If these terms are admitted, we shall be ready to conclude Ohio Company. the contract. We have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, for ourselves and associates, gentlemen, your obedient humble servants, MẠNH. CUTLER. The honorable the BOARD OF TREASURY. JULY 27, 1787.-Ordered, That the above letter from Manh. Cutler and Winthrop Sargent to the Board of Treasury, containing proposals for the purchase of a tract of land described in the act of Congress of the 23d instant, be referred to the Board of Treasury, to take order; provided that, after the date of the second payment therein proposed to be made, the residue shall be paid in six equal and halfyearly instalments, until the whole thereof shall be completed, and that the purchasers stipulate to pay interest on the sums due, from the completion of the survey to be performed by the geographer. (1) In Congress, 1787, July 27. CHAP. 23. A motion being made in the words following: "Whereas the United States in Congress assembled have, Grant to the Moby their ordinance passed the 20th of May, 1785, among ravian Brethren. other things, ordained that the towns of Gnadenhutten, *Ante, chapter 14. Schoenbrun, and Salem, on the Muskingum, and so much of the lands adjoining to the said towns, with the buildings and improvements thereon, shall be reserved for the sole use of the Christian Indians who were formerly settled there, or the remains of that society, as may, in the judg ment of the geographer, be sufficient for them to cultivate: "Resolved, That the Board of Treasury except and reserve, out of any contract that they may make for the tract described in the report of the committee which on the 23d instant was referred to the said board, to take order, a quantity of land around and adjoining each of the before-mentioned towns, amounting, in the whole, to ten thousand acres; and that the property of the said reserved land be vested in the Moravian Brethren at Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania, or a Society of the said Brethren for civilizing the Indians and promoting Christianity, in trust, and for the uses expressed as above in the said ordinance; including Killbuck and his descendants, and the nephew and descendants of the late Captain White Eyes, Delaware chiefs, who have distinguished themselves as friends to the cause of America." Ordered, That the above be also referred to the Board of Treasury, to take order. (1) The boundaries contemplated by the letter and order above were altered and confirmed by act of 21st April, 1792. Post, chap. 36. In Congress, 1787, Sept. 24. CHAP. 24. Resolved, That Congress approve of the declaration made by the Board of Treasury at the time of selling the public lands, that the interest on the securities to be received in payment should not be computed, and direct them to proceed in the same manner in future sales, issuing certificates or indents of interest for the interest due on the certificates paid conformably to the authority given them for the sale of the lands between the seventh range of townships and the Sciota, on the 23d day of July last. In Congress, 1787, October 22. This resolution has into effect. See act chapter 43. Reservation for military bounties. CHAP. 25.-Resolved, That a million of acres of land, to be bounded east by the seventh range of townships, south not been carried by the land contracted for by Cutler and Sargent, and to of 1st June, 1796, extend north as far as the ranges of townships, and westward so far as to include the above quantity; also, a tract to be bounded as follows: beginning at the mouth of the river Ohio; thence, up the Mississippi, to the river Au Vause; thence, up the same, until it meets a west line from the mouth of the Little Wabash; thence, easterly, with the said west line, to the Great Wabash; thence, down the same, to the Ohio; and thence, with the Ohio, to the place of beginning; be reserved and set apart for the purpose of satisfying the military bounties due to the late army; and that no locations, other than for the said bounties, be permitted within the said tract, until they shall be fully satisfied. That the Secretary of War take measures for ascertaining the existing claims for such bounties, and that the geographer proceed to have the same surveyed, under the direction of the Secretary of War, agreeably to the terms upon which they have been promised. In Congress, 1788, June 6. Geographer to as line, &c. CHAP. 26.-Relinquishment of a tract of land to Pennsylvania, &c. On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Clark, Mr. Irvine, Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Wadsworth, and Mr. Brown, to whom was referred a motion of Mr. Irvine Resolved, That the geographer of the United States be, certain boundary and he is hereby, directed to ascertain, by himself or by a deputy duly appointed for the purpose, the boundary line between the United States and the States of New York and Massachusetts, agreeably to the deeds of cession of the said States. That the said geographer inform the Executives of the States of New York and Massachusetts of the time of running the said line, in order that they, or either of them, may, if they think proper, have persons attending at the time. That the said geographer, or his deputy, having run the make survey of a certain line, &c. meridian between Lake Erie and the State of Pennsylvania, Geographer to and marked and noted down in his field book proper land- land lying west of marks for perpetuating the same, shall proceed to make a survey of the land lying west of the said line, between Lake Erie and the State of Pennsylvania, so as to ascertain the quantity thereof, and make return of such survey to the Board of Treasury, who are hereby authorized and empowered, at any time before or after such survey, to sell the said tract in whole, at private sale, for a price not less than three fourths of a dollar per acre, in specie or public securities. drawing interest. On a report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Dane, Mr. Sedgwick, and Mr. Madison, to whom was referred a motion of the delegates of Pennsylvania Whereas it appears that the Board of Treasury, in conformity to the act of Congress of the 6th June last, have entered into a contract with the delegates of the State of Pennsylvania, in behalf of the said State, for the tract of land bounded east, agreeably to the cession of Western territory by the States of Massachusetts and New York, south by Pennsylvania, north and west by Lake Erie; and whereas the said tract is entirely separated from the other lands of the Western territory, over which the jurisdiction of the United States extends; and whereas, under these circumstances, it will be expedient for the State of Pennsylvania to hold and exercise jurisdiction over the tract aforesaid; therefore, In Congress, 1788, Sept. 4. Pennsylvania. Resolved, That the United States do hereby relinquish Relinquishment and transfer all their right, title, and claim, to the government and jurisdiction of the said tract of land, to the State of Pennsylvania forever. And it is hereby declared and made known that the laws and public acts of the said State shall extend over every part of the same tract, to all intents and purposes as if the same had been originally within the charter bounds of the said State; provided that the inhabitants of the said tract shall be maintained in all the rights and privileges which other citizens of the said State of Pennsylvania are now, or may hereafter be, constitutionally entitled to enjoy.