Claims to Land and the Fifth Principal Meridian

This article has been modified. See Chapter 10 of "It Was Not Quick and It Was Not Simple: The Saga of Private Land Claims in Missouri". (Go to book now.)

The final report of the Board of Revision was expected to reach Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin around the first of March 1812 (Marshall, Vol. 2, pg 216). Soon after the report arrived at its destination, those having certificates for confirmed claims began requesting patents. The land descriptions in the certificates were vague, however, having no reference to adjoining tracts or any common point. By April 1812 Secretary Gallatin had refused to issue any more patents based on these vague descriptions. It was clear that the boundary surveys would have to be completed before the tracts of land could be given a definite location. Thus Secretary Gallatin wanted the principal deputy surveyor to survey all of the confirmed claims, connecting them relative to one another (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 546).

Section five of the Act of June 13, 1812, chapter 99 (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, pg 748), directed the principal deputy surveyor to survey into townships as much land as may be directed by the President of the United States along with all of the confirmed private claims that had not already been surveyed under the authority of the United States. The principal deputy surveyor was further directed to make out a “general and connected plat” of all of the surveys to be made by him along with all those that had already been made.

Meanwhile, the General Land Office was created by the Act of April 25, 1812, chapter 68, An Act for the establishment of a General Land Office in the Department of the Treasury (U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, pg 716). Edward Tiffin from Ohio was nominated by President James Madison to be Commissioner of the General Land Office and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 6, 1812 (Senate Executive Journal, Vol. 2, pg 262-263). His duties were to manage all activities relating to the public lands of the United States and other lands patented or granted by the United States, as had previously been handled by the offices of the Secretary of State, Secretary and Register of the Treasury and Secretary of War.

Later in 1812 Jared Mansfield resigned as Surveyor General of the United States and returned to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to take the position of professor of natural and experimental philosophy, which had been newly created by the Act of April 29, 1812, chapter 72 (U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, pg 720). Josiah Meigs from Georgia was nominated by President James Madison to replace Mansfield and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 16, 1812 (Senate Executive Journal, Vol. 2, pg 303-304). On November 24, 1812, Edward Tiffin sent Meigs his commission and directed him to go to Cincinnati, Ohio, to assume his duties. Tiffin expected that there should be general instructions in the office as had been given to Mansfield by the Secretary of the Treasury to provide Meigs sufficient guidance and direction. Meigs arrived in Cincinnati on March 22, 1813 to find that the first clerk of the office had died (Territorial Papers, Vol. 8, pg 215).

Understandably, Josiah Meigs was uncertain as to how he should proceed. He would later write to Edward Tiffin, “I hope you will not think me timid if I ask you direction for my Conduct” (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 691). He desperately wanted Mansfield to come back and explain it all to him (Territorial Papers, Vol. 8, pag 215).

In a letter to Meigs, dated June 22, 1813, Principal Deputy Surveyor Silas Bent expressed his concerns about the surveys to be done in the Territory of Missouri. He emphasized his belief that the public lands and the confirmed private claims should be surveyed at the same time. The township and section lines would serve as a framework on which to connect the private claims and a means to check for and detect errors in the measurements. He advocated for a system of meridian and standard lines such as had been implemented by Jared Mansfield for the public lands in the Territories of Indiana and Illinois. He was concerned, though, that the area over which the private claims were scattered was too extensive to have authorized, since the President of the United States would have to direct that it be done (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 681).

Bent noted that it might be difficult to run a meridian north from the south boundary of the territory because of the damage done by the New Madrid earthquakes, which had continued over the past eighteen months. It might, therefore, be better to establish the meridian north of that area and then push it to the south. He concluded his letter by stating that it was not an easy matter to find an exceptional solution that would satisfy all the concerns related to the survey of the private claims (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 681).

Meigs further solicited the opinions of William Rector, a deputy surveyor working in the Kaskaskia District of the Territory of Illinois, as to the best plan for surveying the confirmed private claims in the Territory of Missouri. Rector responded in a letter, dated July 24, 1813, advocating for reckoning the ranges from the Third Principal Meridian in the Territory of Illinois and extending its Base Line across the Mississippi River into the Territory of Missouri. His reasoning rested on the belief that the extension of an existing system would cause less confusion than the introduction of a new one. Rector stressed the necessity of surveying enough township exteriors so as to enclose the confirmed private claims before any of those claims were surveyed. Once the township exteriors were in place, the private claims could then be surveyed and referenced to them. It would not be necessary to further divide the townships into sections at that time unless there were only a few private claims in the township (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 688). This plan would be sufficient to prepare a connected plat of the private claims to meet the immediate need for issuing patents. The townships could then be subdivided into sections at a later time to facilitate the sales of the intervening public lands.

