Letter from the Commissioner of the General Land Office. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, February 12, 1855. SIR: In reply to your letter of the 2d instant, I have the honor to state that before the patent of Willis Benefield can be cancelled and his warrant returned, the patent must be relinquished in the manner and form prescribed in the third paragraph of the enclosed circular, of the 19th of January, 1854. Said patent is herewith enclosed. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. JOHN G. DAVIS, House of Representatives. JOHN WILSON, Commissioner, Letter from Hon. John G. Davis. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 29, 1855. SIR: Enclosed is the patent of Willis Benefield, also his deed of relinquishment for the land therein mentioned. Will you please enclose me, before I leave here, Mr. Benefield's land warrant. Respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. JOHN WILSON, Commissioner, &c. JOHN G. DAVIS. Release by W. Benefield. Know all men by these presents that I, Willis Benefield, of Sullivan county, Indiana, do hereby release to the United States all the right, title, and claim that I hold in and to the northwest quarter of section twenty-one, in township nine north, of range nine west, estimated to contain one hundred and sixty acres, selected in the Vincennes land district, and in Sullivan county, Indiana. Given under my hand and seal this 22d day of February, A. D. 1855. WILLIS BENEFIELD. [L. S.] STATE OF INDIANA, Sullivan County, sct: I, James H. Reed, recorder in and for said county, certify that Willis Benefield this day acknowledged the execution of the above deed. I further certify that I have duly recorded this deed in book L, page 578; and that the records of this office show no encumbrance upon said land. Witness my hand and seal of office hereto attached, at Sullivan, [L. S.] February 22, 1855. JAMES H. REED, Recorder Supreme Court of Indiana. Location by W. Benefield. LAND OFFICE AT VINCENNES. Received at this office November 20, 1847. JAMES S. MAYES, Register. NOVEMBER 20, 1847. I, Willis Benefield, of Sullivan county, Indiana, do hereby locate the northwest quarter of section twenty-one, township number nine north, of range number nine west, containing one hundred and sixty acres, in satisfaction of the warrant herein mentioned. Attest: JAMES S. MAYES, Register. SAMUEL WISE, Receiver. WILLIS BENEFIELD. [This location cancelled, see letter to register, Vincennes, Indiana, March 2, 1855.] LAND OFFICE, Vincennes, December 31, 1847. We certify that the above location is correct, being in accordance with law and instructions. JAMES S. MAYES, Register. Letter from Commissioner of the General Land Office. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, March 2, 1855. SIR: The location, in the name of Willis Benefield, with military land warrant No. 5202, for 160 acres, act of 1847, upon the northwest quarter-section twenty-one, township 9, range 9 west, has this day been cancelled, because said location interferes with a grant for the benefit of the Wabash and Erie canal, under the act of Congress approved March 5, 1845, and the warrant certificate has been returned to said Benefield, care of Hon. John G. Davis. You will please enter the cancellation on the books of your office. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, REGISTER OF THE LAND OFFICE, JOHN WILSON, Commissioner. Vincennes, Indiana. Letter from Commisswner of the General Land Office. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, March 2, 1855 SIR: I have the honor herewith to transmit military bounty land warrant certificate No. 5202, for one hundred and sixty acres, act of 1847; the location having been cancelled according to the request contained in your letter of the 29th ultimo, the receipt of which you will please acknowledge. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN WILSON, Commissioner. Hon. JOHN G. DAVIS, House of Representatives. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, August 13, 1858. I, Thomas A. Hendricks, Commissioner of the General Land Office, do hereby certify that the annexed is a true and literal exemplification from the patent records of this office. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the seal of this office to be affixed, at the city of Wash[L. S.] ington, on the day and year above written. THOS. A. HENDRICKS. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Know ye, that in pursuance of an act of Congress, entitled "An act to raise for a limited time an additional military force, and for other purposes," approved February 11, 1847, Willis Benefield, private in Captain Briggs' company, second regiment Indiana volunteers, having deposited in the General Land Office a warrant in his favor, numbered 5202, there is therefore granted by the United States unto said Willis Benefield, and to his heirs, the northwest quarter of section twenty-one, in township nine north, of range nine west, in the district of lands subject to sale at Vincennes, Indiana, containing one hundred and sixty acres, according to the official plat of the survey of the said land returned to the General Land Office by the surveyor general, which said tract has been located in satisfaction of the above-mentioned warrant, in pursuance of the act of Congress above mentioned, approved February 11, 1847; to have and to hold the said part of said section of land, with the appurtenances thereof, unto the said Willis Benefield, his heirs and assigns forever. In testimony whereof, I, Zachary Taylor, President of the United States of America, have caused these letters to be made patent and the seal of the General Land Office to be hereunto affixed. Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, the tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, and of the independence of the United States the sventy-third. [L. S] By the President: ZACHARY TAYLOR, N. SARGENT, Recorder of the General Land Office. Recorded, volume 18, page 169 Cancelled. See letter to register, March 2, 1855. H IN THE COURT OF CLAIMS. WILLIS BENEFIELD vs. THE UNITED STATES. Brief for petitioner. The petitioner, in 1847, located a land warrant upon the northwest quarter of section twenty-one, township 9, range 9 west, in Indiana, and on the 10th of June 1849, a patent was issued to him by the United States for it. He took possession of the land, cultivated it, and made valuable improvements upon it. It was afterwards claimed by the trustees of the Wabash and Erie canal, by virtue of a grant from the United States for the purpose of completing said canal from Terre Haute to the Ohio river. It was sold by the trustees, and the purchaser ousted the petitioner of his possession, taking all the improvements. The evidence shows that at the time Benefield took possession of the land it was worth but $1 25 per acre, or $200; that he made improvements to the value of $1,200; and that the land enhanced in value, while he held it, to $2,500. He is, therefore, entitled to recover from the United States the difference between $1 25 and $15, and also the value of his improvements. This is the amount of his actual loss The first item is $13 75 per acre, or $2,200, to which the improvements, $1,200, should be added, making $3,400. I submit that he is entitled to a recovery for this amount. R. W. THOMPSON, Attorney for Petitioner. MAY, 1858. IN THE COURT OF CLAIMS. WILLIS BENEFIELD vs. THE UNITED STATES, SOLICITOR'S BRIEF ON ARGUMENT. Claim for the value of a quarter section of land and improvements patented to claimant, which had been previously granted by Congress for the use of the Wabash and Erie canal. FACTS AS UNDERSTOOD BY THE SOLICITOR. 1. The lands in the Vincennes land district, Indiana, of which this quarter section was a part, were surveyed prior to March 3, 1845. This is a historical fact, but shown by the surveys in the General Land Office. 2. That on the 3d of March, 1845, Congress passed "an act to grant certain lands to the State of Indiana, the better to enable the State to extend and complete the Wabash and Erie canal from Terre Haute to the Ohio river." The first section of this act provides (5 U. S. L., 781) " that there be, and hereby is, granted to the State of Indiana, for the purpose of aiding said State in extending and completing the Wabash and Erie canal from Terre Haute, in the county of Vigo, in said State, to the Ohio river, at Evansville, in said State, as the course thereof has been established and surveyed by the authority of said State, one moiety of the public lands, (remaining unsold, and not otherwise disposed of, encumbered, or appropriated,) in a strip of five miles in width on each side of said canal, to be selected by an agent or agents to be appointed by the governor of said State, subject to approval of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, reserving to the United States each alternate section (or other proper subdivision of said land) from one end of the said canal to the other; and before the selections, to be made as aforesaid by such agent or agents, shall be deemed to have been made and perfected, a chart or charts, showing the courses and distances and points of termination of said canal, shall be reported, or caused to be reported, by the governor of Indiana, or by some person or persons by him appointed, to the Commissioner of the General Land Office. "SEC. 2. That, for the purpose herein before mentioned, there be, and hereby is, granted to the said State, in addition to the grant hereinbefore provided for, one moiety of all the other lands in the Vincennes land district in said State, and which remain, as aforesaid, unsold, and not otherwise disposed of, encumbered, or appropriated, to be selected under the authority and by the direction of the governor of said State: Provided, That in the selection of the lands by this section provided for, no lands shall be comprehended which, in the first section of this act, are (in alternate sections or other proper subdivisions) directed to be reserved as aforesaid; and the lands so selected shall be reported, or caused to be reported, by the governor of the State to the register of the land office at Vincennes, before such selection shall be deemed to be made and completed. "SEC. 3. That all the lands by the first and second sections of this act granted as aforesaid shall, after the selections thereof shall have been made and completed as aforesaid, be subject to be disposed of by the general assembly of said State, for the purpose aforesaid, and no other; and the President shall direct the further sales of the public lands in the Vincennes land district aforesaid, to be suspended until the governor of said State shall have caused the selections aforesaid to be made and perfected as aforesaid, and shall have notified the Secretary of the Treasury thereof: Provided, That such suspension shall not continue longer than twelve months from and after the passing of 3. That the quarter section in question was not within the five miles granted by the first section of the act, but was included in those granted by the second section. (Information obtained at the land office.) 4. That the governor caused the charts mentioned in the act to be filed in the General Land Office. (Information from the land office.) 5. That the President issued his proclamation withdrawing the lands from sale in the Vincennes district, as provided in the third section of said act. |