Belcher v. Farren

Citations

• 89 Cal. 73
• 26 P. 791
• 1891 Cal. LEXIS 775

Syllabus

<p>Swamp-lands—Application to Purchase—Segregation to State__An application for the purchase of swamp-land, filed before the segregation to the state, confers no right upon the applicant.</p> <p>Id. — Suitableness fob Cultivation—Actual Settlement. —An application for the purchase of swamp land, made by one not an actual settler upon the land, confers no right upon the applicant if the land is suitable for cultivation.</p> <p>Id. — Evidence—Opinions—Proof op Suitableness for Cultivation. — If facts appearing in evidence show that the land is suitable for cultivation, an objection that some of the witnesses were allowed to express their opinions as to the question of suitableness for cultivation is not ground for reversing the judgment.</p> <p>Id. —Proof of Actual Settlement— Bona Fides. —The actual settlement required of a purchaser of land suitable for cultivation must be bona fide, and must not consist of occasional visits or casual acts not done in good faith to make a home, but simply to secure cheap land; yet if a home is actually established, motives cannot be further questioned.</p> <p>Id. — Proof of Citizenship — Wife Born Abroad — Naturalization of Husband — Record Evidence.—A widow, born in Ireland, whose parents never came to this country, and who was never naturalized, and who claims the right to purchase land from the state on account of citizenship by marriage to a naturalized citizen, cannot prove the naturalization of her husband by parol, but must produce record evidence, or prove the loss or destruction of the record.</p>