USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the region of Pennsylvania north of the Ohio and west of the Allegheny river, of the Indian purchases, and of the running of the southern, northern, and western state boudaries. Also, an account of the division of the territory for public purposes, and of the lands, laws, titles, settlements, controversies, and litigation within this region > Part 2
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In consequence of the Declaration of Independ- ence of the Colonies in 1776, the title of the Penns became vested in the Commonwealth in sove- reignty. This was declared by the divesting Act
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
of the Assembly, passed on the 27th November, 1779.1 The Act saved, however, all titles granted by the Penns before the 4th day of July, 1776; and all private estates and lands of the Penns, in- cluding surveyed manors or tenths, and certain quit-rents.
The Commonwealth having become the sovereign proprietor of all the lands within the State, and in- tending and anticipating the purchase of the Indian title, provided by an Act of 12th March, 1783,2 for the appropriation of all that portion of the pur- chase of 1784 and 1785 north of the Ohio and west of the Allegheny River and the Cagnawaga (now Conewango) Creek, by dividing the same into two large and separate sections. These were-
1. For the redemption of the Certificates of De- preciation, given to the officers and soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line, in pursuance of an Act of 18th December, 1780,3 providing that the certificates should be equal to gold or silver, in payment of unlocated lands, if the owners should think proper to purchase such.
2. In fulfilment of the promise of the State, in a resolution of March 7th, 1780, to the officers and soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line to make them certain donations in lands, according to their rank in the service.
1 ] Smith's L. 479. : 2 Ib. 62. 3 2 Ib. 62.
2
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
The Act of 12th March, 1783, therefore divided this territory by a due west line, running from Mogulbughtiton Creek, on the Allegheny River above Kittanning (probably Pine Creek), to the western boundary of the State. The course of this line runs between seven and eight miles south of the present city of New Castle, which lies in the fork of the Shenango and Neshannock creeks. . The land south of this boundary was appropriated to the redemption of the Depreciation Certificates, and became known as the "Depreciation Lands." Out of this section were reserved to the State two tracts, of 3000 acres each ; one at the mouth of the Allegheny, where the city of Allegheny now stands ; the other at the mouth of the Big Beaver Creek, on both sides, including Fort McIntosh (now Beaver). The land north of the line above described was ap- propriated to donations to the soldiers of the Penn- sylvania Line for their services in the Revolutionary War, and became known as the "Donation Lands."
These appropriations of territory in the last pur- chases, being first acted upon by the State, require their disposition to be first considered.
.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
CHAPTER III.
OF THE DEPRECIATION LANDS.
IN order to encourage enlistment, and to reward those who in the Revolutionary War entered into the military service in the Pennsylvania Line, and in the State Navy, the State promised to pay them in a sound currency, and also to secure to them donations of land. In pursuance of this patriotic purpose, and of the recommendation of Congress, of the 15th of May, 1778, recited in the Act, the State, by the Act of March 1, 1780,1 made provision for the State troops, and the officers and marines of the navy, extending these provisions to the widows and children of those killed in battle. An important supplement to that Act, passed October 1, 1781,2 reciting the Act of Congress of 13th June, 1781, containing important additional provisions, may be consulted by those desiring further infor- mation. These provisions were continued by sub- sequent Acts.
This encouragement to enter the service had become necessary owing to the diversion produced
1 1 Smith's L. 487. 2 2 Ib. 8, 9.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
by the occupancy of Philadelphia by Lord Howe, in 1777-8, and the distress of the American army lying at Valley Forge. Philadelphia became the refuge of royalists and neutrals, and the spirit of the people was much broken. Distress pervaded, and gloom fell upon all ranks for a time. An ex- cellent view of this state of affairs can be realized from the diary of one living at the time, James Allen, a neutral, published in the 'Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography."
By the Act of December 18th, 1780,2 the State provided for the settlement of the depreciation from the Continental currency in the pay of the Penn- sylvania Line and State Navy, and for issuing cer- tificates for the same. They were made receivable in payment of confiscated estates and unlocated lands. The confiscation of the estates of traitors and seditious persons, many by name, others by description, owing to the number of persons flock- ing to Lord Howe for protection, and of those adhering to the crown of Great Britain (then com- monly called royalists), had been provided for in the Act of 6th March, 1778.3 The fifth section recited that it was "highly reasonable that the estates of subjects or inhabitants of this State who have engaged in the present most unnatural, unjust, barbarous, and execrable war, and who shall
1 Vol. 9, for 1885. 2 1 Smith's L. 522. 3 Ib. 449.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
be duly attainted as guilty of treason, should be discovered and applied to the use of the State."
