Chapter CX. to ascertain and adjust the Titles to certain Lands in the State of Indiana
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Chap. CX.— An Act to ascertain and adjust the Titles to certain Lands in the State of Indiana. July 27, 1854.1855, ch. 97. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Commission constituted: commissioners. That the register and receiver of the land-office at Vincennes, together with a fit and proper person, learned in the law, and a citizen of Indiana, to be appointed by the President of the United States, are hereby constituted commissioners to ascertain and adjust the title of any claimant to any tract of land, or anyExtent of the claims to be examined.1791, oh. 27. 1804, ch. 33, 85.1806, ch. 40.1807, oh. 34. part or subdivision thereof, granted by the resolve of Congress of the twenty-ninth of August, seventeen hundred and eighty-eight, and the act of the third of March, seventeen hundred and ninety-one, entitled “An act for granting lands to the inhabitants and settlers at Vincennes, and314 the Illinois country in the territory northwest of the Ohio, and for confirming them in their possessions,” and the several acts in aid of, and supplementary thereto.
Sec. 2. Claimants to present their claims—when, to whom.Specification.*And be it further enacted*, That every such claimant to any tract of land so granted, or any part or subdivision thereof, shall, within six months after the publication of the notice hereinafter provided for, file his claim in writing, with the said register, in which he shall specifically set forth such facts as shall be required in the instructions of the Commissioner of the General Land-Office. Sec. 3. Notice of readiness to receive claims to be published in newspaper.*And be it further enacted*, That such register, upon the receipt of such instructions, shall give notice by publication in some newspaper of general circulation in the vicinity of the said lands of his readiness to receive applications of claimants, to which notice shall be attached the instructions of the said commissioner.
Sec. 4. Proceedings of the commissioners.Powers and duties.*And be it further enacted*, That suet commissioners shall meet immediately after the time allowed for filing such claims, and shall hold their sessions at the town of Vincennes. They shall have power to compel the attendance of witnesses, administer all necessary oaths, and to hear and decide in a summary manner all matters respecting such claims. Minutes of the proceedings, decisions, meetings, and adjournments of the said board, shall be regularly entered by the register in a book kept for that purpose, together with the evidence adduced in each particular case, upon which their decisions have been made.
Sec. 5. What titles to be confirmed.*And be it further enacted*, That every claimant to any tract of land so granted, or any part, or subdivision thereof, who can produce to such commissioners a regular chain of title from the original confirmee to himself, or who can show to their satisfaction a continuous and connected possession in himself and those under whom he claims, for a period of twenty years or more, next preceding the filing of his claim, or can show such a claim or title as would, in the courts of Indiana, bar an action of ejectment, such claimant shall be confirmed in his title.
Sec. 6. Transcript of the decisions to be reported to Commissioner of General Land-Office.*And be it further enacted*, That said commissioners shall, on or before the first day of September eighteen hundred and fifty-five, transmit to the Commissioner of the General Land-Office a transcript of their decisions in favor of claimants, which shall contain a fair statement of the evidence on which each respective claim is founded; and also a transcript of their decisions against claimants, with a like statement of the evidence and the reason of such rejection.
Sec. 7. When patent to issue.*And be it further enacted*, That the Commissioner of the General Land-Office, upon the receipt of such transcript, shall issue a patent to each claimant so confirmed in his title by the said commissioners; and where any such claims have been rejected the said commissioner, upon application of the proper person, shall have power to revise such decision of the said board, and may, if in his opinion the evidence warrants it, reverse such decision, and issue a patent therefor Proviso.to such claimant: *Provided*, That this right to revise shall not extend to those claims rejected, where the same lands have been confirmed by the Further proviso.said board to some other claimant: *And provided further*, That the patents so issued shall only be a relinquishment of the title of the United Effect of the patent.States, and shall not be construed into an abridgment of the rights of third persons.
Sec. 8. Compensation of the commissioners.*And be it further enacted*, That the commissioner appointed by the President, shall receive a compensation of eight dollars per day, for each and every day he may be engaged in the discharge of the duties imposed by this act, and the register and receiver shall receive such compensation for their services, as may be just and proper in the discretion of the Commissioner of the General Land-Office. Sec. 9. Who prescribes rules to enforce this act.*And be it further enacted*, That it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of the General Land-Office to prescribe such rules andTHIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 159, 167. 1854.315 regulations as may be necessary to give full effect to the provisions of this act. Approved, July 27, 1854.