Virginia law allows for the filing of a homestead deed within your local county Land Records office. In Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax, homestead deeds are recorded in the Land Records Division of the Fairfax Circuit Court.

Thousands of African-Americans made their way to Kansas and other Western states after Reconstruction. The Homestead Act and other liberal land laws offered blacks (in theory) the opportunity to escape the racism and oppression of the post-war South and become owners of their own tracts of private farmland.

Requirements of the Homestead Act Land titles could also be purchased from the government for $1.25 per acre following six months of proven residency. Additional requirements included five years of continuous residence on the land, building a home on it, farming the land and making improvements.

End of homesteading The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ended homesteading; by that time, federal government policy had shifted to retaining control of western public lands. The only exception to this new policy was in Alaska, for which the law allowed homesteading until 1986.

Homesteaders included citizens, immigrants seeking naturalization, women, men, African Americans, and whites. American Indians, who were not recognized as U.S. citizens, were excluded.

The Homestead Act, enacted during the Civil War in 1862, provided that any adult citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. government could claim 160 acres of surveyed government land. Claimants were required to live on and “improve” their plot by cultivating the land.

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Court order books also contain records related to runaway slaves held at the jail and individuals reimbursed for serving on slave patrols. The Fairfax Court Slavery Index has captured the names of thousands of enslaved and indentured persons who lived in Fairfax County.The Civil War removed the slavery issue because the Southern states had seceded from the Union. The multipurpose room features videos of the house graffiti. The term "contraband" referred to slaves who fled to freedom during the war. Researchers found 11 new gravesites believed to be enslaved African Americans. The graves are in Bull Run Regional Park next to the Atlantis Waterpark. Saffer lives near the slave quarters. Though there were once many slave dwellings in the state, this building type is now almost extinct. Unlike the era's few slave owners manumitted slaves, Carter freed his slaves while he was still living rather than in a will.

Homestead Act Former Slaves In Fairfax

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