An act of Congress was approved amending the 1830 pre-emption act, designed to prevent speculation in village lots.

The evidence

• “In their haste to secure a village as a business and industrial center of the little community, the settlers at what is now Beloit acted in direct and apparently irremediable contravention of the law governing the occupation of public lands. The act of Congress approved May 29, 1830, amended by the act approved June 22, 1838, was specially designed to prevent speculation in village lots, and prohibited in express terms the pre-emption of public lands for any other than farming purposes. The people of Beloit, after deliberation, decided to pursue a way out of their difficulty and secure a legal title to their land, by selecting some settler in whom the entire community had confidence, and quit-claiming to him every foot of ground embraced in the village, and allowing him to pre-empt it in his own name, and, after he had obtained title, receive from him a re-conveyance of their titles.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/15-rock-county-ch09-beloit.md, PDF p. 607 / book p. 611

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources