The act mention ed revived and years, &c. Ante, chap. 45. CHAP. 66. An act to revive and continue in force an act entitled "An act for the relief of the refugees from the British provinces of Canada and Nova Scotia." SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Reprecontinued for two sentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act entitled "An act for the relief of the refugees from the British provinces of Canada and Nova Scotia," approved on the seventh of April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, shall be, and the same is hereby, revived and continued in force for the term of two February 24, 1810; years from the passage of this act, and no longer.‡ Approved, March 16, 1804. See further act of chap. 107. See act of March 21805; chap. 75. The act mention ed revived and ПAnte, chap. 58. ers or proprietors locate them onlyon of the 50 quarter CHAP. 67.—An act granting further time for locating military land warrants, and for other purposes.§ SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Reprecontinued until the sentatives of the United States of America in Congress as1st of April 1805. sembled, That the act entitled "An act in addition to an act entitled An act in addition to an act regulating the grants of land appropriated for military services, and for the Society of the United Brethren for propagating the Gospel among the Heathen,'" approved the twenty-sixth day of April, eighteen hundred and two, be, and the same is hereby, revived and continued in force until the first day of April, one thousand eight hundred and five: Provided, however, Proviso; the hold- That the holders or proprietors of warrants, or registered of warrants, &c. to certificates, shall and may locate the same only on any unlo anyunlocated parts cated parts of the fifty quarter townships and the fractional townships, &c. quarter townships which had been reserved for original holders, by virtue of the fifth section of an act entitled "An act in addition to an act entitled 'An act regulating the grants of land appropriated for military services, and for the Society of the United Brethren for propagating the Gospel among the Heathen: "T And provided, also, That no holder or proor proprietor er prietor of warrants, or registered certificates, shall be perpermit mitted to locate the same by virtue of this act, unless the unless the Secreta Secretary of War shall have made an endorsement on such endorsement warrant or registered certificate, certifying that no warrant warrant has been has been issued for the same claim to military bounty land; issued for the same and by virtue of the second section of the act entitled "An act to revive and continue in force an act in addition to an act entitled An act in addition to an act regulating the grants of land appropriated for military services, and for the Society of the United Brethren for propagating the Gospel **Ante, chap. 64. among the Heathen, and for other purposes,' approved the third day of March, eighteen hundred and three. Approved, March 19, 1804. TAnte, chap. 51. Proviso; no holder warrants ted to locate them, ry of War has made an certifying that no claim, &c. [See Part II, Nos. 2, 43, 108, 113, 114, 115, 116, 121, 177, 189, 236, 237.] CHAP. 68. An act to ascertain the boundary of the lands reserved by the State of Virginia, northwest of the river Ohio, for the satisfaction of her officers and soldiers on continental establishment, and to limit the period for locating the said lands.* *See act of March 2, 1807; chap. 88. der the direction of ral, &c. to be con terly boundary Virginia, &c. for cers and soldiers, SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- The line run unsentatives of the United States of America in Congress as- the surveyor genesembled, That the line run under the direction of the sur- sidered as the wes veyor general of the United States, from the source of the line, &c. of the ter Little Miami towards the source of the Scioto, and which ritory reserved by binds, on the east, the surveys of the lands of the United the use of the offStates, shall, together with its course continued to the Scioto &c. river, be considered and held as the westerly boundary line, north of the source of the Little Miami, of the territory reserved by the State of Virginia, between the Little Miami and Scioto rivers, for the use of the officers and soldiers of the continental line of that State: Provided, That the State Proviso; if the State of Virginia, within of Virginia shall, within two years after the passing of this two years, recognises the line, &c. act, recognise such line as the boundary of the said territory. diers entitled, &c. locations within been located on ritory to which the been extinguished, SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all the officers Officers and soland soldiers, or their legal representatives, who are entitled to complete their to bounty lands within the above-mentioned reserved terri- three years, &c. tory, shall complete their locations within three years after the passing of this act; and every such officer and soldier, Officers and solor his legal representative, whose bounty land has or shall diers whose boun have been located within that part of the said territory to ty land shall have which the Indian title has been extinguished, shall make re- that part of the terturn of his or their surveys to the Secretary of the Depart- Indian title has ment of War, within five years after the passing of this act, to make return of and shall also exhibit and file with the said Secretary, and Surveys, &c. to the within the same time, the original warrant or warrants under within five years, which he claims, or a certified copy thereof, under the seal of the office where the said warrants are legally kept; which warrant, or certified copy thereof, shall be sufficient evi- Warrant, &c. to be dence that the grantee therein named, or the person under that the grantee, whom such grantee claims, was originally entitled to such entitled, &c. bounty land; and every person entitled to said lands, and thus applying, shall thereupon be entitled to receive a patent in the manner prescribed by law. Secretary of War &c. sufficient evidence &c. was originally served territory not surveys whereof returned, &c. with to be released from any claim for boun ty lands, &c. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That such part of the The part of the reabove-mentioned reserved territory as shall not have been located, &c., the located, and those tracts of land within that part of the said shall not have been territory to which the Indian title has been extinguished, in the time prethe surveys whereof shall not have been returned to the scribed by this act, Secretary of War within the time and times prescribed by this act, shall thenceforth be released from any claim or claims for such bounty lands, and shall be disposed of in conformity with the provisions of the act entitled "An act in addition to and modification of the propositions contained in the act entitled 'An act to enable the people of the eastern division of the Territory northwest of the river Ohio to form a constitution and State Government, and for the ad *Ante, chap. 61. mission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and for other purposes.'"* Approved, March 23, 1804. [See Part II, Nos. 2, 35, 43, 108, 113, 114, 115, 116, 121, 134, 136, 137, 236, 237.] The powers vested in the surveyor over all the public of the Mississippi, &c. The lands square, and divided, &c. expense of surveying, &c. not to exceed three dollars CHAP. 69.—An act making provision for the disposal of the public lands in the SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repregeneral to extend sentatives of the United States of America in Congress aslands, &c. north of sembled, That the powers vested by law in the surveyor genthe Ohio, and east eral shall extend over all the public lands of the United States to which the Indian title has been or shall hereafter be extinguished, north of the river Ohio, and east of the river Misbe surveyed into sissippi; and it shall be the duty of the said surveyor gentownships 6 miles eral to cause the said lands to be surveyed into townships six miles square, and divided in the same manner, and under the same regulations, and to do and perform all such other acts in relation to the said lands, as is provided by law in relation to the lands of the United States situate northwest of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river: Proviso; the whole Provided, That the whole expense of surveying and marking the lines shall not exceed three dollars for every mile for every mile. that shall be actually run, surveyed, and marked: And proProviso; tracts law vided, also, That such tracts of land as are lawfully claimed the title recog by individuals within the said boundaries, and the title wherenised, &c. to be to has been or shall be recognised by the United States, veyed at the ex shall be laid out and surveyed at the expense of the parties, respectively, in conformity with the true boundaries of such The surveyor gen- tracts. And it shall also be the duty of the said surveyor run, &c. the Indian general to cause to be run, surveyed, and marked, such of yet surveyed, &c. the Indian boundary lines of the said lands as have not yet and to ascertain, by been surveyed; and, with the approbation of the President vations, important of the United States, to ascertain, by astronomical observations, the positions of such places north of the river Ohio, and east of the river Mississippi, as may be deemed necessary for the correctness of the surveys, and to be the most important points of the geography of the country. fully claimed, and laid out and sur pense of the parties, &c. eral to cause to be boundary lines not astronomical obser points, &c. Three land offices to be established ritory. One at Detroit. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, for the disposal in the Indiana Ter- of the lands of the United States north of the river Ohio, and east of the river Mississippi, in the Indiana Territory, three land offices shall be established in the same: one at Detroit, for the lands lying north of the State of Ohio, to which the One at Vincennes. Indian title has been extinguished; one at Vincennes, for the lands to which the Indian title has been extinguished, and which are included within the boundaries fixed by the treaty lately held with the Indian tribes of the Wabash ; and One at Kaskaskia. one at Kaskaskia, for so much of the lands included within the boundaries fixed by the treaty of the thirteenth of August, one thousand eight hundred and three, with the Kaskaskia ceiver to be ap fice, &c. tribe of Indians, as is not claimed by any other Indian tribe ; and, for each of the said offices, a register and a receiver of A register and a republic moneys shall be appointed, who shall give security in pointed for each of the same manner, in the same sums, and whose compensation, emoluments, and duties, and authority, shall, in every respect, be the same, in relation to the lands which shall be disposed of at their offices, as are or may be by law provided in relation to the registers and the receivers of public moneys in the several offices established for the disposal of the lands of the United States north of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river. lands within any of scribed in the pre legal of French or British any resolution or &c. to deliver to and, for the purpose every grant, order of survey, &c. