Carroll Co. Mississippi
December 1834
My Dear Brother,
Months have now passed since I received
a letter from you-the last was, yours written fr Concord at
the June Session of the Legislature-and you may imagine that
at times I am troubled somewhat with the [---?]-become
homesick-silent & sad-rather careless of my profession.
I have attempted to ride it off-having been to Columbus
three times in as many months-I was there last week
but had not time to write fr thence-I went on to enter
some land for Mr. Kirkwood-speculation in land
is often a money making business-I will describe the
"Land System". The lands are surveyed by Government thus
1st Lines N & S. 30 miles approx & also E & W by taking latitudes &
Longitudes-2.Lines E & W-& N & S 6 miles apart-the N. Lines
called Ranges Lines-the E & W lines called Township Lines--& num
bered accordingly-3=Each township of 6 miles square is/are
divided up by lines running E & W-N & S 1 miles apart,--ma-
king 36 Sections of one square mile in a Township-(NB one
of these is always reserved for schools-) and they are numbered
alike in every township-the surveyors putting down ½ mile
stakes- 4-Each Section is divided in quarters by the line
E & W- & N + S. through it, & each quarter by a line N + S. ma
king eights of 80 Acres-in which Lot ? all publick
lands are offered for sale-
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When the publick lands are offered for sale they are cried off
in Eights to the highest bidder-it is the best land that
is then bought up-Tracts of land that are small or unknown
& all the poor land never gets a bid-The least Govern
ment Price is $1.25 per acre or $100 per Eight-or 80 acres.
The land that remains after sale, unbought, is open
to the purchase of any one-called "gentry"-
For example-I went to Columbus & "entered" 3 Eights & joining
a month afterward-went again and entered three more,
paying 6 hundred dollars--& Mr. Kirkwood has since
sold the 480 acres for $2400!! There's the way
to make money! There is the place to make money
provided a person has a start-Again. Mr. K bought
a Section of land, i.e. 1 mile square, for $1400. before
he came here. It was an "Indian Reserve" He moved
onto it, has raised 2 crops off it, is now offered $10,000
dollars for it & won't sell!! He has 9 horses, 2 mules,
50 sheep-30 to 50 hogs & pigs-14 yoke of oxen & perhaps
100 head of cattle-he don't know himself how many
& what was his beginning? He was for years not-
hing but a waggoner! Can scarcely read or write!!
& so it is all through the State-There is less gen
eral education here than in any state that I
know of-A man must have some little
beggin? & he is almost sure to make a fortune.
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Now about the Pre-emption Law. It Provides that all
those who cultivated Publick Land in 1833 & who
resided on them in June 1834 shall be entitled
to ¼ Section or 160 acres at government price, viz
$1.25 per acre-These first settlers are generally on
the very best land & soon men of heavy purses
move in and buy out 3 or 4 such persons, giving
them often from 5 to 10 dollars per acre-
Example-The land around me has not yet been
offered for sale-My neighbor, Judge King, has
just given Mr. Fathence ? $1,000 for his Pre-emption
to a ¼ Section-Fathence is so poor that he has
not $200 in the world to have saved his [---?]
had [--------?] offered Mr. Lee, near by [---?]
no Pre-emption-merely a Log Cabin-without
chimney-- & 2 acres inclosed Publick Land-yet he
got $200 for that. These people immediately
seek out another spot-build a Cabin-clear
a little land-- + perhaps sell it again-the
Clerk of our County has thus sold out
& moved again 14 times-- & he is not yet thirty five
years old-Last week I went into Chock
tau County where the lands have just been
offered for sale-with Mr. Kirkwood who
had $2,000 with him to enter Land
he is now at Columbus the Law office
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With that money he can get 1600 Acres of Land
& much of it will be worth in 2 years, from
5 to 10 dollars an Acre-if I had $1 or 2,000
I could double it in 2 years-or I could
loan any quantity of money at 8-10-and
some 15 or 20 per cent-with good security.
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Brother I have given you the above des
cription that you may know how great
the advantages for making money are
in this state-to all persons-
N.B. My account against Father & Lee
amounts to $.50 of which I never expected to
get 1 cent-Now I am Safe-Chs.G