Meigs forwarded the comments from Bent and Rector to Edward Tiffin in a letter, dated July 26, 1813, noting that he approved of Rector’s idea to use the Third Principal Meridian and its Base Line, which, he stated, was located about 24 miles south of the mouth of the Missouri River. He further noted that, if the entire area between the Arkansas River and the Missouri River was to be surveyed into townships, it would probably be advantageous to run a second Base Line about 150 to 160 miles south of the mouth of the Missouri River (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 690).

Edward Tiffin responded by letter, dated August 12, 1813, inquiring of Meigs whether he had found any instructions in his office pertaining to the surveying of the public lands, confirmed private claims and donation claims in the Territory of Missouri. Neither the Secretary of the Treasury nor the President of the United States was available at that time to give direction, so no surveying could be authorized to proceed. Tiffin, however, offered his own observations, noting that he agreed with Silas Bent that the public lands and the confirmed private claims should be surveyed at the same time. He thought that the Base Line of the Third Principal Meridian was too far north and wondered if it would be better instead to run a new Base Line west from the mouth of the Ohio River. He also suggested that it might be better to run a meridian north from about the mouth of the Arkansas River instead of pushing it south from a point on the Missouri River (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 695).

Meigs replied on August 24, 1813, reporting that he had found no particular instructions in his office relative to surveys in the Territory of Missouri, but that Secretary Gallatin had wholly approved of the system devised by Jared Mansfield. He conceded that Tiffin’s ideas appeared correct, being consistent with the plan that Mansfield had implemented. He also noted that he had designated William Rector to replace Silas Bent as Principal Deputy Surveyor in the Territory of Missouri. Bent had been commissioned in February 1813 as a Judge of the Superior Court of the Territory of Missouri (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 631) and could no longer give his full attention to the duties of Principal Deputy Surveyor. Consequently, the acting Secretary of the Treasury had ordered a replacement (Territorial Papers, Vol. 16, pg 355).

William Rector was commissioned on September 14, 1813 (Territorial Papers, Vol. 15, pg 345) and assumed his new duties in St. Louis in November 1813. On November 18, 1813, he reported to Josiah Meigs that he had received from Silas Bent all of the papers belonging to the Principal Deputy Surveyor. Having reviewed the information and become more acquainted with the work for which he was now responsible, he affirmed his belief that townships should be laid out before any of the confirmed private claims were surveyed. He had consulted with men familiar with the territory and had developed an idea of the limits of the area that would include the majority of the confirmed private claims. The area was bounded on the north by an east-west line about 50 miles north of St. Louis, on the west by a north-south line about 60 miles west of St. Louis, on the south by the Arkansas River and on the east by the Mississippi River (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 707, 709).

During this time, the United States was fighting the War of 1812. Congress had declared war with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland by the Act of June 18, 1812, chapter 102 (U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, pg 755). Most of the battles between the U.S. and British militaries were fought around the Great Lakes and along the Atlantic coast. The frontiers of the northwest and the Mississippi Valley, however, were kept in a constant state of alarm by hostile Indians, who were being supplied and encouraged by the British. As a result, the prospects for surveying in the Territory of Missouri were doubtful and no appropriations were made by Congress (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 766).

In preparation for the expected war, Congress had passed the Act of December 24, 1811, chapter 10, An Act for completing the existing Military Establishment (U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, pg 669) and the Act of January 11, 1812, chapter 14, An Act to raise an additional Military Force (U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, pg 671). Each effective, able-bodied man, who enlisted in the military as a non-commissioned officer or soldier and faithfully discharged his duty during his term of service, was promised 160 acres of land. The Act of May 6, 1812, chapter 77, An Act to provide for designating, surveying and granting the Military Bounty Lands (U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, pg 728), reserved a total of six million acres of land, fit for cultivation, to satisfy the bounties promised to soldiers. Of that total, two million acres were to be located in the Territory of Missouri between the St. Francis River and the Arkansas River. The lands so designated were to be laid off into townships and subdivided into sections and then quarter sections of 160 acres.

While the war stymied surveying activities in the Territory of Missouri, there were some changes ahead that would affect its administration in the future. On March 28, 1814 Edward Tiffin wrote to President James Madison, lobbying for an exchange of positions with Josiah Meigs. He stated, “I am sure I fully comprehend the principles upon which Mr. Gallatin and Mr. Mansfield the former Surveyor General acted relative to the surveys in the western country and ... that I could have the work done, and the returns made, at least equally as well, if not in a superior manner to what it has ever yet been, north west of the Ohio” (Madison Papers). Josiah Meigs followed up with a letter to the President, dated April 3, 1814, indicating that “If, in the opinion of the President and Senate, this would advance the public interest, it would be acceptable to the Subscriber” (Madison Papers).

