Wilhelm Kirmse - Land Patent

Land Patent issued to Wilhelm Kirmse

Land Patent issued to Wilhelm Kirmse - Handwritten Copy

Story

From the National Archives copy of Wilhelm Kirmse's land entry file of Serial Patent Number 113523.  The original patent application was made in 1904. Included here is the paperwork for completing the land patent.

The definition of a Land Patent as given by Wikipedia is "A land patent is an exclusive land grant made by a sovereign entity with respect to a particular tract of land. To make such a grant “patent”, a sovereign (proprietary landowner) must document the land grant, securely sign and seal the document (patent), and openly publish the documents for the public to see. An official land patent is the highest evidence of right, title, and interest to a defined area. It is usually granted by a central, federal, or state government to an individual or to a private company."[1]

The right and title to land was held in trust by the United States until someone proved a claim to it, typically by improving the homestead parcel for a certain period of time. Once a proper claim has been filed, the General Land Office (now the Bureau of Land Management) certifies that the claimant has paid the necessary fees. Then, pursuant to the various land acts of Congress, the land is granted to the private owner by letters patent under the signature and seal of the President of the United States of America.[1]

A search of the Bureau of Land Management database for Kirmse Land Patent found the following:

General Land Office Records Find

And asking for more details found the following:

General Land Office Records Details

The following is the results of a requested search by the National Archives for land entry case files of the Wilhelm Kirmse Land Patent.  The first files shown here are the HOMESTEAD PROOF TESTIMONY documents.

First Witness Testimony

Second Witness Testimony

Testimony of the Claimant - Wilhelm Kirmse

In the Homestead Proof - Testimony of Claimant dated May 6, 1909, Wilhelm Kirmse witnesses that he has made improvements of a frame dwelling house 16x30 feet with shingle roof, frame barn 42x42 feet, well & windmill, orchard of 100 fruit trees, two miles of two wire fence, hen house, all worth one thousand dollars. He has cultivated one hundred acres and has raised crops thereon for five seasons.

Final Affidavit Required of Homestead Claimants

Notice of Publication  - 1

Second Notice of Publication -2 

Notice of Intention to Make Proof

Commissioner's Final Proof Certificate

Homestead Entitled to a Patent for Tract of Land

File Cover for Homestead Application

Final Close Out of File - February 23, 1910 - Patent Transmitted March 6, 1910

Who

Wilhelm Kirmse

Story

From the National Archives copy of Wilhelm Kirmse's land entry file of Serial Patent Number 113523. Included here is the original patent application paperwork beginning March 21, 1904.

Date

Note that the original file claim was completed March 23, 1904.  The patent completion date was
February 23, 1910.  And, the patent was transmitted on March 6, 1910 - almost 6 years after the original filing.

Location

Goodwin, Ellis County, Oklahoma - The Wilhelm Kirmse homestead was about 1 mile east Goodwin, Oklahoma and about 7 miles southwest of Shattuck, Oklahoma.

Bureau of Land Management Ohio Township (Township 20 North Range 25 West of the Indian Meridian, Oklahoma) map marked red with the location of the Kirmse Land Patent in Section 19.

Original Survey - Kirmse Homestead is Lots 2,3 & 4, SE1/4- NW1/4 of Section 19

1876 Survey of Township 20 North Range 25 West of the Indian Meridian, Oklahoma (including section 19) - eventually known as OHIO Township.

Note the lots on the west side of the township. These are correction blocks to account for the curvature of the earth. There are also corrections on the north side of each township.

Note also the trees along the stream going through section 19. Trees were considered a scarce resource of wood on the flat prairie.

Notes

1. National Archives for land entry case file of Serial Patent Number 113523 for the Wilhelm Kirmse Land Patent.
2. Wikipedia, Land Patent. downloaded 10 Oct 2015 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_patent