he has in- curred some direct pecuniary injury there- from in consequence of some loss of ser- vice or expenses necessarily consequent thereupon.
45. A master is responsible for an injury resulting from the negligence of his ser- vant, whilst driving his cart or carriage, provided the servant is at the time engaged in his master's business, even though the accident happens in a place to which his master's business does not call him : but if the journey of a servant be solely for a pur- pise of his own, and undertaken withont the knowledge and conseut of his master, the latter is not responsible.
46. An emigrant depot is not a nuisance in law.
47. A railroad track through the streets is not a nuisance in law.
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LAW MAXIMS.
48. If an agreement upon which a party relies be oral only, it must be proved by evidence. But if the contract be reduced to writing, it proves itself: and now no evidence whatever is receivable for the purpose of varying the contract or affecting Its obligations. The reasons are obvione. The law prefers written to oral evidence, from its greater precision and certainty. and because it is less open to fraud. And where parties have closed a negotiation and reduced the result to writing, it is pre- sumed that they have written all they in- tended to agree to, and therefore, that what is omitted was finally rejected by them .- [PARSONS,
50. The fact that the insurer was not in- formed of the existence of impending liti- gation, affecting the premises insured, at the time the insurance was effected, does not vitiate the policy.
51. The liability of an innkeeper is not confined to personal baggage, but extends to all the property of the guest that he con- sents to receive.
52. When a minor executes a contract, and pays money, or delivers property on the same, he cannot afterwards disaffirm such contract and recover the money, or prop- erty, unless he restores to the other party the consideration received from him for such money or property.
53. When a person has. by legal inquisi- tion been found an habitual drunkard. he cannot, even in his sober intervals, make contracts to bind himself or his property, until the inquisition is removed.
54. Any person dealing with the repre- sentative of a deceased person. is presumed. in law, to be fully apprized of the extent of such representative's authority to act in behalf of such estate.
55. In an action against a railroad com- pany, by a passenger, to recover damages for injuries sustained on the road, it is not compulsory upon the plaintiff to prove ac- tual negligence in the defendants ; but it is obligatory on the part of the latter to prove that the injury was not owing to any fault or negligence of theirs.
56. A guest is a competent witness, in an action between himself and an iun-keeper. to prove the character and value of lost personal baggage. Money in a trunk, not exceeding the amount reasonably required by the traveler to defray the expenses of the journey which he has undertaken. is a part of hi- baggage; and in case of its loss, while at any inn, the plaintiff may prove its amount by his own testimony.
58. A married woman can neither sue nor be sued on any contract made by her dur- ing her marriage, except in an action relat- ing to her individual property. The action must be commenced either by or against her husband. It is only when an action is brought on a contract made by her be- fore her marriage, that she is to be joined as a co-plaintiff, or defendant, with her hus- band.
59. Any contract made with a person ju- dicially declared a lunatic is void.
60. Money paid voluntarily in any trans- action, with a knowledge of the facts, can- not be recovered.
49. Delivery of a husband's goods by a wife to her adulterer, he having knowledge 61. In all cases of specia. contract for ser- vices. except in the case of a minor, the ulated in the contract. that she has taken them without her hus- band's authority, is sufficient to sustain an ; plaintiff can recover only the amount stip- indictment for larceny against the adul- terer.
62. A wife is a competent witness with her husband, to prove the contents of a lost trunk, or when a party.
63. A wife cannot be convicted of receiv- ing stolen goods when she received them of her husband.
64. Insurance against fire, by lightning or otherwise, does not cover loss by lightning when there is no combustion.
65. Failure to prove plea of justification, in a case of alunder, aggravates the offence.
66. It is the agreement of the parties to sell by sample that constitutes a sale by sample, not the mere exhibition of a speci- men of the goods.
67. An agent is' liable to his principals for loss cansed by his misstatements, tho' unintentional.
68. Makers of promissory notes given in advance for premiums on policies of insur- ance, thereafter to be taken, are liable there- on.
69. An agreement to pay for procuring an appointment to office is void.
70. An attorney may plead the statute of limitations, when sued by a client for mon- ey which he has collected and failed to pay over.
71. Testimony given by a deceased wit- nees on first trial, is not required to be ro- peuted verbatim on the second.
72. A per-on entitling himself to a reward offered for lost property, has a lien upon the property for the reward ; but only when a definite reward is offered.
73. Confession by a prisoner must be vol- untarily made, to constitute evidonce against him.
57. The deed of a minor is not absolutely void. The court is authorized to judge, from the instrument, whether it is void or not, according to its tergis being favorable 74. The defendant in a suit must be serv- ed with process; but service of such pro- cesy upon his wife, even in his absence from the State, is not, in the absence of statuto- - or unfavorable to the Interests of the minor. 'ry provisione, sufficient.
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LAW MAXIMS.
:3. The measure of damages in trespass for cutting timber, is its value as a chattel ou the land where it was felled, and not the market price of the lumber manufactured.
"6. To support an indictment for mali- clous mischief in killing an animal, mal- ice towards its owner must be shown, not therely passion excited against the animal feelf.
TT. No action can be maintained against a sheriff for omitting to account for money obtained upon an execution within a reas- onable time. He has till the return day to retider such account.
73. An interest in the profits of an enter- prise, as profits, renders the party hold- ing it & partner in the enterprise, and makes him presumptively liable to share any loss.
79. Males can marry at fourteen, and fe- males at twelve years of age.
80. All cattle found at large upon any pub- lic road, can be driven by any person to the public ponnd.
81. Any dog chasing, barking, or other- wise threatening a passer-by in any street, lane, road, or other public thoroughfare, may be lawfully killed for the same.
82. A written promise for the payment of such amount as may come into the hands of the promisor, is held to be an instru- ment in writing for the payment of money.
