The land grant certificate issued in 1878 to James Moss, the founder of Mossville. In 1852 President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the Homestead Act. Under this federal law, a citizen or intended citizen, including a Black person emancipated from slavery, could acquire up to 160 acres of federal public land by paying a small registration fee, living on the land and making an improvement on it, such as building a house. (Courtesy of U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management)