CHAPTER VII. WHERE TO SETTLE. The question "where to settle" is a serious one to the emigrant. The suggestions here offered are not in favor of any particular locality or community. They are such as must pre sent themselves to every person who will give the subject serious consideration. The wonderful diversity of soil and climate, society and facilities for the several industries presented by the broad expanse of our country, offers to every man a congenial location and a happy home. The advantages of migrating in companies of three to twenty families are many. AL agent can be chosen to examine the region in which after full inquiry, correspondence and reading, it is decided to settle. Low rates can be obtained for outfit, traveling and other ex penses, land in large quantities can be bought cheap, while the discomforts of going upon government lands are materially lessened when friends go in colonies. Starting with the assumption that the emigrant is industrious, sober and intelligent, the points to be aimed at are-first and foremost, health and bodily comfort, second, mental and moral growth; third, financial success in the near future. HEALTH AND BODILY COMFORT. If the health of himself and family is good, a climate like the one he is leaving should be sought by the settler. Run no risk by going upon the lowland when accustomed to the hills, to a humid atmosphere from a dry bracing one, or the reverse. Consult the family physician, and gain all information possible about the mean annua! temperature, extremes of heat and cold, the amount of rainfall, chills and fever, etc., in the region decided upon. On the other hand, a change of climate often restores physical vigor. Many a consump tive from bleak New England has discovered fountains of health in the south and southwest The surroundings, especially the state of society, have much to do with physical comfort In a turbulent, irreligious community, where crime goes unpunished and the criminal is some what of a hero, a peace-loving family will be in a constant state of worry, that must eventu ally affect their general health. Let such regions be avoided as a pest-house is shunned. Political troubles prevent immigration, as they aid emigration or an exodus. No community that deprives any honest citizen of his political rights can expect to secure an intelligent class of immigrants, and may expect to lose those who are disfranchised. The enterprising among them will find homes amidst a wiser people, and let the office-holders collect their salaries from waste land if they can. There is no truer axiom than that in any neighborhood each man's gain is everybody's gain and each man's loss is everybody's loss. MENTAL AND MORAL GROWTH. Seek a State or Territory whose officials appreciate churches and schools; where taxpayers perceive the fact that every dollar spent on education and religion is a saving of two dollars on the jail and penitentiary, where newspapers are numerous and libraries have been started. and literary, temperance and other societies are encouraged by the leading citizens. In sparsely settled regions in the Territories where society is not fully organized, much cannot be expected in the matter of education and religion, but the tone and sentiments of the people may be taken as a sure index of the future. FINANCIAL SUCCESS. The settler must determine the kind of business he will pursue, then seek a locality best adapted to carrying it on. Farming is the most common and safest occupation in a new country. If he would make a specialty of live stock, fruit culture, wheat raising, or aught else, let the farmer consider all that tends to success. Railroad facilities, river and lake transportation, and nearness to markets, must be looked to; also the fence and other real estate laws, State and county debts, and the laws relative to municipal indebtedness, rates of taxation, character of officials, etc.; whether the school houses, churches