Tin Pan Blues


Monday, January 04, 2010
The titles west of the Pearl River are listed in the A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875
American State Papers, House of Representatives, 10th Congress, 2nd Session
Public Lands: Volume 1
Page 775-


A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875
American State Papers, House of Representatives, 10th Congress, 2nd Session
Public Lands: Volume 1
Page 549 of 857

Contains lists of British land grants, including grantee name, locations, acreage, etc., and determination by the board of commissioners.


Private Land Claims division records

49.3.4 Records of Division "D" (Private Land Claims Division)

History: Position of Principal Clerk of Private Land Claims dates from at least 1837. Designated as Division "D" by order of the Chief Clerk, September 1, 1867. Responsible for all matters relating to private land claims based on titles granted by former governments in territories acquired by the United States. Supervised the activities of boards of land commissioners appointed to consider such claims. Administered the Preemption Act (4 Stat. 420), May 29, 1830, as extended by acts of 1832, 1834, and 1838, and made permanent by the Preemption Act of 1841 (5 Stat. 453), September 4, 1841, which gave a preferential purchase right to the improvers of unsold public land. Abolished by Chief Clerk, June 27, 1895, and functions assigned to Division "G" (SEE 49.3.8).

Textual Records: Correspondence, docket books, court records, claims, certificate lists, reports, proceedings, and other records, 1715-1909 (bulk 1788-1909), relating to private land claims in the states of AL, AZ, AR, CO, IL, IN, LA, MI, MS, MO, and NM, including claims based upon Spanish and Mexican land grants. Records of the Office of the Surveyor General of California for the "rancho" period, and consisting of "complete expedientes" (1-579), "incomplete expedientes" (1-315), transcripts and translations of documents submitted in support of titles in cases 1-809 before the Board of California Land Claims Commissioners, a journal and minutes of board proceedings, and lists or indexes to land grants, 1852-56. Records relating to private land claims in Florida, including warrants and survey plats, chiefly about British private grants, 1824-98; a few records of the Governor and Council of West Florida, 1770-79; and reports, correspondence, and lists concerning the Spanish archives of East and West Florida and the attempts by the Department of the Interior to trace and acquire them, 1848-98.


There is a march 3 1803 "Act Regulating the Grants of land, and Providing for the Disposal of the lands of the United States, south of the state of Tennessee, in the Century of Lawmaking website, Statutes at Large, 7th Congress, 2d Session, pp. 229-235. The bill grants certain guarantees of land to holders of British, French, or Spanish titles, subject to maximum size and quantity restrictions.