the Revolution), whether regular or volunteer, and whether they died in the service or since their muster out or discharge therefrom. Headstones will be furnished also for the unmarked graves of Army Nurses who had regular or volunteer commissions as such. These headstones are of best American white marble, 39 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 4 inches thick, the top slightly rounded, and the portion of the stone which will be above ground when set is sand-rubbed; each headstone is inscribed with the name, rank (if above private), company, and State regiment, or other organization, to which the deceased belonged, cut in relief, within a sunken shield. No deviation can be made from these specifications, which are prescribed by the Secretary of War, and the law does not provide for any expenditure for fences or for any other purpose except for the headstone as above described. No money allowance is made in lieu of furnishing headstones. Headstones will be shipped, freight prepaid by the Government, only to the nearest railroad station or steamboat landing; they will not be delivered to street addresses or to the cemetery. SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' HOMESTEAD RIGHTS. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND OFFICE, 1. Any officer, soldier, seaman, or marine who served for not less than 90 days in the Army or Navy of the United States during the Civil War and who was honorably discharged and has remained loyal to the Government, and who makes a homestead entry, is entitled under section 2305 of the Revised Statutes and the act of June 6, 1912 (37 Stat., 123), to have the term of his service in the Army or Navy, not exceeding two years, deducted from the three years' residence required under the homestead laws. Similar provisions are made in the acts of June 16, 1898 (30 Stat., 473), and March 1, 1901 (31 Stat., 847), for the benefit of like persons who served in the late War with Spain, or during the suppression of the insurrection in the Philippines. 2. A soldier or sailor of the classes above mentioned who makes entry as such must begin his residence and cultivation of the land entered by him within six months from the date of filing his declaratory statement, but if he makes entry without filing a declaratory statement he must begin his residence within six months after the date of the entry. Thereafter he must continue both residence and cultivation for such period as will, when added to the time of his military or naval service (under enlistment or enlistments covering war periods), amount to three years; but if he was discharged on account of wounds or disabilities incurred in the line of duty, credit for the whole term of his enlistment may be allowed. However, no patent will issue to such soldier or sailor until there has been residence and cultivation by him for at least one year, nor until a habitable house has been placed upon the land. If the soldier's military service was sufficient in duration to require only one year's residence and improvement upon the claim, the entryman must perform such an amount of cultivation as to evidence his good faith as a homestead claimant. If his military service was of such limited duration as to require more than one year's residence upon the claim, he will be required to perform cultivation to the extent of one-sixteenth of the area of the entry, beginning with tho second year thereof, and if proof is not submitted before the third year he must also cultivate at least one-eighth of the entry, beginning with the third year and continuing to date of proof. 3. No credit for military service can be allowed where commutation proof is submitted. 4. A party claiming the benefit of his military service must file with the register and receiver a certified copy of his certificate of discharge, showing when he enlisted, when he was discharged, and the organization in which he served, or the affidavit of two respectable, disinterested witnesses, corroborative of the allegations contained in his affidavit on these points, or if neither can be procured his own affidavit to that effect. PERIODS OF SERVICE FOR WHICH CREDIT MAY BE GIVEN IN LIEU OF RESIDENCE. 5. In determining the rights of parties under sections 2304-2309 of the Revised Statutes the Civil War is held to have lasted from April 15, 1861, to August 20, 1866; the Spanish War and Philippine Insurrection from April 21, 1898, to July 15, 1903. No credit for military service can be given unless a soldier or sailor served for at least 90 days between the dates above mentioned. In computing the period of service of a soldier "who has served in the Army of the United States," within the meaning of that phrase as used in section 2304 of the Revised Statutes, the entrance of the soldier into the Army will be considered as dating from his muster into the service and not from his enlistment, if he was a volunteer; credit for military service in the Regular Army is counted from date of enlistment. An entryman having enlisted and served 90 days during any one of the wars above mentioned is entitled under section 2305 of the Revised Statutes to credit for the full term of his service under that enlistment, although such term did not expire until after the war ceased. 