MILITARY BOUNTY LAND WARRANTS. This class of land warrants has been issued under various acts of Congress; but most of the warrants in circulation are authorized by the acts 1847, 1850, 1852, or 1855, all of which by subsequent legislation have been made to assimilate in character, and are now locatable under the same general rules and regulations of the department, which are as follows: 1st. These warrants are now assignable, and properly transferred, carry all the rights of the original warrantee. To make the transfer valid the assignee must be named, as the department will not recognize assignments in blank. The assignment must in all cases be verified by two witnesses. Assignments by Indians must be executed before the United States Indian Agent for the tribe of which the assignee is a member. If not a member of any tribe, the Indian may assign as other parties. Warrants cannot be located upon occupied land, except it be subject to any legal right to which such occupant may prove to be entitled. ASSIGNMENT OF LAND WARRANTS AND LOCATIONS. By the first section of the act of Congress entitled "An act making land warrants assignable, and for other purposes," approved March 22d, 1852, it is provided: "That all warrants for military bounty land which have been, or may hereafter be issued, under any law of the United States, and all valid locations of the same, which have been, or may hereafter be made, are hereby declared to be assignable, by deed or instrument of writing, made and executed after the taking effect of this act, according to such form and pursuant to such regulations as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, so as to vest the assignee with all the rights of the original owners of the warrant or location." In accordance with the provisions of this section, the following forms are prescribed by said commissioner for the assignment of the warrants and locations referred to, to wit: FORM FOR THE ASSIGNMENT OF THE WARRANT-NO. 1. For value received, I, A. B., to whom the within warrant, No. issued, do hereby sell and assign unto C. D., of was and to his heirs and assigns forever, the said warrant, and authorize him to locate the same, and receive a patent therefor. Witness my hand and seal this Attest-(Two witnesses.) day of 18. A. B. [SEAL.] FORM OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT WHERE THE VENDOR IS KNOWN TO THE OFFICER TAKING THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT. County of day of in the year State of On this before me, personally came (here insert the name of the warrantee) to me well known, and acknowledged the foregoing assignment to be his act and deed; and I certify that the said (here insert the name of the warrantee) is the identical person, to whom the within warrant issued, and who executed the foregoing assignment thereof. (Officer's signature.) FORM OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT WHERE THE VENDOR IS NOT KNOWN TO THE OFFICER, AND HIS IDENTITY HAS TO BE PROVED. County of in the year State of On this day of before me, personally came (here insert the name of the warrantee) and (here insert the name and residence of a witness) being well known to me as a credible and disinterested person, was duly sworn by me, and on his oath declared and said, that he well knows the said (here insert the name of the warrantee) and that he is the same person to whom the within warrant issued, and who executed the foregoing assignment, and his testimony being satisfactory evidence to me of that fact, the said (here insert the name of the warrantee) thereupon acknowledged the said assignment to be his act and deed. (Officer's signature.) FORM FOR THE ASSIGNMENT OF THE LOCATION-NO. 2. For value received, I, A. B., to whom the within certificate of location was issued, do hereby sell and assign unto C. D., and to his heirs and assigns forever, the said certificate of location, and the warrant and land therein described, and authorize him to receive his patent therefor. Witness my hand and seal this 18. Attest-(Two witnesses.) day of A. B. [SEAL.] FORM OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT WHERE THE VENDOR IS PERSONALLY KNOWN TO THE OFFICER TAKING THE SAME. State of County of in the year On this day of before me, personally came (here insert the name of the person to whom the certificate of location issued) to me well known, and acknowledged the foregoing assignment to be his act and deed; and I certify that the said (here insert the name of the person to whom the certificate of location issued) is the identical person to whom the within certificate of location issued, and who executed the foregoing assignment thereof. (Officer's signature.) FORM OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT WHERE THE VENDOR IS NOT PERSONALLY KNOWN TO THE OFFICER, AND WHERE HIS IDENTITY HAS TO BE PROVED. County of day of in the year State of On this before me, personally came (here insert the name of the person to whom the certificate of location issued) and (here insert the name and residence of a witness) being well known to me as a credible and disinterested person, was duly sworn by me, and on his oath declared and said, that he well knows the said (here insert the name of the person to whom the certificate of location issued) and that he is the same person to whom the within certificate of location issued, and who executed the foregoing assignment; and his testimony being satisfactory evidence to me of that fact, the said (here insert the name of the person to whom the certificate of location issued) thereupon acknowledged the said assignment to be his act and deed. (Officer's signature.) Assignment No. 1 and acknowledgment must be indorsed upon the warrant, and No. 2 and acknowledgment upon the certificate of location; and must be attested by two witnesses acknowledged before a Register or Receiver of