Calvert v. Ramsey
Texas Supreme Court
Appeal from Jack. Tried below before the Hon. A. J. Hood. Calvert sued defendants in error, February 6,1880, claiming that he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land in Jack county in 1878, by settling upon it as the head of a family; that the land was then vacant unappropriated public domain; and that he had twice made formal demand of the surveyor to survey the same for him, once in 1878, and once in 1879, but that the surveyor refused to survey the same; that he…
Read the full summary
Appeal from Jack. Tried below before the Hon. A. J. Hood. Calvert sued defendants in error, February 6,1880, claiming that he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land in Jack county in 1878, by settling upon it as the head of a family; that the land was then vacant unappropriated public domain; and that he had twice made formal demand of the surveyor to survey the same for him, once in 1878, and once in 1879, but that the surveyor refused to survey the same; that he had. since his settlement .continuously occupied the land and improved and cultivated the same. That after his settlement,…
1Opinion of the Court
Watts, J. Com. App.—
Under the pre-emption laws of this state, actual occupancy and cultivation of the land for three years has always been a condition precedent to securing title as a pre-emptor. If, after a settlement has been made upon public land, and before the three years’ occupancy and cultivation has concurred, the settler voluntarily abandons the land, he thereby forfeits all pre-emption privileges, and the land becomes subject to settlement, location and survey, as other unappropriated public domain. Gambrell v. Steele, 55 Tex., 585; Bledsoe v. Cains, 10 Tex., 455.
A temporary absence…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Commissioner of the General Land Office v. SmithTexas Supreme Court · 1849
- Todd v. Fisher & MillerTexas Supreme Court · 1862
- Burleson v. DurhamTexas Supreme Court · 1876
- T. W. House & Co. v. CollinsTexas Supreme Court · 1874
- Bledsoe v. CainsTexas Supreme Court · 1853
3Cited by2 opinions
- Drinkard v. BarnettCourt of Appeals of Texas · 1897
- Prideaux v. GlasgowCourt of Appeals of Texas · 1893