Fold3 Blog

President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862. It was “an act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain,” and increased westward expansion through settlement of surveyed government lands in thirty states. The law allowed a homesteader to receive up to 160 acres by applying for a claim, improving the land, and filing for a patent after successfully living on the land for five years. Fold3 has been digitizing the homestead records for Nebraska.

The files, from the Records of the Bureau of Land Management, consist of final certificates, applications with land descriptions, affidavits showing proof of citizenship, register and receiver receipts, notices and final proofs, and testimonies of witnesses. They sometimes contain unique records for a person or family, used to verify their right to make the claim. More details and some intriguing examples are on the Homestead Records description page.

The 1862 Homestead Act had been debated, proposed, and defeated for over ten years, stalled by the issue of slavery. After eleven states left the Union and a civil war erupted on American soil, the act finally passed. Applications were filed beginning on January 1, 1863.

Daniel Freeman, a Union soldier, filed the first claim at the Brownville, Nebraska, land office on that day. In January 1868, he proved his claim. His file includes a statement by neighbors Joseph Graff and Samuel Kilpatrick that Daniel had lived on the land for five years with his wife and two children, and “built a stable, a sheep shed 100 feet long, corn crib, and has 40 apple and about 400 peach trees set out.” He paid $12 for his 160-acre tract of land, or about $226 in today’s dollars (source).

Explore Daniel Freeman’s and other Nebraska Homestead Records on Fold3. To learn more about events surrounding the anniversary of the Homestead Act, visit the National Park Service website.

Homestead Records Digitization Project

Did you know there is a short film about The Homestead Records Digitization Project? The film shows how the original records of those who claimed land under the Homestead Act of 1862 are being digitized.

Over the past year we have been noticing an increase of mobile devices accessing Fold3. Likewise, we love using our mobile devices like the iPhone, iPad or others to access our favorite sites. It certainly can be convenient when you are on-the-go or want to quickly check something. So today we’re announcing a few updates we’ve been assiduously crafting behind the scenes for:

• Responsive layouts that render Fold3 well on most web-enabled tablet devices (iPad & various Android tablet devices).
• View a record image’s source information and member contributions. Simply click icon near the bottom left of an image. See here.
• Easliy read our Featured Spotlights from any mobile device.

Try it out now: There is no need to download an ‘app’ from an App Store, simply visit Fold3 from your web browser and we format it for you device from there. We hope you enjoy and look for more to come.

Survivors from the RMS Titanic disaster in 1912

When the RMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, the disaster altered the world on many levels. Even now, 100 years later, the legacy of the Titanic still fascinates. The stories of those who survived and those who perished continue to be revealed.

At least four male survivors of a certain age (15-35 years old in 1912) lived to 1942 when they were required to register for the “Old Man’s Draft” in World War II. They completed and signed registration cards with their personal information:

• Dickenson Bishop
• Albert Francis Caldwell
• George Achilles Harder
• William Bertram Greenfield

The last on the list, William Bertram Greenfield, accompanied his mother Blanche on the Titanic. They both survived and are enumerated with their family members and servants in the 1930 U.S. census.

Millionaire Isidor Straus and his wife perished with the ship. Isidor, as a young man, is listed in the 1860 census in Georgia. He and his father reportedly ran blockades for the Confederacy in the Civil War with their dry goods business. In 1888, Straus became part owner of Macy’s department store in New York City.

Francis D. Millet, another Titanic victim, was a renowned sculptor. When only 17, he was a drummer for 100 days in the 16th Massachusetts Regiment. His father, Asa Millet, served briefly in 1861 as an Army surgeon but left due to ill health. While there are no documents on Fold3 for either service, Asa Millet’s signature appears in the Civil War “Widows’ Pensions” three times. Once in his role as a physician providing an affidavit, and twice witnessing signatures of widows Julia A. Saunders and Sarah B. Gould.

Like his son, Asa appears to have traveled abroad as evidenced by two passport applications. One in 1855 and another in 1873, both with particulars of his physical features, including that he had no sight in his right eye. Francis’ great grandfather, Thomas Millet, fought in the Revolutionary War. His pension file is on Fold3.

Although he perished aboard the Titanic, Francis left a legacy to U.S. military history. He designed the now obsolete Civil War Campaign Medal. It was issued to Union or Confederate soldiers and sailors for service during the war.

Not long ago we passed an important milestone and wanted to thank you for your help getting there. Fold3 members have now made over 2 million contributions to images and memorial pages on the site. Each contribution makes things easier to find, makes connections clearer and enriches the site.

Some members like vbetts, patootie63, aircraftclocks and others have made thousands of contributions.

We have a few great projects underway.  The Lowcountry Africana group is indexing records from the South Carolina Estate Inventories and Bills of Sale, 1732-1872 and a group of NARA Volunteers is keying the captions from the Vietnam War photos.

We also have thousands of members who make the occasional contribution that relates to their research.

They may add valuable information that’s not available on the image:

or annotate a name, date or place which will help others find what they are looking for:

or add a picture that brings life to a Memorial Page:

Each contribution, big or small, makes a difference.  Thank You.

To learn more about how you can contribute to Fold3, visit the Training Center.

In 1987, Women’s History Week became Women’s History Month. Since then, March has been observed as a month-long tribute to women and their significant contributions in American history. Numerous records and stories on Fold3 make these contributions more evident.

Women have served the military since the Revolutionary War. While their roles were initially as nurses and laundresses, there are many noteworthy instances of women serving as spies, and as soldiers while disguised as men.

Records on Fold3 attest to women’s triumphs in many areas where they famously and infamously made a mark on history. Some of the more intriguing include former slave Cathay Williams who went undercover as a man named William Cathay to become a Buffalo Soldier.

Several Spotlights about women in the Civil War have been published by our Fold3 Team. Documents relating to these women, under their male guise, are also evident within the Civil War Collection and on this member’s memorial page: Women Soldiers of the Civil War. Other Fold3 titles, including references to photos, stories, and documents about contributions made by women can be found on this Women’s History Month member page.

Of course, since WWII, women have a more active and official role within the military, both in war and peace. The Library of Congress dedicates a special page within its Veterans History Project profiling “Women of Four Wars.” Those resources, used in tandem with the military collections on Fold3, represent a special tribute to Women’s History Month.