1834 President Andrew Jackson Land Grant Signed by The SPECIAL SECRETARY 192 Yrs
$ 44.88
Description
1834 President Andrew Jackson Land Grant Signed by The SPECIAL SECRETARY 192 Yrs. During 1834, this was often Elijah Hayward, whose signature appears at the bottom left. The 192 year old document is a land patent issued by the United States General Land Office on December 4, 1834. Although it bears the name of President Andrew Jackson, documents dated after March 3, 1833, were typically signed by a designated secretary rather than the president himself. Secretarial SignaturesCongressional Action: In March 1833, Congress passed a law allowing presidents to appoint a special secretary to sign land patents on their behalf due to the overwhelming volume of documents. The Signer: On this document, the signature following "By the President" is likely that of Andrew Jackson Donelson, the president’s adopted nephew and private secretary, who commonly signed for Jackson during this period. The Significance: Andrew Jackson was the final president to personally sign some land grants; however, those issued after the 1833 law, like yours from 1834, are almost exclusively secretarial. Document DetailsType: A land patent used to transfer title of public land from the government to a private individual.Countersignatures: These documents were typically countersigned by the Commissioner of the General Land Office. During 1834, this was often Elijah Hayward, whose signature appears at the bottom left. Physical Features: The document is likely printed on vellum (animal skin) or heavy parchment and includes an official embossed paper seal at the lower left which appears to have been removed. Document has folds, creases and staining expected with its age. SEE PHOTOS One of the early Presidents more mundane duties was to sign certain routine documents himself, in order to make them legal. Of course this continues today for important documents such as Congressional bills and foreign treaties. But early Presidents signed everything from military commissions to ships papers to patents for land grants. And the latter, in those days when the federal government was selling the entire frontier in small parcels to individual settlers, became a monumental chore. The flood of western migration, drawn by vast stretches of open land at reasonable prices, meant thousands of individual patents, as the federal deeds were called, needed signing every year. By the early 1830s, the chore had gotten out of hand. In June 1832, the Commissioner of the General Land Office wrote to Congress that there were more than 10,500 completed land patents waiting the signature of President Andrew Jackson. Congress finally passed a law in March 1833 to relieve this burden, authorizing the President to appoint a special secretary to sign land patentsâ in essence to legally forge the President s signature. Jackson therefore became the last president to not personally sign land grants if the grant was dated after March 1833.