(1) CHAP. 27.—Provisions respecting claims and donations in the Territories of In Congress 1788, June 20. Dane, Report on the me whom Morgan, &c., re asso- specting a tract of morial of George The committee, consisting of Mr. Williamson, Mr. Mr. Carrington, Mr. Kearney, and Mr. Wingate, to was referred a memorial of George Morgan and his ciates, respecting a tract of land in the Illinois country, on sissippi. (1) See, in fulfilment of this resolution, the act of the 3d January, 1792, post, chap. 35. land on the Mis the Mississippi, having reported thereon, and their report being amended to read as follows: "That there are sundry French settlements on the river Mississippi, within the tract which Mr. Morgan and his associates propose to purchase. Near the mouth of the river Kaskaskies there is a village which appears to have contained near eighty families from the beginning of the late revolution. There are twelve families in a small village at la Prairie du Rochers, and near fifty families at the Kahokia village. There are also four or five families at Fort Chartres and St. Philip's, which is five miles farther up the river. The heads of families in those villages appear, each of them, to have had a certain quantity of arable land allotted to them, and a proportionate quantity of meadow and of woodland or pasture. Your committee are of opinion, that from any general sale which may be made of the lands on Recommendation the Mississippi, there should, at least, be a reserve of so isfy ancient set much land as may satisfy all the just claims of the ancient of a reserve to sat tlers, &c. The Board of &c. settlers on that river, and that they should be confirmed in the possession of such lands as they may have had at the beginning of the late revolution, which may have been allotted to them according to the laws or usages of the Governments under which they have respectively settled. And whereas an additional quantity of land may be necessary for the support of those people whenever the settlement shall increase, and the Indian trade, by which they have chiefly subsisted, shall become less profitable, your committee are of the opinion that such allowance should also be made to them within the reserved limits. Your committee observe that, in the contract which is already made for the sale of a tract of land in the Western country, the purchasers are to be charged with surveying three lots which are reserved for the benefit of the United States. They conceive that future contractors may be relieved from this expense, but they would propose that every agreement hereafter to be made shall be equally binding on the contracting parties; whereupon they submit the following resolves: "That the Board of Treasury be authorized to contract ized to contract, with any person or persons for a grant of a tract of land, which shall be bounded as follows: beginning on the river Au Vase, in the parallel of latitude of the mouth of Little Wabash river; thence, running due north, to the parallel of latitude which passes through the mouth of Wood river; thence, west, to the Mississippi at the mouth of Wood river; thence, down the river Mississippi, to the mouth of the river Au Vase; thence, up the said river, to the place of beginning, under the exceptions and reservations hereinafter mentioned. Conditions of sale. "That the purchaser or purchasers shall oblige themselves to lay off the tract, at their own expense, into townships or fractional parts of townships, and to divide the same into lots, according to the land ordinance of the 20th May, 1785, (1) complete returns of which are to be made to the Board of Treasury. The lot No. 16 in each township or fractional part of a township, to be given perpetually for the purposes. contained in the said ordinance; and the lot No. 29 in each township or fractional part of a township, to be given perpetually for the purposes of religion; and that each of the several townships shall be thus laid off before the original purchaser or purchasers shall have disposed of the same, or made any settlement therein. The price to be not less than two thirds of a dollar per acre for the contents of the said tract, except the reservations and gifts herein mentioned, payable in specie, loan office certificates reduced to specie value, or certificates of liquidated debts of the United States; the principal only of the said certificates to be received in payment; and the Board of Treasury, for such interest as may be due on the certificates rendered in payment as aforesaid, prior to the 1st day of January, 1787, shall issue indents for interest to the possessors, which shall be receivable in payment as other indents for interest of the existing requisitions of Congress; and for such interest as may be due on the said certificates between that period and the time of payment, the board shall issue indents, the payment of which to be provided for hereafter. That part of the purchase-money, not less than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, shall be paid down upon the closing of the contract, and the remainder of the purchase-money whenever the Indian claim shall have been extinguished, and the boundary line of the tract run by the geographer of the United States, or his assistant, the contents of the land which is to be sold ascertained, and a plot of the same returned to the office of the Treasury Board; on which payment a grant shall be made, and the purchaser or purchasers shall have the right of entry and occupancy. "That separate tracts shall be reserved for satisfying the claims of the ancient settlers, which shall be included within the following boundary, viz: a straight line to be extended from the mouth of the little river Marie, below the river Kaskaskies, to the old French fort, on the east side of the said river Kaskaskies, and opposite the Kaskaskie village; thence, north, three miles; thence, west, across the Kaskaskies river, to the ridge of rocks and high land which extend from the Kaskaskies to the Illinois rivers; then, along the west side or foot of the said ridge of rocks and high land, to the parallel that runs two miles north of the church at Kahokia; thence, west, to the river Mississippi; thence, down the said river, to the mouth of the river Marie. Reservation of se parate tracts to sat. sfy claims of an cient settlers, &c. to be taken for confirm "That measures be immediately taken for confirming in Measures their possessions and titles the French and Canadian inhab- ing titles of French itants, and other settlers on those lands, who, on or before and Canadian set (1) See the ordinance, ante, chap. 14, page 11. tlers, &c. |