resentatives, in general court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the delegates of this State, or any two of them, who shall be attending the Congress of the United States, be and they are hereby directed, authorized, and fully empowered, in the name and behalf of this State, to make, execute, and deliver, under their hands and seals, an ample deed of release and cession of all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction, and claim, of the State of Connecticut, to certain western lands, beginning at the completion of the forty-first degree of north latitude, one hundred and twenty miles west of the western boundary line of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as now claimed by said Commonwealth, and from thence by a line drawn north, parallel to, and one hundred and twenty miles west of the said west line of Pennsylvania, and to continue north until it comes to forty-two degrees and two minutes north latitude. Whereby all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction, and claim, of the State of Connecticut, to the lands lying west of said line to be drawn as aforementioned, one hundred and twenty miles west of the western boundary line of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as now claimed by said Commonwealth, shall be included, released, and ceded to the United States in Congress assembled, for the common use and benefit of the said States, Connectient inclusive." Now, therefore, know ye, that we, the said William Samuel Johnson and Jonathan Sturges, by virtue of the power and authority to us committed by the said act of the general assembly of Connecticut, before recited, in the name and for and on behalf of the said State of Connecticut, do, by these presents, assign, transfer, quit claim, cede, and convey to the United States of America, for their benefit, Connecticut inclusive, all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction, and claim, which the said State of Connecticut hath in and to the beforementioned and described territory or tract of country, as the same is bounded and described in the said act of assembly, for the uses in the said recited act of assembly declared.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals, this thirteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, and of the sovereignty and Independence of the United States of America the eleventh. WILL. SAM. JOHNSON. [L. 8.] JONATHAN STURGES.

Signed, sealed, and delivered, in presence of

CHA. THOMSON.

ROGER ALDEN.

JAS. MATHERS.

[L. 8.]

The delegates from Connecticut having executed the above deed, Congress, September 14, 1786, passed the following:

Resolved, That Congress accept the said deed of cession; and that the same be recorded and enrolled among the acts of the United States in Congress assembled.

CESSION OF THE WESTERN RESERVE OF CONNECTICUT.

Connecticut reserved by the above deed both soil and jurisdiction over a tract of her western lands lying between the western boundary of the State of Pennsylvania and the then eastern boundary of her cession, being a point one hundred and twenty miles west of Pennsylvania's western boundary, comprising a strip between the above boundaries one hundred and twenty miles long and irregular in width, lying between the parallels 41° and 42° 2′ north, being the northeastern portion of the present State of Ohio, and known as the "Western Reserve" of Connecticut in Ohio, which, with the "Fire lands," contained about 4,300,000 acres.

In October, 1797, Connecticut, by act of her legislature, tendered to the United States a release of jurisdiction over this tract known as the "Western Reserve," being the tract reserved in the deed to the United States of September 13, 1786, the State to retain the right of soil.

April 28, 1800, the Congress of the United States passed an act authorizing the President to accept the cession of jurisdiction by Connecticut for the "Western Reserve," as follows:

AN ACT to authorize the President of the United States to accept, for the United States, a cession of jurisdiction of the territory west of Pennsylvania, commonly called the Western Reserve of Con. necticut.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, authorized to execute and deliver letters-patent, in the name and behalf of the United States, to the governor of the State of Connecticut for the time being, for the use and

benefit of the persons holding and claiming under the State of Connecticut, their heirs and assigns forever, whereby all the right, title, interest, and estate of the United States to the soil of that tract of land lying west of the west line of Pennsylvania, as claimed by the State of Pennsylvania, and as the same has been actually settled, ascertained, and run, in conformity to an agreement between the said State of Pennsylvania and the State of Virginia, and extending from said line westward one hundred and twenty statute miles in length, and in breadth throughout the said limits in length from the completion of the forty-first degree of north latitude, until it comes to fortytwo degrees and two minutes north latitude, including all that territory commonly called the Western Reserve of Connecticut, and which was excepted by said State of Connecticut out of the cession by the said State heretofore made to the United States, and accepted by a resolution of Congress of the fourteenth of September, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, shall be released and conveyed, as aforesaid, to the said governor of Connecticut, and his successors in said office, forever, for the purpose of quieting the grantees and purchasers under said State of Connecticut, and confirming their titles to the soil of the said tract of land.