On Monday, October 10, 1814, Meigs resigned as Surveyor General of the United States and Tiffin resigned as Commissioner of the General Land Office (Madison Papers). On that same day President Madison presented nominations to the U.S. Senate for their new positions. The Senate confirmed the appointments the next day on October 11, 1814 (Senate Executive Journal, Vol. 2, pg 534; Territorial Papers, Vol. 8, pg 313).

After the war had ended, Josiah Meigs, as Commissioner of the General Land Office, wrote to the President on March 6, 1815, concerning the surveys of the military bounty lands. For the surveys in the Territory of Missouri, he suggested establishing a meridian line run north from the mouth of White River (Territorial Papers, Vol. 10, pg 514). On March 9, 1815, Edward Tiffin, as Surveyor General of the United States, wrote to Meigs, proposing to run a base line west from the mouth of the St. Francis River to the Arkansas River. This base line would be the base from which to begin the surveys of the military bounty lands (Territorial Papers, Vol. 10, pg 515).

Meigs wrote to Tiffin on March 23, 1815, stating that the surveys of the military bounty lands were a high priority, but that he would need to consult with the President on how to proceed in the Territory of Missouri. He also directed that the Principal Deputy Surveyor should survey into townships and sections as much as was needed to include the majority of the confirmed private claims. This was also a high priority, because of the outcry from the claimants who couldn’t get their patents until the surveys were completed (Territorial Papers, Vol. 17, pg 154). Meigs wrote to Tiffin again on March 24, 1815, advising that upon further consideration, he thought it would be proper to have a Standard Meridian run from the confluence of the Arkansas River and the Mississippi River with a parallel run west from the mouth of the St. Francis River for the surveys of the military bounty lands (Territorial Papers, Vol. 15, pg 20).

Meigs further inquired of William Rector about a plan for surveying the townships needed to connect the confirmed private claims. Rector responded on April 17, 1815 still committed to extending the surveys from the Third Principal Meridian. He proposed to start in the Illinois Territory where the south boundary of Township 2 South intersected the Mississippi River. He proposed to extend that line west across the river (somehow), set a township corner and then mark off eight ranges (48 miles) west. From that endpoint he proposed to mark the range line (or meridian line) south until it intersected either the Mississippi River or the Arkansas River and north until it intersected the River Jeffreon (the identity of which is uncertain). Next, he proposed that township lines (or correction lines) be marked off east of his meridian line to intersect the Mississippi River. The first correction line would be seven townships (42 miles) north of his base line and the rest would be every sixth township (36 miles) south of his base line. The correction line at 36 townships (216 miles) south of his base line would be extended west until it intersected the Arkansas River. His base line would also be extended west for an additional 12 ranges (72 miles). The correction line seven townships (42 miles) north of his base line would be extended west until it intersected the Indian boundary, which would have to be marked north from the bank of the Missouri River across from the mouth of the Gasconade River. Setting up a framework such as this would allow several deputies to simultaneously begin laying off the townships so that the confirmed private claims could be surveyed (Territorial Papers, Vol. 15, pg 26).

On July 26, 1815 Edward Tiffin wrote to Josiah Meigs informing him that instructions had been prepared for William Rector to survey the two million acres for military bounty lands. A meridian line was to be accurately run due North from the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers far enough to intersect a base line run due West from the confluence of the St. Francis and Mississippi Rivers. The bounty lands were then to be laid off from these base and meridian lines. Tiffin also noted, “I have been assured by every one acquainted with the lower country that on account of the Inundations, the undergrowth, weeds & Flies of various descriptions, no mortal man could take the woods before October either North of the Illinois or in Missouri” (Territorial Papers, Vol. 15, pg 72 & Vol. 17, pg 203).

Tiffin wrote to Meigs again on August 29, 1815 informing him that William Rector had been further directed to lay off a number of Ranges and to run the exterior boundaries of about 200 townships so that the confirmed private claims could be surveyed (Territorial Papers, Vol. 15, pg 79).

On October 9, 1815 William Rector entered into contracts for the surveys of the Fifth Principal Meridian, its Base Line and the military bounty lands. Prospect K. Robbins was contracted to survey “a line due North agreeably to the true meridian, from the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers to the Southerly bank of the Missouri river, which said line is known and termed on the annexed plat - The fifth principal meridian” (MoSLS microfiche: 720/3286B3). Joseph C. Brown was contracted to “survey a Base Line due west, from the mouth of the St. Francis river to the Arkansas River...” He was further instructed to lay off a number of township exteriors south of the Base Line and east of the Fifth Principal Meridian and then to subdivide into sections other townships south of the Base Line and west of the Fifth Principal Meridian. He was also instructed to “lay out and Survey all the confirmed claims of individuals for land that may fall or lye within the Townships above mentioned that are to be subdivided (if any there be) and lay said surveys of claims down connectedly on the plats of the Townships ...” (Territorial Papers, Vol. 15, pg 89).

