Heritage and More: Donahue's Begin Life in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin

Land Acquisition, and The Farming Begins

Thomas and his young bride obviously had a plan in mind as they stepped off the boat in Sheboygan that day. The first step was to sell the original Bounty Warrant for 160 acres when on July 8, 1850 Thomas affixed his mark to a bill of sale assigning the right of ownership of his original land patent for 160 acres to John Stevens. Their first child John was born some nine months later in April 1851 and proper shelter and a way to sustain themselves may have been an immediate requirement.

The notarized transfer document shown below does not reveal the amount of the sale. This makes it difficult to really determine how much cash Thomas received, if any. It certainly was not stolen nor was Thomas cheated out of the document. This was somewhat of a problem due to all the Bounty Warrants being issued as a method of settling pay obligations due to the soldiers coming back from Mexico. The folklore surviving from these times tells stories of many young men losing all due them. Even after being warned by their Company Officers, arriving back in New Orleans from Mexico, their first stop on U.S. soil, and heading immediately for all the bars and entertainment of the large city only to become drunk and being coerced into signing over their Bounties for pennies on the actual dollar worth. Thomas escaped that eventuality.

The First Step, Selling or Transferring the Bounty Land Warrant

How the Land Was Acquired- One Explanation

At this point just how the land transaction of the eventual 80 acre farm was completed becomes a bit clouded. In looking over the pension file documents previously it was easy to conclude that Thomas sold his Bounty Warrant for 160 acres and used part of the cash to finance a smaller parcel of land. The original deed for the smaller parcel has recently been found and in essence Thomas did finance the purchase as previously thought but the details of the transaction are really not concise as to how exactly the purchase was made.

Thomas signed an indenture for 100 dollars on 80 acres of land on the very same day he signed over his Bounty Warrant. In reading the original deed he clearly became sole proprietor of the land that day. The deed reflects the owner or seller of the land was one John Stevenson and his wife Elizabeth. Now to literally accept the names on the two documents, the Bounty transfer as well as the Deed, as being absolutely accurate is problematical. Perhaps an error was made in transcribing the actual signed document into the County Register. The County records do not have the actual notary seals attached implying that the County only copied the originals when the transaction was officially filed. A reasonable assumption for surely the original document was maintained by Thomas as the absolute proof of title. I tend to believe that John Stevens and John Stevenson are one and the same person but others do not.

Based on this transaction it appears that Thomas exchanged his Bounty Paper good for 160 acres for the smaller parcel. This leads me to believe that the 80 acres was probably a working farm complete with a home, barn and equipment, and maybe even livestock. All conjecture at this point but in reading the deed one might deduce that there were enough improvements and other value that may have been included in a trade that made the land acquisition a fair exchange. The use of the word “appurtenances” is the key here for it can be interpreted to confirm the above possibility although some dictionary sources provide a single definition i.e. “including any easements previously granted by the seller”. Other dictionary sources give two meanings, covering easements, and implying all current buildings and equipment present on the property at the time of sale. At this point it is quite reasonable to conclude that the Donahue’s purchased property that allowed them to begin farming immediately. It was probably tillable land, maybe even with the seasons crops already planted.

A Partial Copy of the First Page of the Donahue Deed to 80 Acres as Found in the Manitowoc County Records

The Provider of the Copy Failed to Copy the Entire Deed Recording. This However is Sufficient to Validate Land Descriptions Found in Other Documents.

Another Viewpoint- The Most Likely Conclusion

Another cousin currently active in tracing our Donahue roots is Floyd Billings Jr. of Orem, Utah. Floyd has contributed a wealth of information reflecting his some 50 years of gathering all his ancestral information, the Donahue line of course only involving a portion of his research. Floyd presents another likely possibility that Thomas did not trade his Bounty for the lesser 80 acres, instead he received cash on his sale and immediately, on the same day, purchased the land that he settled on. He then saved the remaining cash for several years and later purchased other land in the county. A very likely possibility in all likelihood for if he had acquired land through a trade he probably would not have had remaining cash to operate on if it was considered an even trade. In short Floyd believes that the two names I consider as being the same person really are two different individuals.

Floyd’s comments,

I had also noticed that both of Thomas Donahue's land transactions -- the selling of the soldier's land warrant and the purchase of the 80 acres -- took place on the same day 8 July 1850. I also had noted the similarity in the names John Stevens and John Stephenson and had also wondered, like Allison, if they were somehow the same person and that one of the names was recorded in error. I have now concluded, however, that they were probably not the same person and that the similarity in names is only a coincidence.

