Chapter CLVII. to provide for the quieting of certain Land Titles in the late disputed Territory in the State of Maine, and for other Purposes
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Chap. CLVII.— An Act to provide for the quieting of certain Land Titles in the late disputed Territory in the State of Maine, and for other Purposes. July 12, 1862. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, * Payments to be made for lost titles to land in Maine toLaura A. Stebbins.Catherine C. Ward.Rufus Mansur.James A. Drew. That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and required to pay, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to Laura A.
Stebbins, of Bangor, in the State of Maine; Catherine C. Ward, of Roxbury in the State of Massachusetts; Rufus Mansur, of Houlton, in the State of Maine; and James A. Drew, of Chelsea, in the State of Massachusetts, the sum of thirty-three hundred and fifty-three dollars each, being in all the sum of thirteen thousand four hundred and twenty-two dollars in full compensation for three thousand three hundred and fifty-three acres of land, including the timber previously taken therefrom, in the half township in the State of Maine, granted by the State of Massachusetts to the late General Eaton, and called the “Eaton Grant,” to which Vol. viii. p. 574.said parties lost title by the operation of the fourth article of the treaty of ninth August, eighteen hundred and forty-two, “to settle and define the boundary between the United States and the possessions of her Britannic Majesty in North America:” *Provided,* That the said Laura A.
Stebbins, Catherine C. Ward, Rufus Mansur, and James A. Drew shall THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 157. 1862. 541 execute deeds of release to the parties holding “possessory” or “equitableDeeds of release to be executed, possessory claims” to the said three thousand three hundred and fifty-three acres of land, or any portion thereof, as described in the reports made to the governor and council of Maine by Ebenezer Hutchinson and others, commissioners under a resolution passed by the legislature of said State on the twelfth day of April, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, and the plan of surveys accompanying said reports, and of record in the land office of said State: *And provided, also,* That it shall appear to the satisfaction of the land agent of said State of Maine that such deeds of release do effectually convey a good title to said lands, except so far asand to convey good title. said titles have been affected by the operation of the treaty aforesaid: *And provided further,* That if it shall appear to the said land agent thatIf parties can convey only part, they are to receive only part. the aforesaid parties are incompetent to make such deeds of release to the whole of said lands, then they shall be entitled to receive a pro rata only of the compensation provided in this act for so much thereof as they shall convey as aforesaid.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted, *That the Secretary of the TreasuryPayments toEdmund Monroe,Benjamin Sewall, be, and he is hereby, authorized and required to pay, out of any unappropriated money in the treasury, to Edmund Monroe and Benjamin Sewall, of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, the sum of thirteen thousand five hundred and forty dollars, in the proportion of three-fourths thereof to the former and one-fourth to the latter, in full compensation for three thousand three hundred and eighty-five acres of land, including the timber previously taken therefrom, in the western half of “Plymouth township,” so called, in the State of Maine, and the sum of six thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight dollars to Rufus Mansur, of Houlton, Maine, andRufus Mansur,James A.
Drew. James A. Drew, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, in full compensation for sixteen hundred and ninety-two acres of land, including the timber previously taken therefrom, in the eastern half of said township, to which the said parties severally lost title by the operation of the fourth article of the aforesaid treaty: *Provided,* That the regulations, restrictions, and provisionsProviso. contained in the provisos to the first section of this act shall be made, to all intents and purposes, applicable to this section.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted, *That the Secretary of the TreasuryPayment toLaura A. Stebbins,Catherine C. Ward,Edmund Monroe.Benjamin Sewall,James A. Drew,Rufus Mansur. be, and he is hereby, directed to pay, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to Laura A. Stebbins, of Bangor, Maine, and Catherine C. Ward, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, the sum of six thousand six hundred and forty-seven [dollars]; and to Edmund Monroe and Benjamin Sewall, of the city of Boston, in Massachusetts, the sum of seven thousand six hundred and thirty-five dollars, in the proportion of three-fourths of the same to said Monroe, and one-fourth to said Sewall; and to James A.
Drew, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, and Rufus Mansur, of Houlton, Maine, the sum of nine thousand three hundred and twenty-eight dollars; the said several sums being in full compensation, at the rate of one dollar per acre, for timber taken from lands owned by said parties, respectively, and located in the Eaton Grant and Plymouth township, (so-called,) in the State of Maine, and within the district recognized as the “disputed territory,” and which timber was taken off and lost to the proprietors in consequence of the diplomatic arrangement entered into between the United States and Great Britain in eighteen hundred and thirty-two, by which both parties agreed to abstain from the exercise of jurisdiction in said territory: *Provided,* That the payments authorizedProviso. and required by this act may be made, in whole or in part, at the option of the Secretary of the Treasury, in any of the bonds of the United States, bearing interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, which have been, or may hereafter be, authorized by law to be issued.
Approved, July 12, 1862.