SNGF – Research from Last Week – Reporting on Warren E. Gilbert Court & Land Research

Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to report on what genealogy search/research we did this past week. Did we have a research goal or plan? Did we make any breakthroughs in your research?

Here's mine:
I spent all week at IGHR (Institute of Genealogy and History Research) taking an advanced land platting class, where we had multiple platting problems to solve. It was fun and I got much better using the platting program called DeedMapper. Once class was over, I returned to my research on Warren E. Gilbert, husband of my great-grandaunt, Mary Martha Gleeson.

I am working on a Kinship Determination Project for my BCG renewal due later this year. In doing newspaper research in the towns in South Dakota (actually, it was Dakota Territory at this time), I came across a newspaper article published on 20 April 1886 about Warren being indicted by the United States for perjury.

“Warren E. Gilbert, indicted by the late United States grand jury for perjury in a land case, was brought over from Sioux Falls last night by Marshal Maratta. He gave the required bail and returned to him home to-day.”[1]

Because the United States grand jury indicted him, I knew I needed to get the court record from the National Archives. I checked to see which NARA branch the South Dakota court records were sent to and emailed the Denver branch. The next day, I received an email stating the territorial court records are at the Kansas City branch. My next email went there and a day later, I received an email stating they had the record and pointed me to an online invoice where I could pay with a credit card. I had my digital file that afternoon. What service!

Other newspaper articles also give clues. A 25 February 1887 article gives more information about perhaps what this case was about.

“Warren E. Gilbert, ce 9750, ne⅔ 33 102-65, is held for cancellation under report of special agent. He is allowed 60 days in which to apply for a hearing.”[2]

Land Records
Now I have information about the land that might be in question. The land description is written in code in the newspaper but most people at the time understood what it meant. It describes the exact location of federal land. The ce stands for “cash entry,” meaning he was paying for the land. The ne⅔ means the land is in the northeast two-thirds of a section, the 33 is the section number. The next two numbers refer to the Township and Range. The federal land system has everything divided up by townships and ranges, this one is Township 102, Range 65. The ne⅔ is an odd nomenclature but knowing this information, I can use the Bureau of Land Management website to locate the information about the land and see its exact location on a map.

He does have an entry in the BLM site, which shows he received a patent for the exact location, though it refers to the northeast quarter of section 33 instead of the northeast two-thirds.[3] Perhaps the newspaper made a typographical error.

Details about the land are shown on this screen. The land office was in Mitchell, which will be needed if I want to order this land record from the National Archives. He received 160 acres which correspond to a quarter section.

If I click on the button for a map, I can see where this land was located.

Zooming in gives me more details about the current boundaries and roads.

Court Records
The court records I received from the Kansas City branch of the National Archives have nineteen images, beginning with the indictment, payment of bail, Gilbert’s response, and the court’s overruling of his demur request.[4] However, there is nothing about how the case turned out.

I carefully transcribed each page to make sure I was not missing any details. Gilbert listed many people as potential witnesses along with their residences, so this list contains potential fan club members.

Since he received the patent on the land, he must have been found not guilty of the perjury charge. But I don’t know for sure. One more newspaper article appeared on 3 April 1888, so the case was still going on.

“The United States court calendar, for this term as made up comprises the following list of causes: . . . The United States vs. Warren E. Gilbert; same attorneys as above.”[5] The attorney listed above was H.J. Campbell. This is the same attorney in the court papers I received. I might have to email the archivist at Kansas City to see if there are other records of the cases.

Next Steps
My next step is to order his land entry file from the National Archives. I have a researcher who has done pulls for me in the past and the next time she is going is the week of August 21. I am hoping there will be more information in that file about the case.

I also am working on a timeline. The indictment was in April 1886. He married Mary Martha in September 1886. By November 1886, he is in court again asking for a demur. Did she know about the indictment?

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[1] “Local Laconics,” Press and Daily Dakotaian (Yankton, Dakota Terr.), 20 April 1886, p. 3, col. 1.

[2] “Land Office Notes,” The Mitchell Capital, 25 Feb 1887, p. 5, col. 6.

[3] U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records, patent search, Warren E. Gilbert, no. 9756, General Land Office Records (https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=SD1020__.340&docClass=STA&sid=ykuhu3wr.qdz ).

[4] United States of America vs. Warren E. Gilbert, Second Judicial District, Second District Court, Territory of Dakota, April Term 1886; Case Files, 1867-1888, US Territorial Court for the Second (Yankton) District of the District of Dakota; Record Group 21: Records of the District Courts of the United States; National Archives, Kansas City.

[5] “United States Court,” Press and Daily Dakotaian (Yankton, Dakota Terr.), 3 April 1888, p. 3, col. 3.

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