Dalva Mincy

Quick Facts

Significance:

Alabama Homesteader

Place of Birth:

Alabama

Date of Birth:

About 1847

Place of Death:

Geneva County, Alabama

Date of Death:

November 1924

Dalva Mincy, a single black woman with eight children, succeeded in becoming a homesteader in 1890s Alabama.

It’s evident that Dalva had support from her community throughout the process as she applied for and settled her homestead. On the original homestead affidavit and Application #26487 dated March 7, 1892, Dalva indicated that she was a citizen of the United States, over 21 years old, and intended to begin her continuous residency on the land within six months of her application. She placed her mark of “X” swearing to the completion of the form that was also signed by S.F. Latimer, Circuit Clerk of Geneva County, Alabama.

On the original homestead application Dalva’s 39.95 acres of land was described as the Southwest quarter of the Northeast quarter of Section 33 in Township 3N of Range 20-E. This document was signed by Dalva’s “X” mark and this process was certified by J.H. Bingham, Register of the Land Office, in Montgomery, on March 9, 1892. On the same date, her filing fee of $6.00 was recorded by Nathan K. Alexander, Receiver.

A statement submitted to the Circuit Court of Geneva County by neighbors reflected that Dalva had members of the community looking out for her best interest to become a landowner. Both neighbors were also in the process of proving their individual homesteads on nearby properties. On March 28,1893, John Carpenter and John (James) Mincy submitted a document that described an error in the original land description of Dalva’s property. They stated that there had been a failure to obtain the correct description and that she had not sold, assigned, or agreed to sell the previously described land. They provided the correct land description on which she had been living and improving since March of 1892. That description was the Northeast quarter of the Northwest quarter of Section 33 in Township 3N of Range 20-E.

Dalva also submitted a statement to R.J. Purvis, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Geneva County, on March 28, 1893, that described her error in obtaining the correct land description. She requested an amendment to reflect the correct information on her original request so she could proceed to secure her home. It was signed by her “X” mark. As a result, a typewritten notation was added to the original Homestead application previously dated March 9, 1892. The correction included was:

“Montgomery, Alabama, May 4th, 1893, Amended per Commissioners letter (C) of April 20th, 1893, to read for the NE ¼ of the NW ¼ of Section 33 Tp. 3 north of range 20 East.”

Dalva was required to submit a list of witnesses as part of her intention to finalize the claim to her homestead. Witnesses were expected to provide written statements confirming her continuous residence on, improvement to, and cultivation of her land. Dalva listed Croel Berry, Harry Eddins, Peter Eddins, and Ephraim Smith as witnesses.

Dalva’s notice of application and witness names were published in Geneva County’s Tribune, a weekly newspaper on November 11, 1897. The statement was posted for six consecutive weeks from November 17 to December 22, 1897. The publisher's affidavit was signed by Editor Jeff L. Davis and received by R.J. Purvis, Circuit Court Clerk.

Dalva provided her claimant testimony on December 22, 1897. She described herself as a fifty-year old, single woman born in Alabama. Her initial homestead application was dated May 4, 1893, and submitted to the land office in Montgomery. She established residence on the land a year earlier in March 1892 with her eight children. She described her residence as a log dwelling valued at $35 including improvements. Over the years, about five acres of land had been cultivated and six seasons of crops were produced. Dalva’s statement was signed with her mark of “X.”

Peter Eddins, age 54, and Croel Berry, age 43, were available to provide witness testimonies to support Dalva's application. Both witnesses confirmed that she lived on the land, made improvements, and successfully cultivated six seasons of crops. They confirmed that neither of them was interested in her claim and that Dalva had acted in good faith to complete the homestead proof process. Both witnesses signed their testimony statements with their marks of “X” on December 22, 1897.

Dalva’s final documents were processed at the Land Office and Receiver’s Office in Montgomery on December 29, 1897, when a testimony fee of sixty-five cents was recorded by the Receiver’s office. The Final Certificate #16267 was issued for 39.94 acres located at the NE ¼ of the NW ¼ of Section 33 Tp. 3 north of range 20 East by Robert Barber, Register. This process entitled Dalva Mincy to the patent for the tract of land described above, which was approved on April 30, 1898. The patent was finally issued on June 1, 1898.

Although this documents the process of Dalva Mincy becoming a single, black female homestead owner in rural Alabama in 1898, it only brushes the surface of what this woman had to endure throughout the process. Details of her children were omitted, as information about their lives, and the early beginnings of Dalva’s life, are still being researched. Those details will be shared in later versions of this story.

What is to be celebrated and acknowledged in Dalva Mincy’s story is the determination of a mother to obtain and create a home for her children under some of the most extreme circumstances. The spirit that drove her to do whatever it took to survive and thrive for the sake of her children cannot be ignored. It’s that same spirit that many Black homesteaders shared in a strong community that was determined to succeed.

Dalva remained owner of her homestead for fourteen years until she sold it to Lula Blaylock on January 3, 1912. On January 10,1913 Dalva married Harry Eddins, a widower who had served as one of her homestead witnesses. Harry had also been a homesteader, although, according to the 1920 United States Census, they were living in a rented residence in Leverette, in Coffee County. The details of how they landed in Leverette will be shared in Harry’s homestead story. Dalva died in November 1924, but she left a lasting legacy for her children and their families as a hardworking and dedicated mother who accomplished landownership for her family.

Patent Details - BLM GLO Records

Contributed by: Mary K. Clark, Ph.D. 

Dr. Mary K. Clark
Photo Credit: Dr. Clark

Relationship to Homesteader: Second wife of 2^nd Great-Grand Uncle Harry Eddins
About the contributor: Dr. Mary K. Clark is an author who was raised in rural Millington, Michigan. She considers herself a fact teller rather than a storyteller. Her nonfiction stories are based on lived experiences and memories that have been collected in over 30 years of journal writing. She is in the process of researching and writing stories of at least 15 Alabama homestead ancestors and their witnesses.  

In May 2022, Clark retired as an administrator at Wayne State University in Detroit after working as a higher education administrator for over 30 years in various leadership positions. She earned a B.A. in Fashion Merchandising from Bowling Green State University, an M.A. in Counseling from Wayne State University, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Toledo. Since 2015 Dr. Clark has served as a Michigan state-appointed AARP volunteer. She also serves as a national AARP Volunteer Facilitation & Training Team (VFTT) member where she develops and presents specialized volunteer-led training throughout the U.S.

She enjoys gardening, traveling, painting and doing family history research. The pandemic provided an opportunity for her to expand her genealogy community through memberships with the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society - New Jersey (AAHGS-NJ), Kentucky Genealogical Society, Indiana African American Genealogy Group (IAAGG), Genealogical Forum of Oregon African-American Special Interest Group (GFO) and Arkansas Chapter of the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society (AAHGS-AR).