The information required by a resolution of the House of Representatives, of the 19th instant, in relation to the boundary line between the State of Georgia and the Territory of Florida.

DECEMBER 29, 1831.

Read, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

J

WASHINGTON, December 29, 1831.

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives, of the 19th instant, requesting the President of the United States to communicate to it "the correspondence between the Governor of Georgia and any department of this Government, in the years 1830 and 1831, in relation to the boundary line between the State of Georgia and the Territory of Florida," I transmit, herewith, a communication from the Secretary of State, with copies of the papers referred to.

It is proper to add, as the letter and resolutions on this subject, from the Governor and Legislature of Georgia, were received after the adjournment of the last Congress; and as that body, after having the same subject under consideration, had failed to authorize the President to take any steps in relation to it-that it was my intention to present it, in due time, to the attention of the present Congress by a special message. This determination has been hastened, by the call of the House for the information now communicated; and it only remains for me to await the action of Congress upon the subject.

ANDREW JACKSON.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, December 28th, 1831. The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred, by the President, a resolution of the House of Representatives, of the 19th of this month, requesting the President to furnish that House with a copy of any correspondence which may have taken place in the year 1830 or 1831, between the Executive of Georgia and any department of this Government, relative to the boundary line between the State of Georgia and the Territory of Florida, has the honor to transmit,

herewith, to the President, the copy of a letter under date the 22d of March, 1831, from the Governor of Georgia, addressed to the President himself upon the subject in question, together with a copy of the resolution of the Assembly of Georgia therein referred to; which letter and resolution were deposited, by order of the President, in this department.

That communication comprehends all the correspondence, within the purview of the resolution of the House of Representatives, which is to be found in this office; but an indistinct recollection is nevertheless entertained here, that the letter of the Governor of Georgia was answered by the President, though it does not appear that a copy of his letter was kept.

Respectfully submitted.

EDW. LIVINGSTON.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,

GEORGIA, MILLEDGEVILLE, March 22, 1831. SIR: Congress having failed, at its last session, to make provision for running the dividing line between Georgia and Florida, the Legislature of this State has directed me to cause that line to be run by commissioners appointed for that purpose.

The President is informed that commissioners have accordingly been appointed, and received instructions to meet at the town of St. Mary's, on the first of May next, and to proceed, without delay, to run and plainly mark the line from the junction of the Chattahoochie and Flint rivers, to the head of St. Mary's, agreeably to the treaty of 1795, between the United States and Spain.

The opinions and motives of the Legislature which induced this proceeding, are fully explained to the President in the report and resolutions of that body, copies of which accompany this communication. Since 1827, when it was first. discovered that the place fixed upon by Ellicott and Minor, did not truly represent the head of the St. Mary's intended by the treaty of 1795, the State of Georgia has been continually urging upon the Government of the United States the propriety of causing such an examination and survey to be made, as would terminate the uncertainty as to the place which ought to be so considered.

The State does not desire the acquisition of any territory, and claims none but what is believed to be secured to it by the highest evidence of title. The obligation, therefore, is imperative upon those who administer the Government of the State, to preserve its territory inviolate. The boundary described in its Constitution is the same, from the junction of the Chattahoochie and Flint rivers to the St. Mary's, as that which formed its dividing line from East Florida when Georgia was a colony of Great Britain. By the proclamation of the King of Great Britain, in 1763, forming the governments of East and West Florida, and extending the southern boundary of Georgia, that line was described as running from the junction of the Chattahoochie and Flint rivers to the source of the St. Mary's. By the commission granted to Governor Wright, in 1764, the same line is described as extending to the southernmost stream of the St. Mary's. By the definitive treaty of peace of 1783, Great Britain ceded to Georgia as an independent State, and as one

of the parties to that treaty, all the territory which belonged to it when it ceased to be a colony. The line in question was described in that treaty as running from the junction of the Chattahoochie and Flint rivers, straight, to the head of the St. Mary's. By the term head of the St. Mary's, as used in that treaty, was understood the same place which was described in the proclamation of 1763, and in the commission to Governor Wright, in 1764, as the source or most southern stream of the St. Mary's. The same must be intended to have been meant by the term the head of the St. Mary's in the treaty of 1795, because it corresponds exactly with the description of the same place in the treaty of 1783, and because, although there were disputes between the United States and Spain, and the United States and Georgia, as to the boundary line between that State and West Florida, none are believed to have existed as to the line between Georgia and East Florida. If, therefore, the place fixed upon by Ellicot and Minor does not truly represent the head of the St. Mary's, surely the United States ought not to insist upon its being so considered, especially since Florida has become a part of its own territory.

