WPA History of the Spanish Land Grants
Board Of Commissioners--West Florida
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By Article VIII of the treaty of February 22, 1819, whereby Spain ceded
the Floridas to the United States, all Spanish grants of land made prior
to January 25, 1818, the date on which the King of Spain definitely expressed
his willingness to negotiate, were to be “ratified and confirmed
to the persons in possession of the lands, to the same extent that the
said grants would be valid if the territories had remained under the
domain of his Catholic Majesty.” Owners in possession of such lands
who, by reason of the recent circumstances of the Spanish nation and
the revolutions, had been prevented from fulfilling all the conditions
of their grants, were to be permitted an equal time to complete them
after the date of the treaty. Grants subsequent to January 24, 1818,
were to be considered null and void. (70) The treaty was not ratified
and proclaimed until February 22, 1821 (71) and yet another year passed
before a permanent territorial government was established in Florida
by the Act of March 30, 1822. (72)
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69. G&S, V, 742, 751-754
70. F.N. Thorpe, Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic
Laws…(Washington, 1906-1909), II, 652.
71. Ibid., II, 649 n.
72. U.S. Stat. at Large, III, 654-659.
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On May 8, 1822, Congress passed what proved to be the first of a series
of Acts designed to carry out the provisions of Article VIII of the
treaty of
cession. The Act provided for the appointment by the President of three
commissioners who on or before the first Monday in July, 1822, should
open an office at
Pensacola for the adjudication of land claims in West Florida. They were
to hold sessions also at St. Augustine, for the purpose of passing on similar
claims in East Florida. The sessions were to terminate on June 30, 1823,
when the commissioners should forward to the Secretary of the Treasury,
to be submitted to Congress, a record of all they had done and deliver
over
to the surveyor all archives, documents, and papers in their possession.
The
commissioners were authorized to appoint a suitable and well qualified
secretary, acquainted with the Spanish language, who should record in a well-bound
book their acts and proceedings, including claims admitted and rejected,
with the reason for their admission or rejection.
Persons claiming title
to lands under any patent, grant, concession, or order of survey, dated
prior to January 24, 1818, which were valid under
the Spanish
government, or by the law of nations and which were not rejected by the treaty
ceding the Floridas to the United States, (73) were instructed to file their
claims before the commissioners, with supporting evidence, and, where claimants
were not the original grantees, with deraignment of title. Claims not filed
before May 31, 1823, were to be null and void.
With reference to titles derived
from British grants, the commissioners
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73. The reference was in particular to the three large grants which the
King of Spain made in 1820.—See G&S, V, 722-726.
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were to consider only such as were claimed by citizens of the United
States and which were valid under the Spanish government and had never
been compensated for by the British government. (74)
To facilitate their
inquiries the commissioners were authorized to administer oaths and
to compel the attendance of witnesses, and were
granted access to
and the right to make transcripts of all public records relative to land titles.
They were empowered to confirm all valid claims under 1,000 acres, but were
directed to report to the Secretary of the Treasury, for the action of Congress,
all testimony concerning claims in excess of that amount or of undefined quantity,
with their opinion thereon, and the testimony concerning conflicting claims
emanating from both the British and Spanish governments. (75)
The first meeting
of the commissioners was held in Pensacola on July 15, 1822, with Samuel
R. Overton and Nathaniel A. Ware present. Business transacted was
the appointment of Joseph M. White as secretary, to whom written instructions
were given concerning his duties, and the adoption of rules to be observed
by all claimants. (76) Claimants were requested to file a written petition
or notice setting forth the boundaries of the land claimed, evidence in support
of their claims, and deraignment of title, together with a brief reference
to the laws and
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74. The British government compensated its subjects in part for losses in Florida
in consequence of the American Revolution and the cession of the province to
Spain.
75. U.S. Stat. at Large, III, 709-718.
76. “Record Book A. Proceedings of the Board of Commissioners Showing
Claims Presented and what papers were file din support of Same, West Florida,
July 17, 1822 to July 24, 1824,” pp. 1-2, cited hereafter as “Record
Bk. A, W. Fla.”
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ordinance under which the grants were made. (77)
The secretary was instructed:
1. to keep in the minutes “a record of
the meetings and adjournments of the commissioners, with a statement of their
proceedings and decisions accompanied by the evidence on which the decisions
were made”; 2. “to record in their original language, all the papers
necessary to the establishment of the title, with the reason of their admission
or rejection,” in the following order: notice or petition, notarial certificate
of sales and transfers, mesne conveyances so abbreviated as to show the claim
of title and date of transfer, the patent, grant, or concession, report of
the surveyor as to whether the land was vacant, report of fisc. (78) stating
whether there were any objections to the petition, order and certificate of
survey and the plat (if the survey was executed prior to January 24, 1818);
and 3. to file in his office, for the inspection of the commissioners when
considering claims, all papers not recorded. The secretary was further instructed
that translations would be confined to recorded papers and such other documents
as the commissioners might from time to time require. (79)
Having organized
and adopted rules of procedure, the commissioners were ready to receive claims.
Few were forthcoming. Only four meetings, including the
first, were held in July. A fifth session was held on August 16. Four days
later the minutes record: “In consequence of the
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77. Ibid.
