On the night of September 13-14, 1814, Francis Scott Key, an artillery soldier, watched the British attack Fort McHenry and, seeing the American flag still flying in dawn’s early light, was inspired to write the four stanzas later adopted in 1931 as the National Anthem. Decades later, in 1855, War of 1812 veteran Pvt. Thomas Toam took ownership of 128.5 acres in Hudson, Wisconsin, through a bounty-land warrant signed by President James Buchanan. The United States Government issued these warrants to entitle veterans to up to 160 acres of land, and veterans of the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, Indian Wars, and Mexican War of 1848 were eligible before the program was discontinued in 1855. Toam’s land encompassed lots 13, 4 and 5 of Sec. 19, Township 32 of Range 15, recorded at Hudson, Wisconsin, as Warrant # 24871, making him the first owner of these parcels of land.