In communicating to the President, by the request of the Legisla- · ture, the appointment of commissioners, and the time when they are instructed to proceed to run the line from the junction of the Chattahoochie and the Flint rivers to the head of the St. Mary's, I have thought it my duty to present this brief justification of the course which has been pursued by the State in ascertaining the extent of her territorial rights.

Very respectfully, yours,

To the PRESIDENT of the United States.

GEORGE R. GILMER.

The Committee on the State of the Republic, to whom was referred that part of the Governor's message which relates to the boundary line between the State of Georgia and the Territory of Florida, with the accompanying documents, have had the same under consideration, and report:

That the deep interest which Georgia has in the question of the final and satisfactory settlement of her boundaries, is such as to impose on her constituted authorities, the duty of prosecuting the subject to some final termination. And at this time, your committee believe, that the constituted authorities of this State would be liable to the charge of dereliction of duty to her citizens, were they to permit the boundary which separates Georgia from the Territory of Florida, from the junction of the Flint and Chattahoochie rivers, thence to the head of the St. Mary's river, to remain, as it now does, unascertained, and not run and marked.

Your committee, in again presenting a condensed view of the subject referred to their consideration, will purposely be very brief, as the merits of the question have been so often presented to the Federal Government, and particularly in the report and resolutions agreed to by the General Assembly of this State, on the 16th day of December, 1828, which your committee beg may be referred to, as presenting most of the evidences and facts on which Georgia claims a final settle

ment of the boundary line between this State and the territory of Florida.

By referring to the charter of Georgia which was granted in the year 1732, to certain persons, and its surrender to the King of Great Britain in the year 1752, by the trustees, and the proclamation of 1763, establishing the government of East and West Florida, and extending the southern boundary of Georgia, and the commission of Governor Wright, at which time both Georgia and Florida were British Colonies or Provinces, dated the 20th day of January, 1764; the only legitimate inference from each of the recited evidences is, that the southern line of Georgia was to run from the most southern stream of a river St. Mary's, and westward from thence, and consequently leaving the whole of the head waters of that river within the boundary of Georgia; and every other public document which relates to the said boundary, either as a boundary line of the United States or the State of Georgia, is in palpable accordance with this conclusion, until the year 1800.

In the year 1795, the Government of the United States and Spain concluded a treaty, by the second article of which it was agreed, that a line should begin from a point at the junction of the Flint and Chattahoochie rivers, and to run from thence to the head of the St. Mary's river. Under the provisions of said treaty, commissioners were to be appointed to run and plainly mark said line, and commissioners were accordingly appointed; and in the year 1800, Mr. Ellicott, the commissioner on the part of the United States, and the commissioner on the part of Spain met, and attempted to run and mark the said line, from the junction of the Flint and Chattahoochie rivers, to the head of the St. Mary's, but from causes which it is not necessary to state in detail, the line was not run, but the commissioners fixed on a spot near a branch of the river St. Mary's, and erected a mound, and agreed that the mound so erected by them near the Okafunoke Swamp, should be taken as the true head of the St. Mary's river, and that a line should be run from the junction of the Flint and Chattahoochie rivers to said mound, and that it should be taken as the true line; provided, if said line did not pass within one mile north of said mound, it should be correct to carry it to that distance. Your committee. after having recited some of the evidences on which Georgia claims that the boundary line between this and the Territory of Florida, have not been either finally or satisfactorily settled, take leave to state that, until the year 1819, very little was known of the section of country about the head of St. Mary's river. The Okafunoke Swamp, in which it has its head, anterior to that time, was an almost impenetrable wilderness, and was very little known to civilized man, and the explorations made by the authority of the Legislature of this State, in the year 1818, were not intended to do more than to collect information of a part of the lands and boundary line of Georgia. But since that time, the Indian rights of occupancy has been extinguished to all the lands in this State, from the junction of the Flint and Chattahoochie rivers, to the head of the St. Mary's river, and that section of this State is now generally settled, and the country generally known. It is therefore now believed, that it will not be difficult or uncertain to ascertain the true head of the St. Mary's river. Your committee believe the Legislature will not discharge a duty it owes to the good citizens of this State, without once