Provided, however, That such letters-patent shall not be executed and delivered, unless the State of Connecticut shall, within eight months from passing this act, by a legislative act, renounce, forever, for the use and benefit of the United States, and of the several individual States who may be therein concerned, respectively, and of all those deriving claims or titles from them, or any of them, all territorial and jurisdictional claims whatever, under any grant, charter or charters whatever, to the soil and jurisdiction of any and all lands whatever lying westward, northwestward, and southwestward of those counties in the State of Connecticut, which are bounded westwardly by the eastern line of the State of New York, as ascertained by agreement between Connecticut and New York, in the year one thousand seven hundred and thirty-three, excepting only from such renunciation the claim of said State of Connecticut, and of those claiming from or under the said State, to the soil of said tract of land herein described under the name of the Western Reserve of Connecticut.

And provided also, That the said State of Connecticut shall, within the said eight months from and after passing this act, by the agent or agents of said State, duly authorized by the legislature thereof, execute and deliver to the acceptance of the President of the United States, a deed expressly releasing to the United States the jurisdictional claim of the said State of Counecticut, to the said tract of land herein described under the name of the Western Reserve of Connecticut, and shall deposit an exemplification of said act of renunciation, under the seal of the said State of Connecticut, together with said deed releasing said jurisdiction, in the office of the Department of State of the United States; which deed of cession, when so deposited, shall vest the jurisdiction of said territory in the United States: Provided, That neither this act, nor anything contained therein, shall be construed so as in any manner to draw into question the conclusive settlement of the dispute between Pennsylvania and Connecticut, by the decree of the Federal court at Trenton, nor to impair the right of Pennsylvania or any other State, or of any person or persons claiming under that or any other State, in any existing dispute concerning the right, either of soil or of jurisdiction, with the State of Connecticut, or with any person or persons claiming under the State of Connecticut: And provided also, That nothing herein contained shall be construed in any manner to pledge the United States for the extinguishment of the Indian title to the said lands, or further than merely to pass the title of the United States thereto.

May, 1800, second Thursday, Connecticut passed an act of renunciation of jurisdictional claim over and to the Western Reserve of Connecticut in Ohio in compliance with the act of Congress of April 28, 1800.

May 30, 1800, Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut, by deed and act completed title to the jurisdiction of the United States over the Western Reserve.

Deed and act of Connecticut.

To all who shall see these presents, I, Jonathan Trumbull, governor of the State of Connecticut, send greeting:

Whereas the general assembly of the State of Connecticut, at their session holden in Hartford on the second Thursday of May, one thousand and eight hundred, passed an act entitled "An act renouncing the claims of this State to certain lands therein mentioned," in the words following, to wit: "Whereas the Congress of the United States, at their session begun and holden in the city of Philadelphia, on the first Monday of December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, made and passed an act in the words following, to wit: [here follows the act of Congress of the 28th of April, 1800:] therefore, in consideration of the terms, and in compliance with the provisions and conditions of the said act, Be it enacted by the governor and council, and

house of representatives, in general court assembled, that the State of Connecticut doth hereby renounce forever for the use and benefit of the United States, and of the several individual States, who may be therein concerned respectively, and of all those deriving claims or titles from them, or any of them, all territorial and jurisdictional claims whatever, under any grant, charter, or charters whatever, to the soil and jurisdiction of any and all lands whatever, lying westward, northwestward, and southwestward, of those counties in the State of Connecticut, which are bounded westwardly by the eastern line of the State of New York, as ascertained by agreement between Connecticut and New York, in the year one thousand seven hundred and thirty-three; excepting only from this renunciation, the claim of the said State of Connecticut, and of those claiming from or under the said State of Connecticut, to the soil of said tract of land, in said act of Congress described under the name of the Western Reserve of Connecticut. And be it further enacted, That the governor of this State for the time being, be, and hereby is, empowered, in the name and behalf of this State, to execute and deliver to the acceptance of the President of the United States, a deed of the form and tenor directed by the said act of Congress, expressly releasing to the United States the jurisdictional claims of the State of Connecticut, to all that territory called the Western Reserve of Connecticut, according to the description thereof in said act of Congress, and in as full and ample manner as therein is required.

Therefore, know ye, that I, Jonathan Trumbull, governor of the State of Connecticut, by virtue of the powers vested in me, as aforesaid, do, by these presents, in the name and for and on behalf of the said State, remise, release, and forever quit claim, to the United States, the jurisdictional claim of the State of Connecticut, to all that tract of land called in the aforesaid act of Congress, the Western Reserve of Connecticut, and as the same therein under that name is particularly and fully described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, and affixed my seal, in the council chamber at Hartford, in the State of Connecticut, this thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred, and in the twenty-fourth year of the Independence of the United States.

JONATHAN TRUMBULL. [L. 8.]

