The following is an excerpt from “Suttons Bay, Peshawbestown and Bingham Shores on Grand Traverse Bay” by Kathleen Firestone. This and other books by Firestone can be purchase at local book stores.
The Pre-emption Act of 1841 gave “squatters” the right to purchase federal land if they had been living and developing it for at least 14 months.
Leelanau was declared a Michigan county in 1854. Settlers had been buying property for $1.25 per acre, and land barons did the same. To stop speculators from taking large amounts of land, with no intention of living or building on it, the Graduation Act of 1854 offered land for 50 cents per acre, with certain conditions. A person or family had to live on the land or adjacent to it for a period of five years, while adding improvements such as a home, barn, other outbuildings, and/or crops in the field. After five years the resident had to show “proof” before receiving a patent assuring title to the land, issued by the General Land Office in Washington and mailed to the office in Traverse City.