6. A person who served for less than 90 days in the Army or Navy of the United States during said wars is not entitled to have credit for military service on the required period of residence upon his homestead, although he may have been discharged for disability incurred in line of duty. 7. A person serving in the Army or Navy of the United States may make a homestead entry if some member of his family is residing upon the land applied for, and the application and accompanying affidavits may be executed before the officer commanding the branch of the service in which he is engaged. Such soldier or sailor is not required to reside personally upon the land, but may receive patent if his family maintain the necessary residence and cultivation until the entry is three years old or until it has been commuted. The soldier's family in this connection is restricted to his wife and minor children. 8. A soldier is entitled to the same credit for military service in connection with homestead entries under the enlarged homestead act of February 19, 1909 (35 Stat., 639), as amended by the acts of June 13, 1912 (37 Stat., 132), and February 11, 1913 (37 Stat., 666); and under the act of June 17, 1910 (36 Stat., 531), which was also amended by said act of February 11, 1913, as is allowed in connection with ordinary homestead entries. 9. The special privileges accorded soldiers or sailors, as indicated in this circular, are not subject to sale or transfer, and can only be exercised by the soldier or sailor himself, his widow, if unmarried, or his minor orphan children. The adult child of a soldier has no special privileges in connection with the homestead laws on account of his father's military service. HOMESTEAD RIGHTS OF WIDOWS AND MINOR ORPHAN CHILDREN OF DECEASED SOLDIERS AND SAILORS. 10. (a) If a soldier or sailor makes an entry or files a declaratory statement, and dies before perfecting the same, the right to perfect the claim, including the right to claim credit for the soldier's military service, passes to the persons named in section 2291, Revised Statutes; that is, to his widow, or, if there be no widow, to his heirs or devisees. (b) In case of the death of any person who would be entitled to a homestead under the provisions of section 2304 of the Revised Statutes, but who died prior to the initiation of a claim thereunder, his widow, or in case of her death or remarriage, his minor orphan children by a guardian, duly appointed and officially accredited at the Department of the Interior, may make the filing and entry in the same manner that the soldier or sailor might have done, subject to all the provisions of the homestead laws in respect to settlement and improvements; and the whole term of service, or in case of death during the term of enlistment, the entire period of enlistment in the military or naval service will be deducted from the time otherwise required to perfect the title to the same extent as might have been allowed the soldier. (Sec. 2307, Rev. Stat.) Where a homestead entry is made under section 2307, Revised Statutes, by the widow or minor orphan children of a deceased soldier or sailor, compliance with law both as to residence and improvement is required to be shown to the same extent as would have been required of the soldier or sailor in making entry under section 2304, Revised Statutes, except that credit will be given upon the three-year period for the entire term of the enlistment, not exceeding two years, where the soldier or sailor died during the term of his enlistment, provided he served at least ninety days. (c) In case of widows the prescribed evidence of military service of the husband must be furnished, with affidavit of widowhood, giving the date of her husband's death. In case of minor orphan children, in addition to the prescribed evidence of military service of the father, proof of death or remarriage of the mother must be furnished. Evidence of death may be the testimony of two witnesses or a physician's certificate, duly attested. Evidence of marriage may be certified copy of marriage certificate, or of record of same, or testimony of two witnesses to the marriage ceremony. Minor orphan children must make a joint entry through their duly appointed guardian, who must file certified copies of the powers of guardianship, which must be transmitted to the General Land Office by the registers and receivers. 11. All homestead applicants who are not native-born citizens of the United States must have declared their intention to become citizens of this country, and before submitting proof must be fully naturalized. An honorable discharge from the United States Army, or an honorable discharge from the United States Navy or Marine Corps, after five years' consecutive service in the Navy, or one enlistment in the United States Marine Corps, is equivalent to a declaration of intention on the part of such soldier, sailor, or marine, and he may, therefore, make a homestead entry without formally declaring his intention to become a citizen, but must, of course, perfect final naturalization before submitting proof. REVISED STATUTES. SEC. 2293. In case of any person desirous of availing himself of the benefits of this chapter, but who, by reason of actual service in the military or naval service of the United States, is unable to do the personal preliminary acts at the district land office which the preceding sections require; and whose family, or some member thereof, is residing on the land which he desires to enter, and upon which a bona fide improvement and settlement have been made, such person may make the affidavit required by law before the officer commanding in the branch of the service in which the party is engaged, which affidavit shall be as binding in law, and with like