"That a homestead consisting of any quantity of land not exceeding
eighty acres, and the dwelling house thereon and its appurtenances,
to be selected by the owner thereof, and not included in any
incorporated town, city or village, or instead thereof, at the
option of the owner, a quantity of land not exceeding in amount one
lot, being within an incorporated town, city or village, and the
dwelling house thereon and its appurtenances, owned and occupied by
any resident of this State, shall not be subject to attachment,
levy, or sale, upon any execution or any other process issuing out
of any court within this State. This section shall be deemed and
construed to exempt such homestead in the manner aforesaid during
the time it shall be occupied by the widow or minor child or
children of any deceased person who was, when living, entitled to
the benefits of this act."
Thus the State, in its bountiful protection, says to its citizen, "You
may be unfortunate, even blamably improvident, nevertheless the State
shall not allow you and yours to be thrown paupers on the world. Your
homestead is still left to you, a competency at least."
There are also reserved for the settler, free from all law processes,
all his household furniture up to the value of $300, 3 horses, or in
lieu 1 horse and yoke of oxen, 2 cows, 11 sheep, 3 hogs, wagon, harness,
and all his farming machinery and implements; also a year's supply of
family provisions or growing crops, and fuel, and seed grain not
exceeding 50 bushels each of wheat and oats, 5 of potatoes, and one of
corn, also mechanics' or miners' tools, with $400 worth of
stock-in-trade, and the library and instruments of professional men.
This is the beneficent protection which the State throws around the poor
man's home. Yet there is one way in which he may forfeit it.
Should he have the misfortune to mortgage his homestead the law can no
longer protect him; he is in the toils of the money lender, and should
poor crops or other set-backs come to him now, there is every
probability that he will lose his home.
We say to our settlers, avoid this fatal error, misfortune almost always
follows it; toil, slave, fast, rather than mortgage your homestead.