In 1828 when Joseph Belt, Sr. settled in Hendricks County, Indiana, he was able to buy 80 acres at $1.25 an acre. Sixty years later his grandson, Julius Belt, was also drawn by the lure of cheap land. In those sixty years the frontier had moved west. The dream of homesteading would lead Julius and his family to North Dakota.
“There seems to be an epidemic of North Dakota fever in this locality . . . It is a familiar sight to see little groups of men standing around discussing the North Dakota question.” – Flora [IN] Sentinel, Jan. 21, 1897, p. 1
The opening of North Dakota was partially fueled by the railroads, eager to sell land and develop markets that would rely on them for transportation. Agents were sent east to proclaim the fertility of the land and mildness of the climate. Letters to the editors of rural papers simply glowed with praise for the Dakota Territory.
“North Dakota with a climate admirably adapted to health and activity, a soil as rich as can be found on the continent, with millions of acres of good government land is waiting for the homeseeker. – Minton Tri-County [IN] Gazette, Sept. 2, 1897, p. 1
Not every editor was as enthusiastic.
“This part of Indiana is just now being flooded with pamphlets describing the beauties and glories of life in North Dakota and hundreds of families have left their homes in Indiana and taken up their abode in that far away state where blizzards frequently cut loose and sweep everything, animate and inanimate that comes in their way. Among those who left Indiana were many families from Carroll county. They listened to the song of richness and plenty sung by the agents who are paid by the month to indulge in this sort of thing. These people are now writing letters back home telling of the prospect of bountiful crops and quick returns which seem within their reach. . . Those good people will before a year hence long for their old homes in Indiana. — Delphi [IN] Journal, April 23, 1896, p. 1.
Whatever the hardships, the determining factor for most westward looking families was free land. Free land. The Homestead Act of 1862 promised 160 acres of free land to settlers that would till the soil, build a house and remain on the land for five years.
Julius’s homesteading would be very different from his grandfather’s. In 1828 Joseph and his family traveled by wagon to carve a farm out of a seemingly endless forest with few neighbors, poor roads and few towns. Julius, his wife and three children went to North Dakota by train.
“On Friday night last the second train load of colonists arrived. They are largely from Indiana, and they brought with them a great number of cars loaded with horses, farming implements, etc. Many have money with which to buy land, others intend to enter homesteads and still others will lease improved farms during the coming season”. —Grand Forks [ND] Herald, April 6, 1899
In Towner County the new settlers found gently rolling hills of rich black loam. Some of the best soil in the state, residents told them. This wasn’t a frontier. Cando, the county seat, had been established in 1886. School districts drawn in 1884 and elections held in 1884. Churches, schools, stores, railroads were all in place . . . but trees were scarce.
Some settlers had lumber shipped to them and could build frame houses, but most built sod homes. The process began with marking out the dimensions of the house. The Homestead Act required a home to be at least 8 foot by 10 foot. A breaking plow would slice the sod into strips, then they could be cut into 1 foot by 2 foot ‘bricks.’ The house walls would be built up, leaving openings for door and windows. With 2 foot thick walls the soddies made well-insulated homes. They would have to be. Towner County was along the northern edge of the state, bordering Canada and is one of the coldest areas of North Dakota. It averages 36” of snowfall a year and over 55 days of below zero temperatures.
Julius homesteaded 160 acres in Rock Lake, Towner County in 1899. This picture of Julius and Lillian’s family was taken 1903-4. The family is (l to r): Opal (age 7), Isaac (age 5), Julius, Ernest (age 3), Lillian (or Lily), twins Paul and Silas (age 2) and Esau (age 9). I think we should give Lily credit for getting her family so well dressed while living in a soddy with no electricity and probably no running water. We can see that the soddy has a glass window, a stovepipe, at least one wooden wall and a sod roof probably over planks and probably leaky.
On September 16, 1904 Julius, having fulfilled the required obligations, was granted his patent for 160 acres of land.
Connections: Julius Belt was the brother-in-law of my 3rd great uncle. Or Serepta Prather Acton is my 2nd great grandmother, her brother married Julius’s sister.
familyconnectionsblog - 