The subject of confiscation is, however, apart, and it is as payment for "unlocated lands" that the certificates are being noticed. These certifi- cates were included in the Act of 3d April, 1781,1 directing the mode of adjusting and settling the payment of debts and contracts entered into and made between the 1st day of January, 1777, and 1st day of March, 1781. The 5th section gave the scales of depreciation for the years 1777, 1778, 1779, 1780, and 1781, as compared with silver and gold. In July, 1777, the scale was three to one; in 1778 it rose to six to one; in 1779, to forty-one and a half to one; in 1780, to seventy-five to one; and in 1781, to seventy-five. Afterwards the scale of depreciation was published from time to time, under the Act of 23d December, 1780.2
For the purpose of carrying out the legislation of the State as to Pennsylvania troops, the Supreme Executive Council, on the 23d of April, 1781,3 resolved "that James Stevenson, John Nicholson, W'm. Goforth, Robert Levers, Henry Haller, John Thom, John Beaton, Samuel Boyd, Henry Slagle, and Samuel Laird, or any two of them, of whom the said James Stevenson and John Nicholson
' 1 Smith's L. 519.
$ 12 Colonial Records, 611-12, 618, 681, 716. 3 12 Ib. 703.
.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
always to be one, be appointed commissioners for the payment of one-third of the depreciation certificates, and for granting new certificates as directed by the said Act."
The said "auditors" were also empowered to correct certain mistakes, take receipts on certifi- cates surrendered for money paid on account, and to pay strict regard to the law confining the pay- ment to officers and soldiers in the actual service.
After these Acts, provisions, and resolutions of Council came the Act of 12th March, 1783,1 before referred to, describing and appropriating the land for the redemption of the certificates of deprecia- tion given to the officers and soldiers of the Penn- sylvania Line. The territory so appropriated is thus described: "Beginning where the western boundary of this State crosses the Ohio River; thence up the said river to Fort Pitt; thence up the Allegheny River to the mouth of Mogulbugh- titon Creek ; thence by a west line to the western boundary of this State; thence south by the said boundary to the place of beginning."
This line west from the mouth of Mogulbugh- titon (Pine) Creek, was run by Alexander McClean, Esq. See the interesting letter of Gen. William Irvine to President Dickinson, August 18, 1785.2 The land to the north of this line was by the same
1 2 Smith's L. 62.
2 11 Penn. Arch. 514 ; also 16 Col. Rec. 340.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
Act of 12th March, 1783, appropriated to donations to the officers and soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line, and will be treated of hereafter.
Out of the land appropriated for the redemption of the certificates of depreciation two reservations, of 3000 acres each, were made by the Act, which will also be treated of in a proper place.
The Act of 1783 required the "Depreciation Land" to be laid out by the Surveyor-General, under the direction of the Supreme Executive Council, into lots of not less than two hundred acres, and not more than three hundred and fifty acres, numbering them numerically on the draft or plot of the country. As soon as the same, or on hundred lots thereof, should be surveyed, the Sur- veyor-General, Secretary of the Land Office, and Receiver-General, were required to proceed to sell, in numerical order, at such times and places, and under such regulations as should be appointed by the Supreme Executive Council; the full considera- tion bid at such sales to be paid in silver or gold, or in depreciation certificates.
Intelligence of Indian hostilities caused the Council to delay the order to the Surveyor-General to proceed to survey these lands until the 10th of June, 1783,1 when the instructions to him were issued, and he was directed to proceed with the
1 13 Col. Rec. 596 ; and 10 Penn. Arch. 53, 54.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
work immediately. He was authorized to begin with the surveys of the two tracts of 3000 acres reserved for the use of the State, and then to sur- vey the remainder, and lay out and number the lots contiguous to each other, and thus to form an accurate draught or map of the country. On the map were to be noted the courses and depths of the waters, places of mines, sites for towns, the quantity of each lot, and a precise description. The courses and distances were to be determined with precision and distinctly marked, retaining the natural boundaries, and dividing the waters as well as the nature of the ground would admit: care and nicety in the work were required, and those em- ployed were forbidden to give information of the quantity and advantages of the lots, except in the return made to the Council. Without attributing to Daniel Leet, Surveyor of the Second Depreciation District, anything improper, his general knowledge of the country along the Ohio, above his own dis- trict, enabled him to obtain that large and valuable body of lands on the Sewickly Bottom, which de- scended to his daughter, the late Mrs. Shields, wife of the late David Shields. In the performance of the work the advice and assistance of General William Irvine were to be furnished.1 He was then the military commandant at Fort Pitt.
