1800 Harrison Land Act

              Harrison Land Act - 1800

    An ACT to amend the act, intituled, "An act providing for the sale of the lands of the United States, in the territory north-west of the Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river."

    Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That for the disposal of the lands of the United States, directed to be sold by the act, intituled, "An act providing for the sale of the lands of the United States, in the territory north-west of the Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river," there shall be four land-offices established in the said territory: One at Cincinnati, for lands below the Little Miami which have not heretofore been granted; one at Chilicothe, for lands east of the Sciota, south of the lands appropriated for satisfying military bounties to the late army of the United States, and west of the fifteenth range of townships; one at Marietta, for the lands east of the sixteenth range of townships, south of the before-mentioned military lands, and south of a line drawn due west from the north-west corner of the first township of the second range, to the said military lands; and one at Steubenville, for the lands north of the last mentioned line, and east or north of the said military lands: Each of the said offices shall be under the direction of an officer, to be called "The Register of the Land-Office," who shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall give bond to the United States, with approved security, in the sum of ten thousand dollars, for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office; and shall reside at the place where the land-office is directed to be kept.

    Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Surveyor-General, and he is hereby expressly enjoined, to prepare and transmit to the Registers of the several land-offices, before the days herein appointed for commencing sales, general plats of the lands hereby directed to be sold at the said offices respectively, and also to forward copies of each of the said plats to the Secretary of the Treasury.

    Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Surveyor-General shall cause the townships west of the Muskingum, which by the above-mentioned act are directed to be sold in quarter townships, to be subdivided into half sections of three hundred and twenty acres each, as nearly as may be, by running parallel lines through the same from east to west, and from south to north, at the distance of one mile from each other, and marking corners, at the distance of each half mile on the lines running from east to west, and at the distance of each mile on those running from south to north, and making the marks, notes, and descriptions, prescribed to surveyors by the above-mentioned act: And the interior lines of townships intersected by the Muskingum, and of all the townships lying east of that river, which have not been heretofore actually sub-divided into sections, shall also be run and marked in the manner prescribed by the said act, for running and marking the interior lines of townships directed to be sold in sections of six hundred and forty acres each: And in all cases where the exterior lines of the townships, thus to be sub-divided into sections or half sections, shall exceed or shall not extend six miles, the excess or deficiency shall be specially noted, and added to or deducted from the western and northern ranges of sections or half sections in such township, according as the error may be in running the lines from east to west, or from south to north; the sections and half sections bounded on the northern and western lines of such townships shall be sold as containing only the quantity expressed in the returns and plats respectively, and all others as containing the complete legal quantity: And the President of the United States shall fix the compensation of the deputy-surveyors, chain-carriers, and axemen: Provided, the whole expense of surveying and marking the lines shall not exceed three dollars, for every mile that shall be actually run, surveyed and marked.

    Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the lands thus sub-divided (excluding the sections reserved by the above-mentioned act) shall be offered for sale in sections and half sections, sub-divided as before directed at the following places and times, that is to say; those below the Little Miami shall be offered at public vendue, in the town of Cincinnati, on the first Monday of April one thousand eight hundred and one, under the direction of the Register of the land-office there established, and of either the Governor or Secretary of the north-western territory: The lands east of Sciota, south of the military lands, and west of the fifteenth range of townships, shall be offered in like manner for the sale at Chilicothe, on the first Monday of May, one thousand eight hundred and one, under the direction of the Register of the land-office there established, and of either the Governor or Secretary of the said territory: The lands east of the sixteenth range of townships, south of the military lands and west of the Muskingum, including all the townships intersected by that river, shall be offered for sale in like manner at Marietta, on the last Monday of May, one thousand eight hundred and one, under the direction of the Governor or Secretary, or Surveyor-General of the said territory. The sales shall remain open at each place for three weeks and no longer. The superintendants shall observe the rules and regulations of the above-mentioned act, in classing and selling fractional with entire sections, and in keeping and transmitting accounts of the sales. All lands, remaining unsold, at the closing of either of the public sales, may be disposed of at private sale by the Registers of these respective land-offices, in the manner herein after prescribed; and the Register of the land-office at Steubenville, after the first day of July next, may proceed to sell at private sale, the lands situate within the district assigned to his direction as herein before described, disposing of the same in sections, and classing fractional with entire sections, according to the provisions and regulations of the above-mentioned act and of this act: And the Register of the land-office at Marietta, after the said first day of July next, may proceed to sell at private sale, any of the lands within the district assigned to his direction as aforesaid, which are east of the river Muskingum, excluding the townships intersected by that river, disposing of the same in sections, and classing fractional with entire sections as aforesaid.

    Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That no lands shall be sold by virtue of this act, at either public