72 



INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



Nonresident 

 may claim — 

 and 

 how 



Proviso — 



Members 

 may claim 

 for friends 

 and How 



Fraudelent 

 Claims — 



hold the claim he registers, while he remains a citizen 

 of the county, provided, he sh[all] within thirty days 

 after registering it, make or cause to be made some 

 purminant improvem [ent] upon it, & continue to im- 

 prove the same to the satisfaction of the County or dis- 

 trict board of Arbitrator [s] 



Any nonresident who may hereafter be desirous to 

 join this Union, shall first sign this constitution, and 

 after registering his claim, shall proceed within Thirty 

 days to occupy it with his family, or else make a a dur- 

 able and permant improvement, either by building a good 

 cabin for his residense, or by plowing; at least four 

 acres, and then if he is not able to continue the occupancy 

 of his claim either personaly or by a su[b]stitute, he 

 shall apply to the arbitrators, stating his reasons for 

 necesary absence, whether to move on his faimily, or 

 whether for other purposes, and they shall certify to 

 him wha[t] amount of labor he shall perform or cause 

 to be performed within a given length of tim[e] to en- 

 title him to hold his claim while he is absent, or for a cer- 

 tain time, which when done & proved to the Register & 

 entered of reccord, shall as fully entitle the claimant 

 to his claim as though he resided on it — Provided, the 

 board shall never grant a certificate to extend his ab- 

 sense one year from the date, unless the claimant has 

 performed at least one hundred dollars worth of labor 

 on his claim, and satisfied the board fully that h[e] 

 will within that time become an actual settler upon it — 



Any member of this Union may also register and im- 

 prove claims for his absent freinds, as above provided, 

 if he can & will satisfy the board (of the county or 

 district,) that [the] identical person for whom he makes 

 the claim will actualy become a settler & reside u[pon] 

 it within the specefied time — 



Any person found guilty by the board of making 

 fraudelent claims for speculating purposes, shall if a 

 member forfeit his membership in this union, and for- 

 feit al[l] right & title to hold the same and it shall be 



