# Robert Ball Anderson, ex-slave, built 2,000-acre Nebraska farm

2026-08-14T17:30:34+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 1 independent outlet

Times of India reports that Robert Ball Anderson, a former slave and Union Army veteran, filed a homestead claim in Nebraska in 1870. After drought and grasshoppers destroyed his first farm, he worked as a cook and farmhand to rebuild savings. By 1884 he had saved $1,600 and moved to Box Butte County, where he acquired land through homestead claims and purchases, eventually owning over 2,000 acres. Despite racial discrimination and financial setbacks, Anderson became one of the largest African American landowners in western Nebraska.

## Coverage

- timesofindia.indiatimes.com <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/in-1870-a-former-slave-and-union-soldier-staked-a-homestead-in-nebraska-drought-and-grasshoppers-cost-him-the-claim-but-he-eventually-owned-more-than-2000-acres/articleshow/133243778.cms>

Tags: Homestead Act, Nebraska, Robert Ball Anderson
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