My grandfather like his family had to come to the US. The English took the good land from the Irish - his brother James Sarsfield was the first to arrive in the territory which is now Centervile. My Dad said his father worked on the railroad til he reached the West. The homestead act (date I do not know) gave my Great Uncle Jim the first of the Sarsfields' 200-250 acres of land and then my grandfather Anthony and his wife (when married I do not know when) move of my great Uncles and Aunt - also homesteaded - which received 200-250 acres of land. Some of them - why - could not make it and my grandfather bought ? their acreage.
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What sort of questions does this bring to mind? Has grandma shared more stories about the homesteading days of the Sarsfields? How many Sarsfield brothers came to Centerville? Did they build the homes and structures themselves and do they still stand? Is the land still owned by Sarsfields? Do records exist of the initial applications and deed of title?
A quick wikipedia search shows that the first homestead act started in 1862 but they only parceled out 160 acres and it wasn't until 1909 that they increased the amount to 320 acres under the expanded homestead act.
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