1 10 Penn. Arch. 56.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
It would seem, even at that early day, men were found disposed to advance their private interest by the sacrifice of the public good. Information to this effect (presumably from Gen. Irvine)1 led Secretary John Armstrong, on the 2d July, 1783,2 to address a letter to the Surveyor-General, John Lukens, advising him of combinations formed to engross large tracts of the best part of the land assigned by law for the redemption of depreciation certificates, and plans laid to conceal the relative value of the lots, and enjoining the utmost care to prevent all abuse of trust. A second point of apprehension was the unlawful breaking in upon the tract appro- priated for donations. The 6th section of the Act of 1783 had made void all grants of lands within the Depreciation and Donation tracts by any In- dian nation, the late proprietaries, and other per- sons. On the next day, July 3, 1783, General Irvine was, by letter, thanked for his communica- tion of 3d June, and his attention asked in giving care to the two tracts appropriated to the State.3
For the purpose of surveying the lands appro- priated to the payment of the certificates of depre- ciation, this territory was divided into five principal districts, running from the Ohio northward, and numbering from the west to the east. District No. 1, allotted to Alexander McClean, deputy sur-
1 10 Penna. Arch. 66. Ib. 65. $ Ib. 66.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
veyor, lay nearest to the western boundary of the State. District No. 2 was allotted to Daniel Leet and Richie, deputy surveyors, though Leet seems to have made the surveys. No. 3 was divided among Nathaniel Braden, William Alex- ander, Samuel Nicholson, Ephraim Douglass, and Samuel Jones; it is commonly called Braden's District. No. 4 was allotted to James Cunning- ham; and No. 5 to Joshua Elder and John Morris, deputy surveyors.1
On the 29th of August, 1785,' the Surveyor- General reported to the Council that he had re- ceived upwards of one hundred and forty returns of survey of the land appropriated to the redemp- tion of the depreciation certificates, and daily expected more. Thereupon the Council ordered him3 to furnish a map descriptive of the lots re- ported. From time to time surveys were reported as they came in from the several districts; these returns seem to have come in irregularly.
September 12, 1785,4 the Supreme Executive Council ordered 100 lots in Daniel Leet's district to be sold ; and on the 11th of November, 1785,5 ordered the sale of 43 lots remaining in the same
1 The instructions of the Surveyor-General are not to be found in the Land Office.
2 Penna. Arch. 506.
$ 14 Col. Rec. 527-8.
$ 10 Penna. Arch. 541.
5 14 Col. Rec. 577.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
district. On the 18th November, 1785,1 the Coun- cil directed the Depreciation Lands to be sold by the acre, that the city auctioneer (Philadelphia) be employed to sell them, and that no warrant direct- ing a return of survey should issue. The lands having been surveyed in districts and maps made, the last direction was to obviate returns for each lot, for patenting, as was the practice of the Land Office in ordinary cases.
To the orders of the 12th September and 11th November John Lukens, Surveyor-General, David Kennedy, Secretary of the Land Office, and Fran- cis Johnston, Receiver-General, returned2 on the 26th November, 1785, that they proceeded to the sale of the lots in Leet's district; the quantity sold amounted to 38,202 acres, and amount of cash re- ceived was £13,985 14s., an average of a little over S shillings and 5 pence per acre. These sales were made at the "Old Coffee-house," in Philadelphia.
December 6, 1785,3 a report was made by the Surveyor-General, Secretary of the Land Office, and Receiver-General, of sales of the lands in Nathaniel Braden's district -31,883 acres-for £4402 17s. 3d., averaging 2 shillings 63 pence per acre, and when added to the amount of sales in Leet's district, averaging only five shillings per
1 10 Penna. Arch. 537. 2 Ib. 541. 3 Ib. 545.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
acre. They therefore recommended a suspension of sales for a time.
