____________________________________________________________________________ Preemption Proof State of Arkansas, County of Hempstead, Be it remembered, that on the 20th day of May in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, Sion B. Dickson, of the County of Pike, in the State of Arkansas personally came before me, the undersigned, a justice of the peace within and for the County of Hempstead in the (State) aforesaid, at Washington in said county, in the presence of the Register and Receiver at Washington, Arkansas and being duly sworn, deposeth and sayeth: That, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, he purchased an improvement on the public lands of the United States from a certain Stacia Davis; the township in which said improvement is situate was at that time unsurveyed, but said township was surveyed in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven and said improvement found to be upon the South East quarter of Section Eight in Township Eight South of Range Twenty-five West in the district of Lands subject to sale at Washington, Arkansas. This deponent further shows that said improvement consist(ed) of a dwelling house and other out-houses and about twenty acres of improved land under fence, and he further states that in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, he cultivated on said tract about fifteen acres, principally in corn and that he resided there and had possession of the same on the 19th day of June, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, and he further states that he is over the age of twenty-one years of age, to wit: thirty-two years of age, a married man, the head of a family consisting of a wife and six children. Deponent further sayeth not. Sion B. Dickson Sworn to and subscribed to before me, this twentieth day of May, one thousand eight hundred & thirty-nine. R.L. Phillips, J.P. ____________________________________________________________________________ And at the same time and place, John Hughes and James Hughes personally came before me in the presence as aforesaid, and being duly sworn state on oath, that, they, are personally well acquainted with the within named Sion B. Dickson and that they know that he is over twenty one years of age, the head of a family, and that in the year Eighteen hundred and thirty three he cultivated about fifteen acres upon the South East quarter of Section Eight in Township Eight South of Range number Twenty five West in the district of lands subject to sale at Washington, Arkansas and that he resided thereon with his family and had possession of the same on the nineteenth day of June, Eighteen hundred and thirty four. And further, they say not. John Hughes James Hughes Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 20th May 1839. R.L. Phillips, J.P. ____________________________________________________________________________ Certificate 4023, Washington, Arkansas Land Office, Record Group 49, National Arhives, Washington, D.C. ____________________________________________________________________________ HTML file and design by David Kelley, 1997. All rights reserved.