Additional contracts were made with other deputy surveyors to lay out the township exteriors and to subdivide the townships for the military bounty lands. These deputy surveyors included: Byrd and Charles Lockhart, October 12, 1815; Daniel and John C. Sullivan, October 17, 1815; William L. May and Nelson Rector, October 25, 1815; Angus L. Langham, October 25, 1815; Stephen Rector, October 27, 1815; Thomas Cox, November 1, 1815; Elias Rector and Gabriel Field, November 4, 1815; Stephen Hempstead, November 7, 1815; and Henry Elliott, November 17, 1815. William Russell was contracted on December 2, 1815 to survey all of the private claims that had been confirmed by the Board of Revision that were located within the area being laid off for military bounties between the Arkansas River and the St. Francis River (Territorial Papers, Vol. 15, pg 91).

On January 15, 1816, William Rector reported to Edward Tiffin that the Fifth Principal Meridian had been surveyed from the confluence of the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers to the south bank of the Missouri River, a total of three hundred and seventeen miles 32 chains and 76 links. The intersection with the south bank of the Missouri River was located about thirty-six miles west of St. Louis. He further reported that the Base Line had been surveyed from the mouth of the St. Francis River to the Arkansas River, a length of 84.5 miles (Territorial Papers, Vol. 15, pg 103). With a reference system now established, the surveys of the confirmed private claims could proceed with earnest.

Fifth Principal Meridian at the west side of Township 21 North, Range 1 East
at the Missouri-Arkansas state line from 1850 township plat.
(Courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey)

Fifth Principal Meridian at the west side of Township 44 North, Range 1 East
where it intersects the south bank of the Missouri River on the 1853 township plat.
(Courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey)

Fifth Principal Meridian at the east side of Township 44 North, Range 1 West
where it intersects the south bank of the Missouri River on the 1853 township plat.
(Courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey)

SOURCES

Marshall, Thomas Maitland, The Life and Papers of Frederick Bates, Missouri Historical Society, 1926

Madison Papers

Senate Executive Journal

The Territorial Papers of the United States, compiled by Clarence Edwin Carter, 1948

U. S. Statutes at Large

----------------------------------------

original composition by Steven E. Weible

Silas Bent: Principal Deputy Surveyor - Part Two

This article has been modified. See Chapter 7 of "It Was Not Quick and It Was Not Simple: The Saga of Private Land Claims in Missouri". (Go to book now.)

Silas Bent, having been appointed Principal Deputy Surveyor for the Territory of Louisiana, reported for duty at St. Louis on September 17, 1806 only to find himself in the difficult position of being compensated on the basis of orders for survey from a Board of Commissioners that had ceased to function. He had made several appeals to Jared Mansfield, Surveyor General of the United States, but after several months on the job without orders for survey or compensation, he was beginning to feel some desperation at not being able to provide for his family.

Relief finally came by way of a provision in the Act of March 3, 1807, chapter 36, An Act respecting claims to land in the territories of Orleans and Louisiana (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, pg 440). Section nine of the act provided for an annual compensation of five hundred dollars in addition to the fees previously established. The annual compensation was effective from the time the principal deputy entered into the duties of the office.

Section seven of the act also provided that any claim to land that was approved by the board of commissioners that had not previously been surveyed was to be surveyed under the direction of the principal deputy surveyor at the expense of the claimants. The board of commissioners was also authorized to direct the principal deputy surveyor to re-survey any tract at the expense of the United States. General and particular plats were to be prepared and sent to the proper register or recorder and the Secretary of the Treasury.

A relieved Silas Bent wrote to Jared Mansfield on June 1, 1807, thanking him for his intervention and requesting more particular information and instructions as to how the surveys were to be conducted (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 127). Mansfield responded on July 20, 1807 with the following specifications (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 137):

1st I think that it would be well that Our General Instructions for marking of lines Be Observed by the Surveyors of private, tracts, particularly that they be blazed well, & a sufficient Number of Sight trees be taken; also that bearing trees be taken for the Corners, & that the Course & distance from the last Corner, in the Order of the surveying, be marked on one or more of the bearing trees, or some other tree near the Corner, instead of the Number of section Lot &c. as in the public Surveys.

2d The Field notes, & two plats of each survey, together with the Description of bearing trees quality of Land; &c. should be returned to Your office. The Contents of the tract ought to be calculated by the tables of Latitude & Defraction.

3– By General Plats, I understand a map of the Country embracing the Claims. The Use of this is to know how they lie in respect to One Another, & thereby to form a judgment of the intermediate Vacant Lands; I know no way while the Country Generally is not surveyed, whereby this can be done correctly. The Water Courses however & the Natural Marks must be your guide, as well as the estimated distances of One place from Another. The Common map of the Country will Also assist you.

