or possession, prior to the twentieth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and three, to proceed, within eighteen months after the passage of this act, to designate their said lots, by proving, before the recorder of land titles for said state and territory, the fact of such inhabitation, cultivation, or possession, and the boundaries and extent of each claim, so as to enable the surveyor general to distinguish the private from the vacant lots, appertaining to the said towns and villages.
Duty of the surveyor general.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That, immediately after the expiration of the said term allowed for proving such facts, it shall be the duty of the surveyor general, within whose district such lots lie, to proceed, under the instructions of the commissioner of the general land office, to survey, designate, and set apart to the said towns and villages, respectively, so many of the said vacant town or village lots, out lots, and common field lots, for the support of schools in the said towns and villages, respectively, as the President of the United States shall not, before that time, have reserved for military purposes, and not exceeding one twentieth part of the whole lands included in the general survey of such town, or village, according to the provisions of the second section of the above-mentioned act of Congress; and also, to survey and designate, so soon after the passage of this act as may be, the commons belonging to the said towns and villages, according to their respective claims and confirmations, under the said act of Congress, where the same has not been already done:Proviso. Provided, That lots relinquished to the United States on account of damages done them by the earthquakes, and in lieu of which lands have been located elsewhere, shall neither be so designated or set apart, nor taken into the estimate of the quantity to which any town or village is entitled.
The recorder to issue a certificate of confirmation for each claim confirmed and to receive one dollar therefor.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the recorder shall issue a certificate of confirmation for each claim confirmed, and shall receive for the services required of him by this act, the sum of one dollar for each lot so provided to have been inhabited, cultivated, and possessed, to be paid by the respective claimants; and, so soon as the said term shall have expired, he shall furnish the surveyor general with a list of the lots so proved to have been inhabited, cultivated, or possessed, to serve as his guide in distinguishing them from the vacant lots to be set apart as above described, and shall transmit a copy of such list to the commissioner of the general land office.
The provisions of this act and the act aforesaid, to extend to the village of Mine à Burton.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of this act, and of the aforesaid act of the thirtieth [thirteenth] of June, one thousand eight hundred and twelve, be, and the same are hereby extended to the village of Mine à Burton, and the right of filing their claims with the recorder.
Approved, May 26, 1824.
Statute Ⅰ.
Chap. CLXXXV.—An Act granting certain lots of ground to the corporation of the city of Mobile, and to certain individuals of said city.[1]
- ↑ The decisions of the Supreme Court in construction of this act have been:A lot of ground was granted by the Spanish government of Florida, in 1802, to Forbes and Company in the city of Mobile, which was afterwards confirmed by the commissioners of the United States. The lot granted was eighty feet in front, and three hundred and four feet in depth, bounded on the east by Water street. This, while the Spanish government had possession of the territory, was known as “a waterlot.” In front of the lot was a lot, which, at the time of the grant of the lot to Forbes and Company, was covered by the water of the bay and river of Mobile, the high tide flowing over it; and it was separated from Forbes and Company’s lot, by Water street. It was afterwards in part reclaimed by Lewis, who had no title to it, and who was afterwards driven off by one of the firm of Forbes and
