William Howard Taft

“ Further objection is made that the circumstance that Patrick H. Bodkin had himself made a homestead entry in his own right deprived him and his wife, coheirs of the contestant, their daughter, of the capacity to inherit. The only objection to the inheritance was that under the homestead laws an entryman can not perfect title to two homesteads. If he chooses to relinquish one, it removes objection to his perfecting the other, certainly when he does this under the permission granted him by the Secretary of the Interior. ”

“ On June 3, 1912, the local land office rejected the homestead application of Wells and allowed the application of Florence Bodkin, and this decision was affirmed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office on November 13, 1912. On May 27, 1913, the Secretary of the Interior reversed the decision of the Commissioner, because it appeared that on the 25th of March, 1912, before the suspension for investigation was removed, Florence Bodkin had died, and held that she had acquired no rights by her application to enter that would descend to her heirs. ”

“ The controversy arises on the effect of the proviso of section 2 of the Act of May 14, 1880, 21 Stat. 141, entitled 'An act for the relief of settlers on public lands,' as amended by the Act of July 26, 1892, c. ”