The last in the series about Cornelia Albers’ invalid homestead claim in Dawson County, Nebraska, in the 1880s and her attempt to assign that claim to her grandmother.

A great deal of drama and legal wrangling took place over the Albers homestead claim. Both the Alberses and John H. Gronewold, who contested their claim hired lawyers as a part of the legal process.

Sometimes it makes one wonder what really happened when someone fights and contests something only to withdraw their contest at the last minute. The questions are greater if there is no apparent reason for the dropping of their contest.

That’s what John H. Gronewold did. After trying to obtain Cornelia and Antje’s claim based upon Cornelia being just shy of legal age when she made her claim and on claiming Cornelia’s assignment of her claim to Antje was not valid, John dropped his challenge.

Why?

I don’t know.

The Albers family did not complete the claim. Why Antje’s son (and Cornelia’s father) did not make the claim is not known. By 1880 the Albers family is in Denver, Colorado, only to eventually move to Albuquerque, New Mexico, shortly after that.

It is not too hard to see that Cornelia might have discovered that she was too young.

How Gronewold came to know that is another matter entirely. That I’m not certain of.

But there’s an interesting person living with the Albers family in Colorado in 1880.

Stay tuned….