Certification of Land Warrant for Abraham Lincoln's Black Hawk War Service, 21 July
18541
MILITARY BOUNTY LAND ACT OF 28 SEPTEMBER, 1850.
LAND WARRANT,Register and Receiver’s
No.52076No.11988.
Land Office,Dubuque July 21 1854No.52076No.11988.
We HEREBY CERTIFY, That the attached Military Bounty Land Warrant, No. 52076was on this day received at this office, fromAbraham Lincoln ofSangamoncounty, State ofIllinois2
Geo McHenry3 Register.P. Quigley 4Receiver.I,Abraham LincolnofSangamoncounty, State of Illinoishereby apply to locate and do locate theNorth West ¼ of South West quarter of Section No.20in Township No.84 North of Range No.15 Westin the District of Lands subject to sale at the Land Office atDubuquecontaining40acres, in satisfaction of the attached Warrant numbered52076 issued under the act of 28 September, 1850.5
Witness my hand this21day ofJuly A.D. 1854.
Attest:
| Geo McHenry6Register. P. Quigley7Receiver. |
Abraham Lincoln by John P Davies his atty[attorney] |
I request the Patent to be sent to
Land Office,DubuqueJuly 211854.We HEREBY CERTIFY, That the above location is correct, being in accordance with law
and instructions.
P. Quigley8Receiver.Geo McHenry9 Register.<Page 2>
<Page 3>
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No.52,07640 acres.
ACT OF SEPT.[September] 28, 1850.
Issued toAbraham Lincoln
Capt.[Captain] 4th Ill. Vols
ACT OF SEPT.[September] 28, 1850.
Issued toAbraham Lincoln
Capt.[Captain] 4th Ill. Vols
Black Hawk War of 18
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| 1901 |
| 151029 |
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Located by Same
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See Warrant 68,645, 120 55
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PatentedJune 1, ^1855^18
Recorded Vol.[Volume]280
Page21
Recorded Vol.[Volume]280
Page21
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3/13/7 Mt to Jamestown [E?] [CGM?]
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Transmitted to To Pension Office [by?] P.
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624546
1John P. Davies wrote most of the script in the blanks of the form shown in the first
image, with the exceptions noted below. He also signed Abraham Lincoln’s name in the
sheet shown in the first image.
2Lincoln sent the attached land warrant referenced to the U.S. General Land Office in Dubuque, Iowa on July 15, 1854.
5At the outbreak of the Black Hawk War, Lincoln volunteered for the Illinois State militia. On April 21, 1832, Lincoln and other men from the New Salem area were mustered into a company in the 4th Regiment of Illinois Mounted Volunteers, and the members of the company elected Lincoln as their captain. When his month
of service ended, Lincoln re-enlisted twice, for twenty and thirty days respectively,
serving as a private both times. He was finally discharged on July 10, 1832.
On September 28, 1850, the U.S. Congress passed an act granting certain groups who had served in the United States military
during the Revolutionary War, any of “the Indian wars” since 1790, and the Mexican War parcels of public land. Per this act, the amount of land that veterans (or their
legal heirs) were entitled to depended upon the length of engagement and actual time
served. As his land warrant and this certification demonstrate, Lincoln was entitled
to forty acres of public land for the time he served as captain of the Fourth Regiment
of Illinois Mounted Volunteers. After his land warrant was certified by the land office
in Iowa and filed with the U.S. General Land Office in Washington, DC, a patent for land in Tama County, Iowa was issued to him.
Lincoln eventually received another 120 acres of land for his service during the
Black Hawk War after a federal law passed in 1855 declared that all who had served
in any U.S. war since 1790 were entitled to 160 acres of land in total. This 120 acres
of additional land Lincoln received was located in Crawford County, Iowa, 144 miles
west of the forty acres he held in Tama County. There is no evidence that Lincoln
ever received any revenue from any of these bounty lands. After his assassination,
since he did not leave a will, the forty acres of Tama County land passed in one-third
equal divisions to Mary Lincoln, Robert T. Lincoln, and Thomas “Tad” Lincoln. The Crawford County land also passed to the remaining Lincoln family.
Muster Roll of Abraham Lincoln’s Company of Mounted Volunteers; Muster Roll of Captain Elijah Iles’ Company of Mounted Volunteers; Muster Roll of Captain Jacob M. Early’s Company of Mounted Volunteers; Ellen M. Whitney, comp., The Black Hawk War, 1831-1832: Illinois Volunteers, vol. 35 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1970), 1:176-78, 227-30, 544-46;
“An Act Granting Bounty Land to Certain Officers and Soldiers Who Have Been Engaged
in the Military Service of the United States,” 28 September 1850, Statutes at Large of the United States 9 (1862):520-21; Land Warrant for Abraham Lincoln’s Black Hawk War Service; Land Patent of the United States to Abraham Lincoln; Land Warrant to Abraham Lincoln; Certification of Land Warrant to Abraham Lincoln; Land Warrant to Abraham Lincoln; Land Patent of the United States to Abraham Lincoln; “An Act in Addition to Certain Acts Granting Bounty Land to Certain Officers and
Soldiers Who Have Been Engaged in the Military Service of the United States,” 3 March
1855, Statutes at Large of the United States 10 (1855):701-2; Harry E. Pratt, The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln (Springfield, IL: Abraham Lincoln Association, 1943), 67-70.
Partially Printed Document Signed with a Representation, 3 page(s), Vault, RG 49, Entry Unknown: Records of the Bureau of Land Management, NAB.