and public buildings are already erected, and society fully organized. Homestead exemptions, cost of living and of building materials, nearness to stores, mills, etc., abundant water supply, Indians, droughts, grasshoppers, potato bugs, and everything else that can affect his success, should receive due attention. Land near a railroad at $5.00 an acre, is cheaper than land at $1.25 several miles from transportation. Do not buy too much land simply because it is cheap. One hundred and sixty acres are all an ordinary man can attend to properly, and taxes on a large farm balance considerable profit. Other things being equal, choose a settlement near mines and manufactures, or rapid streams likely to be used for manufactures; near the junction of rivers or valleys, where a valley crosses a river or ends at a lake. Such locations always secure good markets for farm produce, and rapidly advance the price of land, becoming centres of business and sites for future cities. The title which a settler acquires to lands in this country is in fee simple. It is not a lease for any term of years, but perpetual ownership, whether he buys of the general Government, State, or corporation. The land becomes his property, to hold during life, and transmit to his heirs, or he may sell it at will. There is no landlord, no rent to pay, nor are any church rates exacted. He is himself lord of the manor, and peer of his fellow-citizens of all classes. ADDRESSES.(*) For the information of settlers the following addresses are appended: I. A list of the United States land officials. 2. A list of State land and immigration officers and agents. 3. A list of railroad land commissioners and agents. | Garden City..H. P. Myton.. Independence M. J. Salter Kirwin.. .John Bissell Larned.......W. R. Brown. Oberlin ..A. L. Patchin Salina.........John M. Hodge.. Topeka.......John J. Fisher.. A. J. Hoisington. Henry Booth. WaKeeney...B. J. F. Hanna..... W. H. Pilkenton. Wichita......R. L. Walker.......Jas. L. Dyer. LOUISIANA. Natchitoches. Louis Dupleix...... A. E. Lemee. New Orleans. Chester B. Darrall..Morris Marks. MICHIGAN. Detroit.......Adam E. Bloom....L. G. Willcox. MINNESOTA. Benson........Darwin S. Hall.....Heman W. Stone. Crookston....John Crumb..... .Paul C. Sletten. Duluth .....John R. Carey......E. G. Swanstrom. Fergus Falls.. B. N. Johnson..... .John H. Allen. Redwood Falls E. P. Freeman..... W. B. Herriott. St. Cloud.....D. H. Freeman.....Wm. B. Mitchell. Taylor's FallsJohn P. Owens.....Peter H. Stolberg. Tracy........ Chas. B. Tyler......John Lind. Worthington.Mons Grinager.....C. H. Smith. MISSISSIPPI. Jackson......R. C. Kerr..........John T. Hull. Ironton. MISSOURI. Boonville.....Gustave Reiche.....P. H. McNulty. .James H. Chase....Geo. H. Crumb. Springfield...Geo. A. C. Woolley.James Dumars. ΜΟΝΤΑΝΑ. Bozeman..... Beatrice.....Hugh J. Dobbs.....Wm. H. Somers. Grand Island.C. Hostetter.. NEVADA. Eureka.......F. H. Hinckley.....Harvey Carpenter. NEW MEXICO. Las Cruces... John R. McFie.....S. W. Sherfey. Lakeview ..Jas. H. Evans.. .Jérome Knox. UTAH. Salt Lake CityH. McMaster........ .M. M. Bane. WASHINGTON. Olympia. ......John F. Gowey.....R. G. Stuart. Spokane FallsJ. M. Armstrong....Jno. L. Wilson. Vancouver....F. W. Sparling......A. O. Marsh. Walla Walla..J. Jorgensen.......James Braden. Yakima......R. B. Kinne........James M. Adams. WISCONSIN. Bayfield... ..A. K. Osborn.. ....Currie G. Bell. WYOMING. Cheyenne....Edgar W. Mann.... W. S. Hurlbut. Evanston.....C. Priest..... S. Crocker. Wm. H. Harris, State Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration, New Orleans, La. MICHIGAN. James M. Neasmith, Commissioner of State Land Office, Lansing, Mich. W. A. Webber, President State Immigration Society, F. J. Much, State Swamp Land Commissioner, NorLittle Rock, Ark. W. J. Murphy, Secretary, ditto. D. W. Lear, Commissioner State Lands, Little Rock, Ark. CALIFORNIA. J. W. Shanklin, State Surveyor-General and Register