The act of April 28, 1800, was, in effect, an act to quiet title, and gave grantees and holders from Connecticut the warrant of a United States patent.

CESSION FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

March 8, 1787, the general assembly of the State of South Carolina authorized her delegates in Congress to convey to the United States all western territory held and claimed by her.

August 9, 1787, the Congress passed a resolution of acceptance of the cession, as follows:

Resolved, That Congress are ready to accept the cession of the claim of the State of South Carolina, to the tract of country described in the act of said State, whenever the delegates will execute a deed, conformable to said act.

The lands ceded by South Carolina and claimed under her charter and known as her western territory were embraced in an oblong strip from twelve to fourteen miles wide, extending from her northwestern boundary as it now is along and south of the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude, to the Mississippi River, and now lie in and form the extreme northern portion of the States of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

By virtue of the powers in them vested the delegates of the State of South Carolina, for and in behalf of the said State, executed the following deed of cession to the United States of America:

Deed of cession.

To all who shall see these presents, we, John Kean and Daniel Huger, the underwritten delegates for the State of South Carolina, in the Congress of the United States, send greeting:

Whereas the general assembly of the State of South Carolina, on the eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, passed an act in the words following, viz: "An act to authorize the delegates of this State in Congress to convey to the United States in Congress assembled, all the right of this State to the territory herein described: Whereas the Congress of the United States did, on the sixth day of September, in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty, recommend to the several States in the Union having claims to western territory to make a liberal cession to the United States of a portion of their respective claims for the common benefit of the Union; and whereas this State is willing to adopt every measure

which can tend to promote the honor and dignity of the United States, and strengthen their Federal Union: Be it therefore enacted by the honorable the senate and house of representatives in general assembly met and sitting and by the authority of the same, That it shall and may be lawful for the delegates of this State to the Congress of the United States, or such of them as shall be assembled in Congress, and they are hereby fully authorized and empowered for and on behalf of this State, by proper deeds or instruments in writing, under their hands and seals, to convey, transfer, assign, and make over unto the United States in Congress assembled, for the benefit of the said States, all right, title, and claim, as well of soil as jurisdiction, which this State hath to the territory or tract of country within the limits of the charter of South Carolina, situate, lying, and being within the boundaries and lines hereinafter described; that is to say, all the territory or tract of country included within the river Mississippi and a line beginning at that part of the said river which is intersected by the southern boundary line of the State of North Carolina, and continuing along the said boundary line until it intersects the ridge or chain of mountains which divides the eastern from the western waters, then to be continued along the top of the said ridge of mountains until it intersects a line to be drawn due west from the head of the southern branch of Tugoloo River to the said mountains, and thence to run a due west course to the river Mississippi. In the senate house, the eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and in the eleventh year of the Independence of the United States of America. John Lloyd, president of the senate; John Julius Pringle, speaker of the house of representatives." And whereas the said John Kean and Daniel Huger were, on the sixth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, elected delegates to represent the State of South Carolina, according to the law of said State, in the Congress of the United States until the first Monday in November in the said year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, which election remains in full force, and the said John Kean and Daniel Huger are the lawful delegates of said State, in the Congress of the United States: Now, therefore, know ye, that we, the said John Kean and Daniel Huger, by virtue of the power and authority to us committed by the said act of the general assembly of South Carolina before recited, in the name and for and in behalf of the State of South Carolina, do by these presents assign, transfer, quit claim, cede, and convey to the United States of America for their benefit (South Carolina inclusive), all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction, and claim which the State of South Carolina hath in and to the before mentioned and described territory or tract of country as the same is bounded and described in the said act of assembly, for the uses in the said recited act of assembly declared.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals, this ninth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the sovereignty and Independence of America the twelfth.

Signed, sealed, and delivered, in presence of

JOHN KEAN.
DANIEL HUGER.

[L. S.]

[L. S.]

CHARLES THOMSON,

ROGER ALDEN,

BENJAMIN BANKSON.

In the Congress August 9, 1787, this cession was accepted.

CESSION FROM THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.

North Carolina was the first State to make a cession of western lands to the Government of the United States under the Constitution of 1789.

December 22, 1789, by act of assembly, the State of North Carolina authorized her Senators and Representatives in Congress to make cession to the United States of her western territory.

February 25, 1790, a deed of cession was offered on behalf of North Carolina, by Samuel Johnston and Benjamin Hawkins, Senators in Congress.

The western territory claimed and ceded by the State of North Carolina was embraced within the zone lying to the west of her western boundary with the thirty-fifth parallel north latitude for its southern boundary, and the parallel 36° 30′ north latitude for its northern boundary, being the territory now constituting the area of the present State of Tennessee.