On the 12th December, 1785,1 Francis Johnston, the Receiver-General, informed the Council that the time of payment for the lands sold in Leet's district had expired, and he had reason to believe sundry purchasers did not mean to comply with the terms of sale, and he submitted to Council what steps should be taken.
March 12th, 1787,2 the Receiver-General reported sales on the 7th instant, at the "Old Coffee-house," of the remaining lots in Leet's district, but to his surprise the 27 lots sold averaged only £5 Ss. 4d. per 100 acres. He postponed the sales until the 10th, when but three lots were sold at the rate of 3 pence per acre. He recommended that the sales in the city, at auction, should cease, as lands so dis- tant could not be sold there. This sale was made under an order of Council, of December 28, 1786,3 directing sales at the "Old Coffee-house" on the first Monday of March, 1787. This is the last re- port of sales I have found. It is evident that these western lands were not in demand owing to several reasons. Indian hostilities were then active. Many of the drawn donation lots were sold by the soldiers, especially the privates, at very low prices. In my practice I have seen many of these assignments
1 10 Penna. Arch. 547. 2 11 Ib. 125. 3 15 Col. Rec. 138.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
endorsed on the patents. This fact is also re- ferred to in the report of the Register-General of 12th March, 1787.1 The whole western territory, north of the Ohio, was then an uninhabited wilder- ness. This state of affairs continued much later, as will be seen in a letter of General Richard But- ler, of August 10; 1790.2 The disinclination of the State authorities to sacrifice the public lands is seen also in the order of the Council of June 5, 1790,3 ordering certain lots purchased by John Nicholson to revert to the State. Nicholson had on the 28th of May previous+ asked to know whether he should retain them.
I have been particular in stating these sales, as the tradition came to me in my early practice that the sales were discontinued in consequence of the low prices brought at the "Coffee-house;" and owing to this fact the Depreciation Lands were taken up by warrant and survey under the Act of 3d April, 1792. On the very day of the passage of this law Daniel Broadhead. then Surveyor-General, had two warrants issued in the names of William Barker and Joseph Williams, for lands opposite to the great falls of the Big Beaver, on which the town of Old Brighton (now part of Beaver Falls) was located. On the 14th of April, 1792, many warrants were
1 11 Penna. Arch. 125. 2 Ib. 715.
3 16 Col. Rec. 376.
4 11 Penna. Arch. 702.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
issued, which were surveyed on Depreciation Lands. On what grounds the officers of the Land Office considered the office open for the sale and settle- ment of the Depreciation Lands I know not, unless the abandonment of the sales led to the belief that these lands then fell within the general provisions for the sale of the lands within the last purchase. But it was not until the passage of the Act of 22d March, 1813,1 these titles had the benefit of express legislation. Yet many of the titles so obtained were before the Supreme Court, and this question not raised. In the meantime the depreciation cer- tificates had been declared to be irredeemable if not presented to the Receiver-General on or before the second Tuesday in January, 1807.2
No important judicial decisions have been made as to the depreciation titles. The surveys were generally well made, owing to their proximity to Fort Pitt, and the method of sale led to no contests. These surveys were afterwards partly adopted in locations made under the Act of 3d April, 1792. In a few instances this partial adoption led to liti- gation. Among the most noted instances were the lawsuits upon the two surveys made for General Broadhead, above referred to, in the name of Wil- liam Barker, surveyed at 440 acres and allowance of six per centum ; and Joseph Williams, surveyed
1 6 Smith's L. 54. 2 4 Ib. 263.
.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
at 410 acres and allowance. This litigation began with the century, and was continued with various success until the last case came before Justice Greer, in the Circuit Court of the United States at Pittsburgh, about 1860. I took my share in it until 1851, when I went upon the Common Pleas Bench.
The effect of a partial adoption of the lines of the depreciation surveys under the Act of 3d April, 1792, was decided in McRhea v. Plummer. (1 Binney, 227.)
The effect of the Depreciation District lines was considered in Evans v. Beatty. (1 Penrose & Watts, 489.) In that case Justice Huston remarked, that when the sale of the Depreciation Lands by auction was abandoned, and the country thrown open to settlement or sale in the ordinary mode, the country was again divided into districts, and surveyors appointed. But he does not state on what grounds these lands were considered open to settlement and sale. The districts referred to by him were necessary at all events, owing to the vacant lands interspersed among the Depreciation Lands. The Legislature seems to have considered the Act of 1813 necessary to cure defects and dispel doubts.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
CHAPTER IV.