penalties, as if taken before the register or receiver; and upon such affidavit being filed with the register by the wife or other representative of the party, the same shall become effective from the date of such filing, provided the application and affidavit are accompanied by the fee and commissions as required by law. SEC. 2304. Every private soldier and officer who has served in the Army of the United States during the recent rebellion for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged and has remained loyal to the Government, including the troops mustered into the service of the United States by virtue of the third section of an act approved February thirteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and every seaman, marine, and officer who has served in the Navy of the United States or in the Marine Corps during the rebellion for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged and has remained loyal to the Government, and every private soldier and officer who has served in the Army of the United States during the Spanish war, or who has served, is serving, or shall have served in the said army during the suppression of the insurrection in the Philippines for ninety days, and who was or shall be honorably discharged; and every seaman, marine, and officer who has served in the Navy of the United States or in the Marine Corps during the Spanish war, or who has served, is serving, or shall have served in the said forces during the suppression of the insurrection in the Philippines for ninety days, and who was or shall be honorably discharged, shall, on compliance with the provisions of this chapter, as hereinafter modified, be entitled to enter upon and receive patents for a quantity of public lands not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, or one quarter section, to be taken in compact form, according to legal subdivisions, including the alternate reserved sections of public lands along the line of any railroad or other public work not otherwise reserved or appropriated, and other lands subject to entry under the homestead laws of the United States; but such homestead settler shall be allowed six months after locating his homestead and filing his declaratory statement within which to make his entry and commence his settlement and improvement. (As amended by act March 1, 1901.) SEC. 2305. The time which the homestead settler has served in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps, shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, or if discharged on account of wounds received or disability incurred in the line of duty, then the term of enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, without reference to the length of time he may have served; but no patent shall issue to any homestead settler who has not resided upon, improved, and cultivated his homestead for a period of at least one year after he shall have commenced his improvements: Provided, That in every case in which a settler on the public land of the United States under the homestead laws died while actually engaged in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps, of the United States as private soldier, officer, seaman, or marine, during the war with Spain or the Philippine insurrection, his widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children or his or their legal representatives, may proceed forthwith to make final proof upon the land so held by the deceased soldier and settler, and that the death of such soldier while so engaged in the service of the United States shall, in the administration of the homestead laws, be construed to be equivalent to a performance of all requirements as to residence and cultivation for the full period of five years, and shall entitle his widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children or his or their legal representatives, to make final proof upon and receive government patent for said land; and that upon proof produced to the officers of the proper local land office by the widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children or his or their legal representatives, that the applicant for patent is the widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, his orphan children or his or their legal representatives, and that such soldier, sailor, or marine died while in the service of the United States as hereinbefore described, the patent for such land shall issue. (As amended by act March 1, 1901.) SEC. 2307. In case of the death of any person who would be entitled to a homestead under the provisions of section two thousand three hundred and four, his widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children, by a guardian duly appointed and officially accredited at the Department of the Interior, shall be entitled to all the benefits enumerated in this chapter, subject to all the provisions as to settlement and improvement therein contained; but if such person died during his term of enlistment, the whole term of his enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect the title. SEC. 2309. Every soldier, sailor, marine, officer, or other person coming within the provisions of section two thousand three hundred and four, may, as well by an agent as in person, enter upon such homestead by filing a declaratory statement, as in preëmption cases; but such claimant in person shall within the time prescribed make his actual entry, commence settlements and improvements on the same, and thereafter fulfill the requirements of the law. |