78. Fiscal, or King’s Solicitor.
79. “Record Book A, W. Fla.” P. 2
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appearance of a malignant fever in the City of Pensacola, and the impracticability
of either remaining in safety or of doing business, ordered that the
Court be adjourned until further appointment.” (80) It reconvened
on October 4, only to adjourn until December 12.
Congress had not supplied
the commissioners with published copies of Spain’s
land laws, nor indeed were copies easily obtained in this country. Throughout
what came to be a three-year term the commissioners were handicapped in this
particular. As late as November 12, 1824, they complained that they had been
unable to obtain a copy of the ordinance of 1754 issued by Ferdinand VI and
that very few settlers would answer questions concerning land laws and practices.
(81) Not until Joseph M. White (82) complied from his experience as secretary
and commissioner of the Board for West Florida and from published works, which
he finally obtained from Spain, his “Spanish and France Ordinances Affecting
Land Titles in Florida and Other territories of France and Spain” (83)
was there an adequate guide for the adjudication of Spanish land claims in
Florida.
On December 12, 1822, the Board issue an order “to summon the
most respectable Spanish Inhabitants to give evidence in relation to the customs
and practice
of the Spanish Officers of the provincial Government” with reference
to land grants, and four days later these
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80. Ibid., p. 17l Niles Register, Vol. XXIII, Oct. 19, 1822
81. DG, IV, 84
82. Joseph M,. White was a delegate to Congress from Florida, 1825-1837.
He served as secretary to the Board of Commissioners during 1822 and as commissioner
during 1823-1824. He was born in Kentucky, studied law and moved to Pensacola
in 1821.
83. Published in G&S, V, 631-774.
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citizens appeared before the Board. (84)
In all, nine sessions were held
between July 15 and December 16, 1822 (85) It was evident that the
date limits set forth in the Act of May
8, 1822, had
not given sufficient time for the business in hand, and the commissioners apparently
made no effort to comply with its provisions for holding sessions in St. Augustine.
On
March 3, 1823, Congress provided for two Boards of Commissioners, who
were to hold sessions in East and West Florida, at St. Augustine and
Pensacola respectively,
until the second Monday in February, 1824. Claimants were no longer required
to produce in evidence deraignment of titles, and the commissioners were authorized
to confirm claims up to 3,500 acres instead of 1,000 as provided in the law
of 1822. District attorneys when required to do so were to attend sessions
of the Boards for the purpose of arguing and explaining points of law. Claims
not filed before December 1, 1823, were to be considered null and void. (86)
It
required six weeks for the Act of March 3, 1823, to reach West Florida.
A session of the Board was called for April 19, but only Samuel R. Overton
was in the territory and present. (87) No further meeting
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84. “Record Bk. A, W. Fla.,” p. 18
85. Ibid., passim.
86. U.S. Stat. at Large, IV, 6-7; Tipton B. Harrison, district attorney.
For West Fla. In 1822, died and was succeeded in 1823 by William F. Steele.
In
East Florida Edgar Macon in 1823 succeeded Alexander Hamilton in that office,
Hamilton having been appointed the previous year—Niles Register,
Vol. XXII, May 18, 1822, P. 180. (Of great convenience to students of Florida
history
is the “Digest of Florida Material in Niles Register,” 1939 in
manuscript made by T. Frederick Davis in Jacksonville, to whom the editor is
indebted for reference to that journal appearing herein.)
87. “Record Bk. A, W. Fla.” P. 18.
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was held for four months. On September 2 the Board was reorganized, Joseph
M. White being sworn in to replace James P. Preston, resigned. Morris
Hunter of Pensacola was appointed secretary to succeed White. (88)
The Board set itself the task of hearing claims for three town lots
or two tracts of land each day (89) and met regularly until February
9, 1824, when,
the time limit set for its sessions having expired, it adjourned “until
further order” with its business still unfinished. (90) Its life was
extended to January 1, 1825, by the Act of February 28, 1824, (91) and the
commission reconvened with the same personnel on April 5, 1824. (92) On May
4 Craven P. Luckett succeeded Ware (93) and Overton failed to sit at any session
recorded after May 20, (94) although he signed the reports of the Board to
the Secretary of the treasury on November 12, 1824, and January 12, 1825. (95)
There is no record in the minutes of a session after July 19, 1824, but White
and Luckett evidently continued to transact business during the remainder of
the year and even subsequent to January 1, 1825, for an Act of Congress of
April 22, 1826, legalized their activities after that date. (96) Afterwards
the Register and Receiver for the Land Office of West Florida. (97) completed
the work in which the commissioners for that
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88. Ibid., p. 30
89. Ibid.
90. Ibid., p. 226
91. U.S. State at Large, IV, 6-7
92. “Record Bk. A, W. Fla.” p. 267
93. Ibid., p. 337
94. Ibid., passim.
95. DG, IV, 83-117, 118-157.
96. U.S. State at Large, IV, 156
97. Samuel R. Overton, Register for 1825, G.W. Ward for 1826. and Richard Keith
Call, Receiver.
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district had for three years been engaged.
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