4th Ritenhouse’s Compass, or one which will enable the Surveyor to give the Courses According to the true Meridian should be used in private as well as the public surveys. All Courses should be put down according to the true Meridian, & the variation of the Compass, ought to be noted on the plat of each survey, as well as the average Variation in the General Plat.

Meanwhile, Frederick Bates was appointed Recorder of Land Titles in place of James L. Donaldson and the Board of Commissioners reconvened as a Board of Revision. By May 1807 they had begun receiving testimony in support of land claims (Marshall, Vol. 1, pg 134). They would continue to receive testimony without rendering any decisions until the time for receiving evidence had expired. On December 8, 1808 they began examining the evidence and making decisions. Claims that were confirmed by the Board, but which had not yet been surveyed, were not issued a certificate until a survey could be completed (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 366).

Survey by Silas Bent, dated July 29, 1807, of a tract
claimed by Calvin Adams at Portage des Sioux.
The survey was made pursuant to an order of the
Board of Commissioners, dated July 13, 1807.
(Courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey)

Plat of survey of 1390 arpents 3 perches made for Auguste Chouteau
by James Mackay on May 29, 1803. Text is French.
(Courtesy of the Missouri State Archives, Missouri Digital Heritage)

Survey by Silas Bent or one of his deputies, dated November 29, 1809,
of the tract of land claimed by Auguste Chouteau.
This survey was made pursuant to an order of the Board of Commissioners,
dated October 26, 1809. The claim was approved by the Board of
Commissioners on June 7, 1810 for 1031 acres, based on this survey.
(Courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey)

Silas Bent reported to Jared Mansfield in letters, dated May 24, 1810 and July 30, 1810, that when the orders for survey began to come, the Commissioners of the Board of Revision expected the surveys to be executed immediately, giving a due date that did not allow enough time to perform the work or to make arrangements with a deputy. In addition, the tracts ordered to be surveyed were not grouped by locality, but were scattered across the territory. In cases where the claimants were responsible for payment, the claimants often refused to pay and some prevented the execution of the surveys by force. The Commissioners, nonetheless, insisted that the work be done as ordered and expressed the belief that payment should be pursued through the courts. Mr. Bent was also perplexed by orders for surveys in which the quantity of land to be confirmed was less than the quantity claimed. He was, apparently, expected to use his discretion in defining the tract to satisfy the quantity to be confirmed. Older claims were not to be disturbed, but many of the old lines had never actually been run and marked in the field. There existed no map or drawing indicating the position of any one claim relative to another, so that it often took more time to figure out where and how the tract was to be surveyed than the time it took to do the actual survey (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 405, 408, 423).

Mr. Bent had previously observed in a letter to Jared Mansfield, dated December 21, 1806, that the surveys in the former province of Upper Louisiana had “been executed in the most careless manner, seldom more than half the lines run at all and where they are no corner established or bound defined – no field Notes taken and the courses all laid down 7° varient from what they were run ... and from the extraordinary forms & situations of the private Claims it will be very difficult ever to bring the surveys into any regularity” (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 51).

Mr. Bent reported to Jared Mansfield in a letter, dated November 12, 1810, that he had tried to recruit deputies to assist with the surveys, but few were interested when prompt payment and a profit could not be assured. He also observed that it appeared the Commissioners of the Board of Revision had changed their approach and were now issuing certificates of confirmation without a survey. The confirmation certificates, however, noted that a survey was required before a patent could issue. It was almost certain then that there would be pressure from the claimants to have their claims surveyed so that they could get their patents (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 423).

Frederick Bates noted in an update to Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, dated June 20, 1811, that the Board of Revision had examined and approved “many hundred confirmations and grants which include Orders of survey.” The Board had been holding the orders so that they could deliver them all together to the principal deputy surveyor (Marshall, Vol. 2 pg 180). In a letter dated, September 5, 1811, Silas Bent reported to Jared Mansfield that the Commissioners of the Board of Revision had suspended requests for surveys as a result of the failure of Congress to provide compensation for the continuing work of the Board (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 470). Mr. Bent later noted in a letter to Mansfield, dated January 30, 1812, that he had made repeated requests to the Board of Revision for the orders of survey that had been made, but not yet delivered, so that he could execute the surveys in a more efficient manner and not have to repeatedly travel to the same area to survey individual tracts. His requests were denied, however, until October 1811, when the Clerk of the Board of Revision delivered “6 or 8 hundred ” of the confirmation certificates with orders for a survey (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 515).