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That every person Persons claiming claiming lands within any of the three tracts of land descri- the three tracts de bed in the preceding section, by virtue of any legal grant ceding section, by made by the French Government prior to the treaty of Paris virtue of the tenth of February, one thousand seven hundred and grants, &c. or of sixty-three, or of any legal grant made by the British Gov- act of Congress, ernment, subsequent to the said treaty, and prior to the trea- the register a noty of peace between the United States and Great Britain of tice in writing, &c. the third of September, one thousand seven hundred and of being recorded. eighty-three, or of any resolution or act of Congress subsequent to the said treaty of peace, shall, on or before the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and five, deliver to the register of the land office within whose district the land may lie, a notice, in writing, stating the nature and extent of his claims, together with a plot of the tract or tracts claimed, and may also, on or before that day, deliver to the said register, for the purpose of being recorded, every grant, order of survey, deed, conveyance, or other written evidence of his claim; and the same shall be recorded by the said re- The register to register, in books to be kept for that purpose, on receiving from ceiving at the rate the parties at the rate of twelve and a half cents for every every 100 words. hundred words contained in such written evidence of their claim; and if such person shall neglect to deliver such notice, Persons neglecting in writing, of his claim, or to cause to be recorded such writ- &c. their rights, 30 ten evidence of the same, all his right, so far as the same is far void, and are forderived from any resolution or act of Congress, shall become ever barred. void, and forever be barred. cord, &c, on re of 12 cents for to deliver notice, become commissioners for by virtue of the er to take and sub SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the register and The register and receiver of public moneys of the three above-mentioned receiver, &c. to be land offices shall, for the lands respectively lying within examining claims their districts, be commissioners for the purpose of examin- preceding sections. ing the claims of persons claiming lands by virtue of the preceding sections. Each of the said commissioners shall, Each commissionprevious to entering on the duties of his appointment, re- scribe an oath. spectively, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation, before some person qualified to administer the same: "I, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will im- Form of the oath partially exercise and discharge the duties imposed upon me, as commissioner for examining the claims to land, by an act of Congress entitled 'An act making provision for the dis The commissioners to meet at the land offices are es manner respecting the claims, &c. each board to be gress, &c. tively, may ap point a clerk, &c. &c. decisions inade by ted to the surveyor posal of the public lands in the Indiana Territory, and for other purposes."" It shall be the duty of the said commissioners to meet at places where the the places where the said land offices are by this act estabtablished, &c. and lished, respectively, on or before the first day of January, hear in a summary one thousand eight hundred and five, and each board shall, in their respective districts, have power to hear in a summary manner all matters respecting such claims; also, to compel the attendance of witnesses, to administer oaths, and examine witnesses and such other testimony as may be adduced, and to decide thereon according to justice and equity; which The decision of decision shall be laid before Congress in the manner hereinlaid before Con- after directed, and be subject to their decision thereon. The said boards, respectively, shall have power to appoint a clerk, The boards, reper whose duty it shall be to enter, in a book to be kept for that Duty of the clerk, purpose, full and correct minutes of their proceedings and decisions, together with the evidence on which such decisions are made; which books and papers, on the dissolution of the boards, shall be deposited in the respective offices of A transcript of the the registers of the land offices; and the said clerk shall prethe commissioners, pare two transcripts of all the decisions made by the said &c. to be transmit commissioners in favor of the claimants to land, both of which general and to the shall be signed by the said commissioners, and one of which shall be transmitted to the surveyor general, and the other to the Secretary of the Treasury; and the lands the claims to which shall have been thus affirmed by the commissioners shall not be otherwise disposed of until the decision of Concommission- gress thereupon shall have been made. It shall likewise be ers to report to the the duty of the said commissioners to make to the Secretary Treasury claims of the Treasury a full report of all the claims filed with the register of the proper land office, as above directed, which they may have rejected, together with the substance of the evidence adduced in support thereof, and such remarks thereReports and tran. On as they may think proper; which reports, together with before Congress, the transcripts of the decisions of the commissioners in favor of claimants, shall be laid by the Secretary of the Treasury Each commission before Congress, at their next ensuing session. Each of the ed a compensation commissioners and clerks aforesaid shall be allowed a compensation of five hundred dollars, in full for his services as such; and each of the said clerks shall, previous to his entering on the duties of his office, take and subscribe the folForm of the oath. Towing oath or affirmation, to wit: " I, do solemnly Secretary of the The Secretary of the filed and rejected, &c. scripts to be laid &c. er and clerk allow of 500 dollars. Clerks to take an oath. harge swear (or affirm) that I will truly and faithfully discha the duties of a clerk to the board of commissioners for examining the claims to land, as enjoined by an act of Congress entitled' An act making provision for the disposal of All the lands not the public lands in the Indiana Territory, and for other excepted, &c. to be offered for sale purposes.' to the highest bidder, &c. at the land offices are SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all the lands aforeplaces where the said, not excepted by virtue of the preceding section, shall, kept, on days des- With the exception of the section "number sixteen," which ignated by procla- shall be reserved in each township for the support of schools mation, &c. |