1845 is not so long ago. I bet if you found a deed from 1845 that said your family was the owner of a couple of acres of prime real estate, you’d try to claim it. Rightfully so, because it’s yours.
Maybe if I was T. "Schwimmer" Kennedy. In the real world, No Money = No Honey. There are laws on the books now that say that any citizen can lay claim to any free lands and as long as they provide proof that they are improving it then it belongs to them. I was doing some research last year and remember coming across that one. Note, however, that if a government employee does not agree with some old law then they feel no obligation to abide by it. Costs quite a bit to retain a lawyer and sue to get any sort of "justice".