From Wikipedia
The Florida Armed Occupation Act of 1842 (5 Stat. 502) was passed as an incentive to populate Florida.
The Act granted 160 acres (0.6 km²) of unsettled land south of the line separating townships 9 and 10 South (an east–west line about three miles (5 km) north of Palatka and about ten miles (16 km) south of Newnansville to any head of a family as long he satisfied the following conditions:
be a resident of Florida and not having 160 acres (0.6 km²) of land in Florida when asking for the permit;
get a permit from the Lands Office;
he or his heirs reside for five consecutive years on the grant ;
clear, enclose and cultivate 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land during the first year;
build a house on the lot during the first year;
the land should be two or more miles away from a garrisoned military post.
The total land to be granted should not be more than 200,000 acres (800 km²) under the act.
The Act also did something unusual and forward thinking for its time. It gave women the right to inherit the grant if something happened to her husband, the head of the household. The result was to give a woman the right to be head of household, and she could apply for a 160 acre grant in her own name and some did. Women came to Florida as homesteaders on their own, without a man. At that time in history women were not allowed to buy property in their own name.