As if Mr. Bent was not hindered enough in the prosecution of his duties, he and his deputies were subjected to unnecessary difficulties in trying to execute the orders given them. Some orders for survey specified that the survey was to be made “conformable to the concession,” which was written in the French or Spanish language. Neither a copy of the concession nor a translation of the text was provided, however. Other orders for survey called for a bound, such as a road or an older claim, but no information regarding the location of that specified bound was provided. Other orders of survey were limited by a condition that couldn’t be determined until after the survey was performed and some tracts could not even be located for lack of sufficient information from the Board of Revision. When Mr. Bent or his deputies requested more specific direction from the Board as to how a tract was to be surveyed, the Commissioners refused to provide further direction, stating that their orders were as complete as they were required to be. Requests made to the Board, the Recorder of Land Titles, the Clerk of the Board or the translator for translated copies of needed information from records within their possession were all denied. They did not consider themselves obligated to provide copies or translations, since no provision existed for their compensation. In some instances, the claimants, at their own expense, were able to provide the needed copies or translations so that the survey could be completed (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 508, 514, 515).

Once the Board of Revision had completed its work in January 1812 and submitted the transcripts and reports, it appears that no more surveys were attempted as a result of the lack of access to the appropriate information. Secretary Gallatin notified Frederick Bates, the recorder of land titles, on April 18, 1812 that he would not issue any more patents for approved land claims until the surveys were completed. Without the surveys, the tracts could not be definitively located, so Mr. Gallatin wanted the principal deputy surveyor to survey all of the tracts, connecting them relative to one another (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 546).

Congress addressed the quandary of the principal deputy surveyor in his need for access to information by inserting an appropriate provision in the Act of June 13, 1812, chapter 99, An Act making further provision for settling the claims to land in the territory of Missouri (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, pg 748)(the Territory of Louisiana had been renamed the Territory of Missouri by the Act of June 4, 1812, chapter 95, U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, pg 743). Section six of the act directed the recorder of land titles to provide the principal deputy surveyor free access to the records in his office and copies or extracts of anything relating to land claims that the surveyor may need to complete the work required of him. The recorder of land titles was allowed twenty-five cents for the description of each tract provided to the principal deputy surveyor.

Section three of this act approved several classes of claims that were determined by the Board of Revision to have merit, but which had not satisfied the strict requirements of the previous legislation. Section five of the act specified that these new confirmations were to be surveyed along with those claims already approved by the Board of Revision that had not yet been surveyed. Also authorized to be surveyed were a sufficient number of townships so as to encompass all of the private claims. Upon completion of the surveys, a “general and connected plat” was to be prepared, showing the relative position of all of the tracts directed to be surveyed.

Survey by Silas Bent, dated February 3, 1813,
of Fort Belle Fontaine, the location of the U.S. military encampment.
(Courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey)

The amount of survey work for which the principal deputy surveyor was now responsible continued to grow with the passage of the Act of March 3, 1813, chapter 44, An Act allowing further time for delivering the evidence in support of claims to land in the territory of Missouri, and for regulating the donation grants therein (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, pg 812). Section five of the act directed the principal deputy surveyor to survey or cause to be surveyed a tract of 640 acres for each claim that had been confirmed on the basis of settlement right for a quantity less than 640 acres. In cases where competing claims did not permit a full 640 acres to each claimant, the principal deputy surveyor was to determine an equitable division of the land.

If the task had been daunting before, it had now become quite monumental for Silas Bent. The problem remained that there was, as yet, no framework in the Territory of Missouri to which the surveys could be referenced. The Spanish had conceded lands without a plan, allowing the petitioner to choose where his tract was to be located and how it was oriented. The result was a hodgepodge of disconnected clusters of tracts of land scattered over an extensive area. The only sensible solution would be to survey the public lands at the same time as the confirmed private claims. The Act of June 13, 1812, chapter 99, authorized townships to be surveyed, but how and where should these commence? There were many details that needed to be decided and it would take a considerable amount of time to accomplish all that had been ordered (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 681).

In addition to his duties as principal deputy surveyor, Silas Bent had taken on other responsibilities that would now make it difficult for him to participate directly in the surveys to be performed. He had been appointed 1st Justice of the Courts of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas for the district of St. Louis on June 14, 1807 (Marshall, Vol. 1, pg 321) and was reappointed on September 2, 1811 (Marshall, Vol. 2, pg 193). On January 5, 1811 he was appointed Auditor of territorial accounts for the Territory of Louisiana (Marshall, Vol. 2, pg 190) and, apparently, also served as a District Auditor. On February 18, 1813 he was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of the Territory of Missouri by the President of the United States, James Madison (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 626, 631).

In November 1813 Silas Bent gladly relinquished the burden of Principal Deputy Surveyor to his successor, William Rector (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 707, 709).

