Thomas Jefferson and James Madison Signed Land Grant.

JEFFERSON, Thomas and James Madison.

Item Number: 143218

City of Washington:, April 5, 1806.

American land grant signed by Thomas Jefferson as the third President of the United States and countersigned by James Madison as Secretary of State. Folio, one page partially printed on parchment and accomplished in manuscript, the grant is dated April 5, 1806 and awards Caleb Johnson of Washington County, Pennsylvania a parcel of land. The document reads in part: Know Ye, that “Caleb Johnson of Washington County, Pennsylvania” having deposited in the Treasury a certificate of the Register of the Land office at “Steubenville” whereby it appears that “he has made full payment for the Northeast Quarter of Lot or Section number twelve of Township number Eighteen in Range number Six” of the lands to be sold at “Steubenville” by the act of Congress, entitled ‘An act providing for the sale of the Lands of the United States in the Territory north-west of the Ohio, and above the mouth of the Kentucky River.’ Signed by Thomas Jefferson as President, “Th Jefferson” and “James Madison” as Secretary of State. With the red wax-white wafer seal present. In very good condition. Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 22 inches by 16 inches.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established the concept of fee simple ownership by which ownership was in perpetuity, with unlimited power to sell or give it away. The sale provisions of the Northwest Ordinance were altered by the Land Act of 1796 when the minimum price was doubled. The difficulty of getting a farm at a price they could afford to pay led many to become squatters on the public domain with no legal title. Concerned about the availability of land to actual settlers rather than speculative purchasers, William Henry Harrison introduced the Harrison Land Act of 1800, titled "An act providing for the sale of the lands of the United States, in the territory north-west of the Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river" which reduced the minimum amount that might be purchased from 640 acres to 320 and introduced a credit feature. This brought land within the reach of at least a large portion of those desiring to settle in the Northwest. The subsequent Land Act of 1804 reduced the minimum amount to 160 acres.