THE DONATION LANDS.
THE Depreciation and Donation lands were the twin progeny of patriotism and necessity. As has been stated already, the northern section of the lands divided by the Act of 13th March, 1783, was appropriated to donations to be made to soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line.
The 5th section1 of the Act provides, that for the purpose of effectually complying with the letter and intention of the said resolve (mentioned in the preamble), there be, and it is hereby declared to be, located and laid off, a certain tract of country be- ginning at the "mouth of Mogulbughtiton Creek; thence up the Allegheny River to the mouth of the Cagnawaga Creek ;? thence due north to the northern boundary of this State; thence west by the said boundary to the northwest corner of the State; thence south by the western boundary of the State to the northwest corner of lands appro- priated by this Act for discharging the certificates
1 Now the Conewango.
2 2 Smith's L. 63.
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SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
herein mentioned; and thence by the same lands east to the place of beginning; which said tract of country shall be reserved and set apart for the only and sole use of fulfilling and carrying into execu- tion the said resolve."
The 6th section forbade any improvement loca- tion, warrant, grant, right, title, or claim under the Indians, the late proprietaries, or other person or persons whatsoever, upon the limits of the two described tracts of country, and made void all such claims. It also put it out of the power of non- commissioned officers and privates to sell their shares of the land until actually surveyed and laid off.
The Act of 1st March, 1780,1 had previously ex- empted the soldiers' lands from taxation during the lifetime of the soldier, unless when aliened or transferred. The Act of 16th March, 1785,2 made the same provision. This exemption from taxation during life led to several important judicial de- cisions. The Act of 24th March, 1785,3 followed, " directing the mode of distributing the Donation Lands promised to the troops of this Common- wealth." It referred to the resolution of 7th March, 1780, and the Act of 12th March, 1783, and directed the Surveyor-General to appoint deputies, to be ap-
1 1 Smith's L. 487. 2 2 Ib. 287-8. $ Ib. 290.
3
34
SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
proved by the Supreme Executive Council, to sur- vey and lay off the land into lots; provided what officers and soldiers should be entitled to lands (including Baron Steuben, Inspector-General, and Lieutenant-Colonel Tilghman), according to the rank and pay they held last before they left the ser- vice; excepting that no promotion or rank by brevet or commission should entitle, unless where pay had been allowed by the United States, and these dona- tions should not be affected by donations of land promised by Congress. The Comptroller-General was directed to make complete lists of persons, stating their rank and quantity of land, to be laid before the Council, that the Surveyor-General might be able to instruct his deputies as to the number and contents of the lots. The lots were to be of four descriptions, viz : 500 acres, 300 acres, 250 acres, and 200 acres each; a quantity laid off in 500 acre lots, equal to what should be necessary for. major-generals, brigadier-generals, colonels, captains, and two-thirds of lieutenant-colonels ; in 300 acre lots for regimental surgeons and mates, chaplains, majors, and ensigns; in 250 acre lots for one-third of lieutenant-colonels, sergeants, ser- geant-majors, and quartermasters ; and in 200 acre lots for lieutenants, corporals, drummers, fifers, drum-majors, fife-majors, and privates.
35
1657174
SETTLEMENT, AND LAND TITLES.
The deputy surveyors were required to make oath not to select the best lands, or to favor any of these classes to the prejudice of the others. In running the boundaries the surveyors were to de- fine well by marking trees on the lines at short distances, and particularly the angles and corners ; and on the northwest corner of each lot the num- ber of the lot should be marked. If the corner should be a post, the number should be marked on a tree in the lot nearest to the corner.
The neglect of the surveyors to perform these directions-a neglect owing to the payment of a fee for each lot surveyed, and a fear of the Indians who were hostile-led to many difficult lawsuits. The territory was divided into districts, for each one of which a deputy surveyor was appointed. In running from the base, or district line, north or south, the surveyor ran a distance required for each lot, and marked its corner. He would there set his compass, taking the course east or west, as. the case might be, and direct the axeman to mark a tree or two on the course, and instead of running the line through and marking it as the law con- templated, he would go on in his first direction, north or south. The effect was that the east and west lines were not marked through. The usual mode, after starting north or south from the base or district line, was to run the breadth of four
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