This 1862 act gave 160 acres of free land to anyone who had lived on it & improved it for 5 years
[DOC] [TLE] The Florida Homestead Act of 1862 - NetSide.net [PAR] An act passed by Congress in 1862 promising ownership of a 160-acre tract of ... 
who had resided on and cultivated the land for five years after the initial claim.