Falling for a Freeman: The Love Letters of the first Homesteader – Morning Ag Clips –

GREENWICH, N.Y. — Valentine’s Day is next week which means many people likely have love on their minds. Every couple has a unique story of how they ended up together. This is true for the case of Daniel Freeman, the first person to file a claim under the Homestead Act, and his wife Agnes. In the summer and fall of 1864, the couple exchanged a series of love letters which portray the bond they built with one another entirely by mail.

The Homestead Act of 1862 opened up thousands of acres of government owned land for settlement. Under the Homestead Act any U.S. citizen, or intended U.S. citizen, could file an application and lay claim to 160 acres of land. Applicants were required to live on and work the land for five years before they could file a deed of title and officially claim it as their own. The Act led to the migration of thousands of Americans westward, the immigration of people to start a new life in the United States, and the expansion of farming into the westward parts of the United States.1

Daniel Freeman is considered to be the first person to file a claim when the Homestead Act when it went into effect. Originally from Illinois, Freeman was serving as a scout in the Union Army and was stationed for a time in the Nebraska territory. While there he took a liking to the area and sought a particular plot of land near Beatrice, Nebraska. Legend has it that while attending a New Year’s Eve Party in Brownville, Nebraska on December 31, 1862, Freeman met some local Land Office officials. With the Homestead Act set to go into effect on January 1, 1863, he was able to convince the clerk of the office to open the office for him shortly after midnight and he filed a claim for the land making him the first official homesteader.2

The details of Freeman’s early life are somewhat scattered, but it is known that he was married to a woman named Elizabeth Wilber in 1852. However, Elizabeth deserted him in 1860 and they officially divorced in 1863.3 By 1864 Daniel was 38 years old and it appears he had finished his military service and had moved to Nebraska and began farming on his land. It is during this time that he began a correspondence of letters with a former friend of the family, a 20-year old woman named Agnes Suiter.

Agnes Suiter was a school teacher who lived in Le Claire, Iowa. Suiter attended college in Abingdon, Illinois, the Freemans’ hometown, which is likely where she first met the family.4 Later she was engaged to Daniel’s younger brother, James. Unfortunately, James died serving during the Civil War before they were able to be married. Since she was close to the family, Daniel and Agnes had definitely met before and Agnes remained close to family even after James’ death.5

On July 4, 1864 Daniel sent a letter to Agnes checking in to see how she was doing since it had been a while since he had last seen her. He told her that he was living on his land near Beatrice and was working to establish his farm. It appears she was on his mind, or there had been previous correspondence as he wrote, “I have just come home from a trip on the Plains hunting buffalo and find a lot of letters from different parts of the world and among them I would like to have had one from you…”6

Agnes received his letter and wrote back telling him of an instance of serendipity in which she wrote a letter to him on July 4^th as well saying, “…I cannot account for it from no other reason than this: we must have been thinking of writing and came to the conclusion to write at the same time.” Referring to him as “Brother Dan” she went on to write about spending time with his parents in Abingdon, updates on other members of her family and her preparations for teaching.7

Their next set of letters in August and September begin to get deeper. Daniel told Agnes how he was adjusting to life in the West. By this point he had livestock of some sort and also mentioned there being a large harvest of wheat, oats, and corn that year. Yet he also shared some inner feelings of sadness after losing his brother. “…No one can tell my feelings unless they have lost an only Brother. Before his death I never was lonesome or homesick no difference where I was. But now I am lonesome whether in company or alone, in a city or on the Plains,” wrote Daniel.8

Agnes shared in those feelings of grief writing, “Tis sad indeed to lose an only brother. I lost my only sister last Spring. She was young. Had not attained to the age to share my joys and sorrows and I know I feel lost without her. But when James died it was more than a friend. It is strange how we learn to love some one person more than a brother or sister. But Nature’s laws are such and we cannot avoid it.”9