The act of cession contained ten conditions.

Act accepting deed of cession from North Carolina, April 2, 1790.

AN ACT to accept a cession of the claim of the State of North Carolina to a certain district of western territory.

A deed of cession having been executed, and in the Senate offered for acceptance

CESSION BY NORTH CAROLINA.

to the United States, of the claims of the State of North Carolina, to a district of territory therein described; which deed is in the words following, viz:

"To all who shall see these presents: We, the underwritten Samuel Johnston and Benjamin Hawkins, Senators in the Congress of the United States of America, duly and constitutionally chosen by the legislature of the State of North Carolina, send greeting:

"Whereas the general assembly of the State of North Carolina, on the [22d] day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, passed an act, entituled "An act for the purpose of ceding to the United States of America certain western lands therein described," in the words following, to wit:

"Whereas the United States, in Congress assembled, have repeatedly and earnestly recommended to the respective States in the Union, claiming or owning vacant western territory, to make cessions of part of the same, as a further means, as well of hastening the extinguishment of the debts, as of establishing the harmony of the United States; and the inhabitants of the said western territory being also desirous that such cession should be made, in order to obtain a more ample protection than they have heretofore received: Now this State, being ever desirous of doing ample justice to the public creditors, as well as the establishing the harmony of the United States, and complying with the reasonable desires of her citizens:

"Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of North Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the Senators of this State, in the Congress of the United States, or one of the Senators and any two of the Representatives of this State, in the Congress of the United States, are hereby authorized, empowered and required to execute a deed or deeds on the part and behalf of this State, conveying to the United States of America, all right, title, and claim which this State has to the Sovereignty and territory of the lands situated within the chartered limits of this State, west of a line beginning on the extreme height of the Stone Mountain, at the place where the Virginia line intersects it; running thence along the extreme height of the said mountain, to the place where Wataugo River breaks through it; thence a direct course to the top of the Yellow Mountain, where Bright's road crosses the same; thence along the ridge of said mountain, between the waters of Doe River and the waters of Rock Creek, to the place where the road crosses the Iron Mountain; from thence along the extreme height of said mountain, to where Nolichucky River runs through the same; thence to the top of the Bald Mountain; thence along the extreme height of the said mountain, to the Painted Rock, on French Broad River; thence along the highest ridge of the said mountain, to the place where it is called the Great Iron or Smoaky Mountain; thence along the extreme height of the said mountain, to the place where it is called the Unicoy or Unaka Mountain, between the Indian towns of Cowee and Old Chota; thence along the main ridge of the said mountain, to the southern boundary of this State, upon the following express conditions, and subject thereto-that is to say: First, that neither the lands nor inhabitants westward of the said mountain, shall be estimated, after the cession made by virtue of this act shall be accepted, in the ascertaining the proportion of this State with the United States, in the common expense occasioned by the late war; secondly, that the lands laid off, or directed to be laid off, by any act or acts of the general assembly of this State, for the officers and soldiers thereof, their heirs and assigns respectively, shall be and enure to the use and benefit of the said officers, their heirs and assigns respectively; and if the bounds of the said lands already prescribed for the officers and soldiers of the continental line of this State, shall not contain a sufficient quantity of lands fit for cultivation, to make good the several provisions intended by law, that such officer or soldier, or his assignee, who shall fall short of his allotment or proportion, after all the lands fit for cultivation, within the said bounds, are appropriated, be permitted to take his quota, or such part thereof as may be deficient, in any other part of the said territory intended to be ceded by virtue of this act, not already appropriated. And where entries have been made agreeable to law, and titles under them not perfected by grant or otherwise, then, and in that case, the governor for the time being shall, and he is hereby required to, perfect, from time to time, such titles, in such manner as if this act had never been passed. And that all entries made by, or grants made to, all and every person or persons whatsoever, agreeable to law, and within the limits hereby intended to be ceded to the United States, shall have the same force and effect as if such cession had not been made; and that all and every right of occupancy and preemption, and every other right reserved by any act or acts to persons settled on, and occupying lands within the limit of the lands hereby intended to be ceded as aforesaid, shall continue to be in full force, in the same manner as if the cession had not been made, and as conditions upon which the said lands are ceded to the United States. And further, it shall be understood, that if any person or persons shall have, by virtue of the act, entituled "An act for opening the land office for the redemption of specie and other certificates, and discharging the arrears due to the army," passed in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty three, made his or their entry in the office usually called John Armstrong's office, and located the same to any spot or piece of ground