Concerning John and Elizabeth Stephenson who sold the 80 acres to Thomas Donahue: They appear (as Stevenson) in the 1850 census of Newton Township (part of which later became known as Liberty) on page 89 with seven children. Joh. Stephenson appears in the 1855 census of Newton, page 46. In 1860. John and Elizabeth Stephenson appear in the census of Buchannan township (an early name for Liberty after it was divided from Newton) with five children, page 204. So it appears that there really were some people named Stephenson.

Since the land warrant papers include the signature of John Stevens, I have concluded that John Stevens and John Stephenson are in fact two different people. It is all a bit strange though.

He concludes with:

Like you, I also assume that the 80 acres, since they were previously owned, were probably at least partially cleared and developed and that Thomas and Mary could begin at least some farming as soon as they arrived. The fact that Thomas was able to pay $480 for an additional 120 acres in July 1855, at the same time supporting a wife and three small children, would certainly indicate that they had a fairly good source of income by that time.

I must admit that it would have been wise to retain cash left from the Bounty sale in order to deal with any unforeseen future needs. Based on that and the fact that he did pay cash at a later time makes me want to agree with Floyd that the land was not acquired as a one to one trade for the Bounty Warrant.

Where They Settled

All this took place about ten or twelve miles to the Southwest of Manitowoc, a city very much in it’s infant stage during these early years. On current Wisconsin maps a small dot denotes the location we are interested in as Osman. It cannot be very large today, if it ever was, but it was the location of the local Post Office for many years as mentioned often as the mailing address for different individuals in various documents found in the Donahue Pension file. Osman is where the local Catholics came together to pool their resources in order to build a church for the Irish, the German and other descents to worship in. That church, St. Isidore’s, no longer functions as a parish but the adjacent cemetery still exists in good condition. Many of the Donahue’s were buried there over the years although Thomas and Mary were buried in Calvary Cemetery in Manitowoc proper after their move to the city in the late 1800’s. At least one of their son’s as well as a brother, a sister and nephew and nieces are documented as being laid to rest in the St. Isidore Cemetery.

Donahue Land Notations
A partial view of the Osman and Meeme areas of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin

The above map is really a copy of a page that was used to make notes on while accumulating all the land property descriptions for various Donahue family members. It is crude in fashion to say the least but all the properties and dates were noted as I came across them. The Thomas Donahue 80 acre farm is the focus here but others need a brief explanation as well. That property is identified on the left of the map in Liberty Township.

The 160 acres claimed by John Stevens on his legally acquired Bounty Warrant some six months after purchasing it from Thomas is located at the upper right on the map. On the right below that is property acquired later in the 1850’s by Thomas and a portion of which he sold to his brother Patrick.

At the bottom center of the map is the location of the farm of Arnold Siehr and his wife Mary Donahue, sister of Thomas and Patrick. You can see how all the families are all centered around the small community of present day Osman. Osman very well may have had the early name of Meeme, another nearby township. If not, Meeme has long disappeared but for certain it was near today’s Osman.

The details of Arnold Siehr and his wife Mary Donahue, as well as later property transactions of Thomas and his brother will be posted at another time.

Donahue Original Land Bounty Claim and the Process Involved

The original Land Bounty claim is shown below which details the precise location of the claimed 160 acres, claimed by one John Stevens after he became rightful owner of the acreage granted in the warrant. What Stevens did with his newly acquired right for a tract of 160 acres really did not affect the Donahue’s. Since the Pension file is so complete with all the details tracking the actual life of the Bounty from beginning to end they are included here in order to reveal more of how the Government actually dealt with the Bounty process.

The location of the 160 acres of land that Stevens eventually filed on is but a short distance from the land Thomas and his wife actually acquired. There were two documents in the Pension file that were subsequently filed by John Stevens involved in the process of recording his property claim with the Federal Land Office in Green Bay Wisconsin and they follow here. The first dated January 4, 1851 the apparently filed as an application for a deed and the second, actually recorded in Green Bay on January 9, 1851, approving the Bounty Claim. Why two documents were required is puzzling but both were included in the Donahue file in order to bring closure to the Bounty Claim process. A formality I am sure, but probably a procedure to document that Thomas no longer had a legal claim on any property due to his Mexican service.