52 Ancestors In 52 Weeks: Historic Event

15 May 1870 Lisle, DuPage County, Illinois

What would you do if someone were giving you the deal of a lifetime? What if it was only going to cost you and your family a small pittance of what it is all worth? We are taking this gift. We are heading west…farther west than anyone in my family has gone. We are pioneers, they say.

Uprooting most of my family, I am moving westward to Kansas. Married for 27 years now, some of our children are married adults. Some will take their families with us…some will remain behind. Will we ever see this part of our family again? That is a question that saddens us.

This wanderlust comes to me honestly. You see my grandfather and father brought their families from Pennsylvania, into Ohio, through Indiana, and finally to Illinois. Mary and I ourselves have settled on several farmsteads throughout Illinois.

It was during the War of the Rebellion as I served in the 55th Illinois that I heard about President Lincoln’s signing what was called The Homestead Act. I thought to myself that if I could survive this war than maybe Mary and I could take advantage of this act. We could start fresh. At that time, this was a weary soldier’s pipe dream. If only…

Next year, we are going to see that pipe dream fulfilled. The Homestead Act requires that we improve, build a house, cultivate the land for five years. After that time, we will pay a fee for filing a claim at the land office. We will receive 180 acres to call our own. So onward and westward to Kansas! May we prosper well there.

~Amos Howell Boultinghouse

Note: Amos and Mary Boultinghouse were my 2nd great grandparents. When they set out for Kansas, Mary was pregnant with her tenth child. When they arrived in Osborne County, Kansas, Mary gave birth to Lafayette Edward Boultinghouse just days later. Lafayette is recorded as the first white male born in that county. At that time, Amos was 53 while Mary was 43. Pioneers, indeed.