Daily AncestorQuarter section
A quarter section is 160 acres, one fourth of a 640 acre section in the federal survey, and the standard size of a homestead.
A quarter section is 160 acres, a quarter of one section in the federal survey. Quarters are named by direction, such as the NE 1/4.
It was the size of land many federal laws offered, including homestead and preemption claims, so it appears again and again in land entry files and patents.
As seen in a recordDescription in a homestead patent
the NE 1/4 of Sec. 22, T10N, R5E, containing 160 acres
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Daily Ancestor. "Quarter section." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/legal-land/quarter-section. Last checked 2026-10-01.