a Land Office, a Judge of a Court of Record, a Justice of the Peace, or a Commissioner of Deeds, resident in the State from which he derives his appointment; and in every instance where the acknowledgment is made before either of the officers above specified, except the Register or Receiver of a Land Office, it must be accompanied by a certificate, under seal of the proper authority, of the official character of the person before whom the acknowledgment was made, and also of the genuineness of his signature. All assignments of bounty land warrants issued under the act of September 28th, 1850, made before the date of this act, are invalid and void. By these provisions, where the lands are subject to private entry at $1.25 per acre, the holder of an eighty-acre warrant can take any two forty-acre lots, forming a compact body of eighty acres; and the holder of a warrant for one hundred and sixty acres can take two eighty-acre or four forty-acre tracts, forming a compact body of one hundred and sixty acres. This act does not authorize the holder of an eighty-acre warrant to locate therewith a forty-acre tract of land at $2.50 per acre in full satisfaction thereof, but he must locate, by legal subdivisions, the compact body of eighty acres as near as may be, and pay the difference in cash. So also of one hundred and sixty-acre warrants. Where parties may desire to avail themselves of the privilege of having their warrants located through the General Land Office, as provided for by the act of 28th September, 1850, they must take the necessary steps to pay to the Register and Receiver the fees to which they are entitled. The same course must be observed by persons remote from the district land officers in making applications by letter to those officers. Without the payment of those fees the warrants cannot be located. By the terms of this law, the fees of officers are as follows: For a 40-acre warrant, fifty cents each to Register and Receiver. Total $1. For an 80-acre warrant, one dollar each to Register and Receiver. Total $2. For a 160-acre warrant, two dollars each to Register and Receiver. Total $4. The following is a form giving authority to sell warrants and locations under powers of attorney, which, however, must invariably be indorsed on the warrant, or they will not be recognized: FORM OF A POWER OF ATTORNEY. of Know all men by these presents, that I (here insert the name of the warrantee), of the County of and State of do hereby constitute and appoint my true and lawful attorney, for me, and in my name, to sell and convey the within land warrant, No. acres of land, which issued under the act of Sep for tember, 1850. Signed in presence of (Warrantee's signature.) The acknowledgment of this power of attorney must be taken and certified in the same manner as the acknowledgments of the sales of the warrant or certificate of location herein before prescribed, and must also be indorsed on the warrant. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Annexed is a copy of the act of Congress, approved June 3d, 1858, "declaring the title to land warrants in certain cases. In virtue of this act, the title to land warrants issued after the death of the warrantee vests in the "widow," if there be one, and if there be none, in the heirs or legatees of the claimant. All such warrants are declared "personal chattels," and may be assigned by "such widows," "heirs," or "legatees," or by the legal representatives of the deceased claimant, for the use of such heirs or legatees only. To make a warrant, when issued to deceased persons, available, it should be accompanied by a certificate, under seal, from a court having jurisdiction of probate matters, giving the date of the decease of the claimant. 1st. If he died before the date of the warrant, then the name of his "widow" should be stated in that certificate, if there be one, whose assignment will be sufficient in the ordinary form. 2d. If no widow, that fact should appear in the certificate of the probate court showing the names of the heirs, and only heirsat-law, of the claimant, naming such as are adults, and such as are minors. If all are adults, then their simple transfer is all that is required on the warrant, to which the certificate of the probate court must be appended; if some, or all, are minors, they may assign by their guardians, whose letter of guardianship should also be appended. 3d. If the claimant died after the date of the warrant, then the title thereto descends according to the law of domicile. In this class of cases, if the claimant died intestate, there should be a certificate from the probate court giving the names of the heirs, and only heirs-at-law, who, if adults, may assign, as in ordinary cases; and if minors, may assign by guardians, as aforesaid. If the warrantee died testate, a certified transcript of the will should be annexed, with an assignment by the legatees or by the executors, where the will does not specifically dispose of the warrant; but in that case a transcript of the letters testamentary must accompany the transfer. 4th. Or, in any of the foregoing cases of intestacy, the warrant may be assigned by the administrator of the decedent, as his legal representative, "for the use of the heirs only;" but the assignment must be accompanied by a certified copy of the letters of administration. 5th. In virtue of the 2d section of said act of 3d June, 1858, warrants under the act of 1855, as well as those issued under previous laws, may be applied to lands "which are subject to entry at a greater minimum than" $1.25 per acre, hy the locator paying "in cash, the difference between the value of such warrants at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and the tract of land located on." Thus, for example, 160-acre warrant may be located on 160 acres at $2.50 per acre, and the difference, $200, paid in cash, or |