Their letters in the fall of 1864 deal often with the Civil War. The war had been going since 1861 but was entering its waning stages before finally ending in April 1865. The war had touched most every person in America in some form or another including Daniel and Agnes. Daniel asked Agnes about the latest draft in Iowa and how soldiers he knew from the area were doing. Daniel himself was called away from farm work in August 1864 to aid in conflicts with Native Americans happening in the Nebraska territory. He wrote that the Native Americans were encouraged by Confederates to attack settlements in his area. Agnes similarly wrote of some of her relatives who were fighting at the time. Some of them she knew were doing well, but another she knew was taken prisoner and was unsure on his well-being.10

Their letters also cover more “mundane” topics and aspects of “normal life.” Agnes wrote often of her plans to teach school. She was pleased to write of a horse riding trip to Rock Island, Illinois in which she lead a group of 30 individuals for much of the journey. At one point she also felt it important to tell Daniel of her father and brother’s efforts to search for useful items hidden on the bottom of a local river which was low that year. She reported they did not find anything of value other than a copper bar weighing 1 ½ pounds.11

Yet throughout the autumn the letters show a growing interest in and admiration for one another. In a letter dated October 25, 1864 Daniel included a photograph of himself which Agnes had been asking for. In writing back to him Agnes, playfully says that many Iowa girls may fall in love with the picture, but doubts they will have the chance to fall in love with “the Original.” Later in a letter from late November 1864 Agnes wrote, “… if perchance some Iowa girl should fall in love with you whose chance is as good as her inclination if not better you say—may she be worthy of your love is my wish.” However, Agnes remained devoted to her former fiancée James saying that she would not love anyone she deemed inferior to him.12

In mid-December 1864 Daniel thinking he had a real chance with Agnes decided to display his full affections and intentions and proposed to her. Writing in a letter saying, “I think the lady that took the Premium Riding on horseback (a reference to Agnes and her trip to Rock Island) if disposed to marry would not object to become a farmers wife. What do you think? I am truly thankful for your good wishes in regard to that Iowa girl (another nickname for Agnes) who might have a chance to fall in love…I love you and would be happy in trying to make you happy if you can love me in return. I would like to make you Mrs. Freeman sometime this Winter.”13

On Christmas Day Agnes responded to him with an answer he was looking for. “The Lady you speak of would have no objection to becoming a farmer’s wife,” wrote Agnes. “Farming is indeed a noble occupation. I can speak for myself I was always partial to farmers I must admit from the fact that I was brought up in the Country the daughter of a farmer.” She explained her feelings further saying that she would always cherish James and consider him her “first love.” However, through her correspondence with Daniel she realized that she could love again. “… since I was mysteriously induced to address a few lines to you last fourth of July, I have felt that perhaps I was destined to cheer the heart of another. As true hearted perhaps as his brother had been I have indeed learned to love you. The kindness exhibited by you in the love of your letters has won my affections. I once gave my heart to a Mr. Freeman and I find that I am doing the same thing again…, wrote Agnes.14

With the engagement secure, the couple made arrangements to meet in Abingdon, Illinois during the winter. They did finally see each other in person and Daniel and Agnes were married February 8, 1865 at her parents’ home in Le Claire.15 They then headed back to Nebraska to begin their life together. The couple eventually had eight children and worked a profitable homestead. The Freemans and tenant farmers on their land grew corn, wheat, and oats, and had orchards of apple and peach trees. The family eventually became prosperous enough to build a two-story brick house to live in, an upgrade from their original log cabin. Daniel and Agnes remained together until his death in 1908. Agnes remained in Nebraska living with her children and their families until she passed away in 1931.16

Given their individual circumstances and large age-gap Daniel and Agnes Freeman’s marriage was unconventional judging by today’s standards. However, relationships of that kind may have been more common at that time. Regardless, there appears to have been genuine love for one another between the Freemans as they faced the challenges of the frontier and built a life together on the prairie.

To read Daniel & Agnes Freeman’s letters and see pictures of them, check out the Homestead National Historical Park website here.

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Author’s Note: Spelling and grammar in the quotations in this article were adapted to reflect the spellings and punctuation of today’s language.

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