SOURCES

Marshall, Thomas Maitland, The Life and Papers of Frederick Bates, Missouri Historical Society, 1926

American State Papers: Public Lands (ASP:PL)

The Territorial Papers of the United States, compiled by Clarence Edwin Carter, 1948

U. S. Statutes at Large

----------------------------------------

original composition by Steven E. Weible

Silas Bent: Principal Deputy Surveyor - Part One

This article has been modified. See Chapter 5 of "It Was Not Quick and It Was Not Simple: The Saga of Private Land Claims in Missouri". (Go to book now.)

Article II of the Treaty Between the United States of America and the French Republic, dated April 30, 1803, provided that, “the archives, papers, and documents, relative to the domain and sovereignty of Louisiana, and its dependences, will be left in the possession of the commissaries of the United States” (U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 8, pg 200). Spain, however, not being a party to the agreement between the United States and the French Republic, apparently, did not feel compelled to relinquish the records in its possession. As a result, some officers of the Spanish government caused records to be removed from the Province of Louisiana, depriving the United States of the information contained within them (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 432).

Because of this infidelity on the part of some of the Spanish officials, the United States Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, was very concerned about the Archive of Surveys that was still in the custody of Antoine Soulard, the former Surveyor General of the Spanish Province of Upper Louisiana. Mr. Gallatin urgently wanted to replace Soulard and to recover the records in his possession (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 432-435).

After the United States had taken possession of Upper Louisiana on March 10, 1804, Captain Amos Stoddard, exercising the functions of civil commandant, chose to retain Soulard as the temporary depository of the Survey Archives (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 533 & Vol. 14, pg 32). William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana Territory, had subsequently commissioned Soulard in October 1804 to continue in the capacity of Surveyor General for the district of Louisiana (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 71, 81). General James Wilkinson, who had become governor of the Territory of Louisiana in July 1805 (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 98), chose to continue Soulard in the office to which he had been appointed by Governor Harrison (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 175), so that Soulard continued in possession of the Survey Archives.

Meanwhile, the Board of Commissioners for ascertaining and adjusting land titles that was assembled in accordance with the act of March 2, 1805, chapter 26, had commenced their work in December 1805. Within months several issues pertaining to surveys were identified that needed legislative attention. First, the act of March 26, 1804, chapter 38, prohibited surveys from being performed, while the act of March 2, 1805, chapter 26, required a plat to be filed with the recorder of land titles. What if a survey had not yet been performed, so that none could be filed with the recorder of land titles? Next, the Recorder of Land Titles, James L. Donaldson, had refused to accept surveys performed by private surveyors, believing that the fourth section of the act of March 2, 1805, chapter 26, required a plat prepared by a duly appointed officer (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 497-498). Governor Wilkinson had in fact issued a proclamation on November 4, 1805, prohibiting surveys by anyone but those authorized by the Surveyor General of the Territory (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 264). Were private surveys to be accepted or not? It was anticipated that surveys would be needed, but who was the proper person to perform them? (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 432-435).

In response to these concerns Congress passed the act of February 28, 1806, chapter 11, An Act extending the powers of the Surveyor-general to the territory of Louisiana; and for other purposes (U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 2, pg 352). This act provided for a principal deputy surveyor to reside in the territory of Louisiana and to operate under the superintendence of the surveyor-general of the United States, who was then in Ohio. The principal deputy surveyor was to execute, or cause to be executed by deputies, surveys as may be authorized by law or as requested by the Board of Commissioners. He was also to take possession of all of the records of the Surveyor General of the Spanish Province of Upper Louisiana. The Board of Commissioners was authorized to request surveys as they deemed necessary for the purpose of deciding upon claims before them. Any such survey was considered a private survey only and a re-survey under the authority of the surveyor-general would be required, if the claim was confirmed. The Act also repealed the requirement of a plat of survey as evidence, if a survey had not been performed before December 20, 1803.

Compensation was to be paid for surveys actually run, an amount not to exceed 3 dollars per mile. The principal deputy surveyor was also entitled to receive a fee for examining and recording surveys performed by deputies and for providing a certified copy of any plot of survey in his office. Those fees were 25 cents for every mile of boundary for examination and recording and 25 cents for each certified copy. While the bill for this act was being considered by the U.S. Senate, an amendment was added to provide a salary for the principal deputy surveyor. The amendment, however, was rejected and the act was passed without it (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 448; Senate Journal, Vol. 4, pg 38, 45).

In a letter, dated March 25, 1806, Mr. Gallatin urged Jared Mansfield, Surveyor General of the United States, to immediately appoint a principal deputy surveyor for the Territory of Louisiana. Mr. Gallatin wanted the new appointee to proceed to St. Louis without delay so as to recover the records from Antoine Soulard as soon as possible (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 461).