J. Ham Harris. Land Agent of University, San Francisco, P. O. box 2040. Immigration Association of California, A. R. Briggs, President, J. A. Johnson, Secretary, C. H. Street, Land Officer, Sacramento, California. COLORADO. J. C. Shattuck, Immigration Agent, and Secretary of State Board of Land Commissioners, Denver, Col. James Duff, Private Immigration Agent, Denver, Col. FLORIDA. Hugh A. Corley, Commissioner of Lands, Tallahassee, Florida. Seth French, Commissioner of Bureau of Immigration, Jacksonville, Florida. Samuel Fairbanks, Assistant, ditto. wood, Mich. Fred'k Morley, Commissioner of Immigration, Detroit, Mich. A. A. Robinson, Commissioner of Immigration, Jack-A. G. Kendall, State Land Commissioner, Lincoln, sonville, Florida. R. C. Long, Secretary Board of Immigration, Jacksonville, Florida. Columbus Drew, Agent Board of Immigration, Jacksonville, Florida. County Immigration Agents. Alachua county-B. W. Powell, Micanopy. Duval county-A. J. Russel, Jacksonville. *Leon county--- Tallahassee. Levy county-W. H. Sebring, Bronson. Volusia county-M. B. Rolfe, New Smyrna. IOWA. James K. Powers, Register State Land Office, Des Moines, Iowa. John M. Davis, Deputy, ditto. Nebraska. Waterloo Immigration and Improvement Association, R. H. Huddleston, President, W. H. Clark, Secretary, Waterloo, Nebraska. NEVADA. Andrew J. Hatch, Surveyor-General and Register of State Land Office, Carson City, Nevada. I. N. Fassett, Deputy Register, ditto. Captain John Mullan, State Land Agent and Attorney, Washington, D. C. NEW MEXICO. TERRITORIAL BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION. Officers. W. G. Ritch, President. Mariano S. Ótero, Vice-President. L. Spiegelberg, Treasurer. Jno. H. Thomson, Secretary. Members at Large. Lionel A. Sheldon, Governor, ex-officio, Santa Fe, N. M G. W. Stoneroad, Cabra Springs. Bernalillo county-Wm. C. Hazledine, Albuquerque George D. Perkins, State Immigration Commissioner, Doña Aña county-Albert J. Fountain, Mesilla. KANSAS. P. I. Bonebrake, Register of State Lands, Topeka, Kan. J. A. Haughanout, Agent University Lands, Neosha Falls, Kansas. Van. R. Holmes, Agent State Normal School Lands, Emporia, Kansas. L. R. Elliott, Agent Agricultural College Lands, Manhattan, Kansas. Grant county-Martin W. Bremen, Silver City. John Swann, Montgomery, Ala. LOCAL LAND AGENTS. S. E. Dobbs, Porterville, Ala. LOUISVILLE AND NASHVILLE RAILROAD COMPANY. R. W. A. Wilda, General Land Agent, Birmingham, Ala. Wm. Richard, Collecting Agent Land Department, Cullman, Ala. None reported. ARIZONA. CALIFORNIA. CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY. C. J. Torbert, Deputy Land Commissioner, Fourth and Townsend Sts., San Francisco. Has no Land Agents. SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY. Jerome Madden, Land Agent, Fourth and Townsend Sts., San Francisco. Has no Local Agents. ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY. P. Daggy, Land Commissioner, Room 36, No. 78 Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Ills. ST. LOUIS, IRON MOUNTAIN And southern RAILWAY Has no Local Agents COMPANY. Thomas Essex, Land Commissioner, Little Rock, Ark. LOCAL LAND AGENTS. T. J. Allison, Austin, Ark. LITTLE ROCK AND FORT SMITH RAILWAY COMPANY. W. D. Slack, Land Commissioner, Little Rock, Ark. Agents not reported. MEMPHIS AND LITTLE ROCK RAILROAD COMPANY. Thomas Essex, Agent, Little Rock, Ark. (See Advertisement of Wheat and Fruit Lands for Sale.) IOWA. SIOUX CITY AND PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY. T. C. Hill, Superintendent, Missouri Valley, Iowa. LOCAL LAND AGENTS. J. D. Brown, Missouri Valley, Iowa. J. W. Ritz, Sergeant's Bluff, Iowa. CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY. (a) Circulars were sent to all land grant railroad companies, with the request to send the names and addresses of their land commissioners and agents. Any desired changes or additions to this list will be gladly made for future editions. |