The Oregon Donation Land Claim Act
Settlers in Oregon Country formed a provisional government in 1843, and the new settlers were able to claim a full section of land - 640 acres. All this before Oregon was even officially a territory! When Oregon became a territory in 1848, Congress nullified the land grants. There was much anxiety about the fortunes of the original grantees until Congress passed the Oregon Donation Land Claim Act of 1850. The Act allowed an adult white male to claim a half section of land for himself and, if he were married, another half section in his wife’s name. The Act was one of the first in the US which allowed women to hold property under their own name.
The main force behind the Oregon Donation Land Claim Act was the territory’s first delegate to Congress, Samuel Thurston. Thurston arrived in Oregon in 1847, and settled in Hillsboro, where he practiced law. He then joined the provisional government’s legislative assembly in 1848, and was elected as a congressional delegate the following year. Thurston’s bill attracted thousands of settlers to Oregon Territory, including most probably our own Grim family.
The Act is also notable for the way it ran rough-shod over the Native Americans in the Territory. No effort was made to accommodate "previous residents" or create "Indian Lands." In the new Oregon Territory, all lands were up for grabs - for white settlers anyway.
People tend to think of paperwork as a modern invention, but the documents necessary to process this 1853 Donation Land Claim prove that the U.S. Government has long loved paperwork.
Paperwork on this file case for Jacob and Jane Grim began the 17th August 1853, and did not finish until April of 1875 - 22 years later.
Jacob finally received his patent for the land on June 8, 1875, just two years before he died.
This document has the legal description of the property:
"S 1/2 of the SE 1/4 and Lots 2 and 3 of Section 17 - and Lots 1, 2, and 3 of Section 20 in T. 2 S.R. 3 E. containing 306 and 66/100 acres. The South half to the said Jacob Grim, and the North half to his wife, Jane Grim....having proven to the satisfaction of the Register...that such settlement was commenced on the 17th day of August 1853 - four years prior to the date hereof....in pursuance of the requirements...established by two disinterested witnesses the fact of continued residence and cultivation..."
Here is one of the witnesses:
"J.R. Ralston of Clackamas County....says he is personally acquainted with Jacob Grim...and Jane Grim...and that he has known they to live together as man and wife from the year 1853 to the present time 1874, and that they are and were reputed by their neighbors as such during that period."
Another witness is their oldest son, Daniel Grim.
"Daniel Grim...is in now way interested in the tract or tracts of land claimed...by Jacob Grim....that he is personally acquainted with said Jacob Grim, and knows he has personally resided upon and cultivated said tract or tracts of land continuously from the --- day of August 1853, to the 28th day of December 1858. Sworn 28th day of December 1858"
And a neighbor - Martin Dulrey professes the same information from March 1854 to December 1858.
Too bad this document is not filled out completely as it would have the place and year Jacob Grim was born and the date and place of his marriage to Jane. It does, however, have Jacob's signature claiming continued residence from August 1853 to the 28th of December 1858.
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