In a letter to the Board of Commissioners of the same date, Mr. Gallatin informed them that as a result of the recent act a plat of survey was no longer required, if a tract had not been surveyed under the authority of the proper Spanish Officer before December 20, 1803. He also advised them that they were authorized to direct the principal deputy surveyor to perform any surveys that they deemed necessary in order to complete their business. He cautioned them, however, to request surveys only when necessary so as not to harass the claimants with repeated surveys. Also, since any surveys that had already been done and any surveys to be done by the principal deputy surveyor were to be considered private surveys subject to resurvey, it did not matter whether a previous survey was performed under the authority of the proper Spanish Officer or by a private surveyor (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 460).

Jared Mansfield responded to Mr. Gallatin on June 14, 1806, expressing his intent to appoint Silas Bent of Belprie, Washington County, Ohio as principal deputy surveyor for the Territory of Louisiana. Mr. Bent had previously been employed by Mansfield in surveying the public lands and was serving as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the county of his residence (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 519). Mr. Gallatin responded on July 3, 1806, approving the appointment and expressing dissatisfaction that his directive had not been carried out immediately upon receipt (Territorial Papers, Vol. 13, pg 536).

Silas Bent reported to Jared Mansfield in a letter, dated September 22, 1806, that he had arrived in St. Louis on September 17 and had visited Antoine Soulard to recover the records that had been in his possession. Soulard had been ordered on May 3, 1806 by Governor Wilkinson to cease operation as Surveyor General of the Territory of Louisiana (ASP:PL, Vol. 8, pg 866) and had already surrendered the records to the Board of Commissioners. Bent next visited the Board of Commissioners, advised them of his office and requested that the appropriate records be delivered to him. At the leisure of the Board and their clerk the records were eventually released to him, but no requests for surveys were forthcoming. This put Mr. Bent in a difficult position, since his compensation relied upon requests for surveys from the Board of Commissioners. The Board of Commissioners, however, had been cautioned by Mr. Gallatin to request them only when necessary. Mr. Bent concluded his letter of September 22, 1806 to Jared Mansfield with the statement that “This afords but a dark prospect for the present support of my young family in this most expensive Country” (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 8).

Silas Bent wrote to Jared Mansfield again on September 28, 1806, reporting that “Nothing relative to my Official duties has taken place since I wrote You – Judge Lucas wishes resurveys made and a general investigation, but the other Commissioners pass the Business over” (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 12). In a letter, dated October 13, 1806, he further stated to Jared Mansfield that “I have had no Business for which the Law entitles me to a single Cent and have no prospect of any – I do not know what to do in this unfortunate situation – my children remain unwell ” (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 14).

By late October 1806 James L. Donaldson, the Recorder of Land Titles, had left the Territory (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 21, 27, 64). Following his departure, the remaining commissioners, Judge John B. C. Lucas and Clement B. Penrose, received new instructions from the Secretary of the Treasury that would necessitate a revision of nearly all of the decisions that had already been made (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 19). As a result of these circumstances, the Board of Commissioners essentially ceased operation until they received further direction from the Secretary as to how to proceed (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 27, 36, 40).

Jared Mansfield attempted to intercede on Mr. Bent’s behalf by informing Mr. Gallatin of the circumstances in letters, dated October 16, 1806, October 30, 1806 and November 1, 1806 (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 15, 22, 25). He even advocated for Mr. Bent to the President of the United States in a letter, dated October 31, 1806 (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 23).

William Carr, the agent for the United States in the Territory of Louisiana, also chipped in his comments to Mr. Gallatin in a letter, dated November 20, 1806, in which he observed that “If the power of the surveyor general is by law to be extended to this territory; a principal deputy surveyor appointed, who by his instructions is urged in the most pressing manner to repair immediately to St. Louis, to open and keep, an office there; & the Commissioners are not to continue their sessions, this act of Congress will remain inefficient and without execution – This principal deputy Surveyor, as an officer of the government certainly could not be expected to remove his family to this place; open an office and Continue it here entirely at his own expence; & that too for the expectation of obtaining the compensation allowed by law, whenever it should please the board of commissioners, to afford him any employment – which compensation will be found upon reflection and examination not to be half equivalent to the expences attendant on the discharge of the duties assigned him by Law. More especially in this country where the Tracts of land to be surveyed are scattered over the whole face of the territory and many of them situated at a great distance from the surveyor’s place of residence; where no travelling expences to and from the land to be surveyed are allowed and where labour and expences of every kind are excessively high” (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 36).

In a letter to Jared Mansfield, dated December 9, 1806, Silas Bent remained hopeful that appropriate intervention would “perhaps turn what has been unfavorable hitherto, very much to my advantage in the end ” (Territorial Papers, Vol. 14, pg 51).

Signature of Silas Bent, Principal Deputy Surveyor
(image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey)

SOURCES 

American State Papers: Public Lands (ASP:PL)

The Territorial Papers of the United States, compiled by Clarence Edwin Carter, 1948

U. S. Statutes at Large

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original composition by Steven E. Weible