Chapter XXIX. *to confirm the reports of the commissioners for ascertaining claims and titles to lands in West Florida, and for other purposes.*(*a*)(*a*) See notes to the act of May 8, 1822, ch. 129
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Chap. XXIX.— An Act *to confirm the reports of the commissioners for ascertaining claims and titles to lands in West Florida, and for other purposes.*(*a*)(*a*) See notes to the act of May 8, 1822, ch. 129. April 22, 1826. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, * Decisions made by the commissioners appointed to ascertain claims, &c., to lands in West Florida, confirmed. That all the decisions made by the commissioners, appointed to ascertain claims and titles to lands in the district of West Florida, made in favour of claimants to lands and lots in said district, contained in the reports, opinions, and abstracts, of the commissioners, which have been transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, according to law, be, and the same are hereby, confirmed.
Sec. 2. Reports recognised as valid, &c. *And be it further enacted, *That all the reports, abstracts, and opinions, made and forwarded by the two commissioners in said district, subsequently to the first day of January, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, the period at which that board expired by law, be, and the same are hereby, recognised as valid, and confirmed as aforesaid; and the said commissioners, and their secretary, shall be entitled to receive the same compensation as they were authorized to demand by law, prior Act of March 3, 1825, ch. 83.to that day, up to the time at which the receiver and register took possession of their records, in obedience to an act of the third day of March, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, entitled “An act to extend the time for the settlement of private land claims, in the territory of Florida,” &c.
Sec. 3. The Spanish claims contained in special reports, act of May 8, 1822, ch. 129, confirmed. *And be it further enacted, *That the Spanish claims contained in special reports, from one to thirty, reported in obedience to the fourth section of an act of Congress, approved May eighth, eighteen hundred and twenty-two, entitled “An act for ascertaining claims and titles to lands in the territory of Florida,” be, and the same are hereby, confirmed to the claimants in possession.
Sec. 4. Claims to lots in report, &c., with the exception, confirmed, &c. *And be it further enacted, *That the claims to lots in report and abstract K, recommended for confirmation as equitable titles, with the exception of the last ten, be, and the same are hereby, declared valid and confirmed, and the claim of the Catholic inhabitants to a lot on which the church stands, be, and the same is hereby, confirmed to them for that use, so long as it is occupied for that purpose.
Sec. 5. Claims contained in the report of the register, &c., confirmed. *And be it further enacted, *That the claims contained in the report of the receiver and register, made to the Secretary of the Treasury, in obedience to a law of the last session of Congress, dated the thirteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, be, and the same are hereby, confirmed. Sec. 6. Location of the claim of Francisco and Fernando Moreno. *And be it further enacted, *That the claim of Francisco and Fernando Moreno, near fort San Carlos de Barancas, shall be so located as not to interfere with the grounds reserved by the laws and ordinances of the Spanish government, for forts, nor with that which has been lately selected for a navy yard and naval depot, by the navy commissioners, and approved by the President of the United States.
Sec. 7. Claims to lands in report L. with the exception of that on the square Ferdinand seventh, confirmed, &c. *And be it further enacted, *That the claims to lots in report L, with the exception of that on the square Ferdinand Seventh, be, and the same are hereby, approved and confirmed, so far as the United States have any title to the same, without prejudice to the rights of the corporation: and the lots reserved for market house and other public uses, in the plan of the Constitutional Cabildo, are relinquished and confirmed to the corporation of Pensacola: and the lots reserved and granted for church, parish, vicar, school, and custom-house, are respectively set apart and confirmed, for the objects set forth in the decrees of said Cabildo, so far as the United States have any title to the same, without prejudice, as Proviso.aforesaid: *Provided,* That no claim on the public squares of Seville, Ferdinand Seventh, and the square and garden on which the courthouse stands, as laid off in said plan of the Cabildo, shall be allowed or NINETEENTH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 30, 31. 1826. 157 recognised as valid, by this act; and *Provided also,* That the confirmationProviso—As to certain claims.Confirmation of all claims to amount, &c. of all the said claims provided for by this act, shall amount only to a relinquishment forever, on the part of the United States, of any claim whatever to the tract of land, so confirmed or granted. Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted, *That the lands fronting PensacolaLands fronting Pensacola bay, &c., be reserved from sale for the use of the United States.
Bay, from the mouth of the Big Bayou, to a line below Tartar Point, and thence back to the Bayou, selected by the navy commissioners, and all the lands fronting said bay, and for one mile back, as far as the Grand Lagoon, shall be reserved from sale or location, for the use of the navy yard or depot, and for other public works of the United States. Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted, *That the proper accounting officersAccounts of the commissioners of East and West Florida. of the Treasury Department be, and they are hereby, authorized to receive and adjust the accounts of the commissioners appointed to ascertain claims and titles to lands in East and West Florida, for the contingent expenses of said commissioners, and to pay the same out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
Approved, April 22, 1826.