83. The declaration of an agent is not ad- missible to establish the fact of agency .- But when other proper evidence is given, tending to establish the fact of agency, it is not error to admit the declarations of the agent. accompanying acts, though tend- -ing to show the capacity in which he act- ed. When evidence is competent in one respect and incompetent in another, it is the daty of the court to admit it, and con- trol its effects by suitable instructions to the jury.
84. The court has a general power to re- move or suspend an attorney for such im- moral conduct aa rendered him unworthy of confidence in his official capacity.
65. Bankruptcy is pleadable in bar to all actions und in all courts, and this bar may be avoided whenever it is interposed, by showing fraud in the procurement of the discharge. or a violation of any of the pro- vision- of the bankrupt act.
). An instrument in the form of a deed, but limited to take effect at the termination of the grantor's natural life, is held to be a | deed, not a will.
$7. A sale will not be set aside as frand- Bent, simply beraise the buver was at the t:Wy conhle to make the payment surerd upon, and knew his inability, and did not intend to pay.
&N. No man is under an obligation to make known his circumstances when he is enying goods.
89. Contracting parties are bound to dis- close material facts known to each, but of which either supposes the other to be igno- rant, only when they stand in some special relation of trust and confidence in relation to the subject matter of the contract. But neither will be protected if he does any- thing, however slight, to mislead or deceive the other.
90. A contract negotiated by mail is formed when notice of acceptance of the of- fer is duly deposited in the post-office, pro- perly addressed. This rule applies, although the party making the offer expressly re- quires that if it is accepted, speedy notice of acceptance shall be given him.
91. The date of an instrument is so far a material part of it, that an alteration of the date by the holder after execution, makes the instrument void.
92. A corporation may maintain an action for libel. for words published of them and relating to its trade or business, by which it has incurred special damages.
93. It is unprofessional for a lawyer who has abandoned his case without trying it, a term or two before trial, to claim a fee conditional upon the success of his client, although his client was successful.
94. Although a party obtaining damages for injuries received through the default of another, was himself guilty of negligence, yet that will not defeat his recovery, unless his negligence contributed to cause the in- jury.
95. A person may contract to labor for an- other during life, in consideration of receiv- ing his support ; but his creditors have the right to inquire into the intention with which such arrangement is made. and it will be set aside if entered into to deprive them of his future earnings.
96. A grantor may by express terms ex- clude the bed of a river, or a highway, mentioned as boundary; but if without language of exclusion a line is described as 'along.' or 'upon,' or as ' running to' the highway or river, or as . by,' or . running to the bank of' the river ; these expressions carry the grantee to the center of the high- way or river.
97. The court will take pains to coustrue the words used in a deed in such a way as to effect the intention of the parties, bow- ever unskillfully the instrument may be drawn. But a court of law cannot exchange an intelligible word plainly employed in a deed for another. however evident it may he that the word used was used by mistake for another.
98. One who has lost his memory and understanding is entitled to legal protec- tiou, whether such loer is occasioned by his own misconduct or by an act of Provi- dance.
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LAW MAXIMS.
99. When a wife leaves her husband vol- untarily, it must be shown, in order to make him liable for necessaries furnished to her, that she could not stay with safety. Personal violence. either threatened or in- flicted, will be sufficient cause for such sep- aration.
100. Necessaries of dress furnished to a discarded wife must correspond with the pecuniary circumstances of the husband, and be such articles as the wife, if prudent, would expect, and the husband should furnish, if the parties. lived harmoniously together.
101. A fugitive from justice from one of the United States to another, may be arrested aud detained in order to his surrender by authority of the latter, without a previous demand for his surrender by the executive of the State whence he fled.
192. A watch will not pass under a be- quest of "wearing apparel," nor of household furniture and articles for fami- ly usc."
103. Money paid for the purpose of set- tling or compounding a prosecution for a supposed felony, cannot be recovered back by a party paying it.
104. An innkeeper is liable for the death of an animal in his possession, but may free himself from liability by showing that the death was not occasioned by negligence on his part.
105. Notice to the agent of a company is notice to the company.
100. An employer is not liable to one of his employes for an injury sustained by the latter in consequence of the neglect of oth- ers of his employes engaged in the same general business.
107. Where a purchaser at a Sheriff's sale has bid the full price of property under the erroneous belief that the sale would di- vest the property of all liens, it is the duty of the court to give relief by setting aside the sale.
10S. When notice of protest is properly sent by mail, it may be sent by the mail of the day of the dishonor; if not, it must be mailed for the mail of the next day ; ex- cept that if there is none, or it closes at, an unseasonably early hour, then notice must be mailed in season for the next possible mail.
100. A powder-house located in a populous part of a city, and containing large quanti- ties of gunpowder, is a nuisance.
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111. A man charged with crime before . a committing magistrate, but discharged on his own recognizance, is not privileged from arrest on civil process while returning from the magistrate's office.
112. When one has been induced to sell goods by means of false pretences, he can- not recover them from one who has bona fide purchased and obtained possession of them from the fraudulent vendor.
113. If the circumstances attendant upon a sale and delivery of personal property are ench as usually and naturally accompany such a transaction. it cannot be declared a legal fraud apon creditors.
114. A stamp impressed upon an instru- ment by way of seal, is good as a seal, if it creates a durable impression in the texture of the paper.
115. If a party bound to make a payment use due diligence to make a tender, but through the payee's absence from home is unable to find him or any agent authorized to take payment for him. no forfeiture will be incurred through his failure to make a tender.
Government Land Measure.
A township, 26 sections, each a mile square.
A section, 640 acres.
A quarter section, half a mile square, 160 acres.
An eighth section, half a mile long. north and south, and a quarter of a mile wide, 80 acres.
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