lines of experiment were directed to be run in the neighborhood of Georgetown, in Maryland, for the purpose of locating a part of the territory, of ten miles square, for the permanent seat of government of the United States, and a certain part was directed to be located within the said lines of experiment on both sides of the Potomac, and above the limit of the Eastern Branch, prescribed by the said act of Congress;

And Congress, by an amendatory act, passed on the 3d day of this present month of March, have given further authority to the President of the United States "to make any part of the said territory below the said limit, and above the mouth of Hunting creek, a part of the said district, so as to include a convenient part of the Eastern Branch and of the lands lying on the lower side thereof, and also the town of Alexandria:

Now, therefore, for the purpose of amending and completing the location of the whole of the said territory, of ten miles square, in conformity with the said amendatory act of Congress, I do hereby declare and make known, that the whole of the said territory shall be located and included within the four lines following that is to say:

Beginning at Jones's point, being the upper cape of Hunting creek, in Virginia, and at an angle in the outset of forty-five degrees west of the north, and running in a direct line ten miles, for the first line; then beginning again at the same Jones's Point and running another direct line, at a right angle with the first, across the Potomac, ten miles, for the second line; thence from the termination of the said first and second lines, running two other direct lines of ten miles each, the one crossing the Eastern Branch aforesaid, and the other the Potomac, and meeting each other in a point.

And I do accordingly direct the commissioners named under the authority of the said first-mentioned act of Congress to proceed forthwith to have the said four lines run, and by proper metes and bounds defined and limited; and thereof to make due report, under their hands and seals; and the territory so to be located, defined, and limited shall be the whole territory accepted by the said act of Congress as the district for the permanent seat of the government of the United States.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand. Done at Georgetown aforesaid, the 30th day of March, in the year of our Lord 1791, and of the independence of the United States the fifteenth.

[SEAL.]

By the President:

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

LAWS OF MARYLAND.

PASSED DECEMBER 23, 1788.

AN ACT to cede to Congress a district of ten miles square in the State [Maryland] for the seat of the government of the United States.

That the representatives from this State in the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, appointed to assemble at New York on the first Wednesday of March next, be, and they are hereby, authorized and required, on behalf of this State, to cede to the Congress of the United States any district in this State, not exceeding ten miles square, which the Congress may fix upon and accept for the seat of government of the United States.

NOVEMBER, 1791.

AN ACT concerning the territory of Columbia and the city of Washington. Whereas the President of the United States, by virtue of several acts of Congress and acts of the assemblies of Virginia and Maryland, by his proclamation, dated at Georgetown on the 30th day of March, 1791, did declare and make known that the whole of the territory of ten miles square for the permanent seat of government of the United States shall be located and included within the four lines following, that is to say: beginning at Jones's Point, being the upper point of Hunting creek, in Virginia, at an angle in the outset of fortyfive degrees west of the north, and running a direct line of ten miles for the first line; then beginning again at the same Jones's Point and running another direct line at a right angle with the first across the Patowmack, ten miles for the second line; then from the terminations of the said first and second lines, running two other direct lines ten miles each, the one crossing the Eastern Branch and the other Patowmack, and meeting each other in a point, which has since been called the territory of Columbia.

And whereas Notley Young, Daniel Carroll, of Duddington, and many others, proprietors of the greater part of the land hereinafter mentioned to have been laid out in a city, came into an agreement and have conveyed their lands in trust to Thomas Beall, son of George, and John Mackall Gantt, whereby they have subjected their lands to be laid out as a city, given up part to the United States, and subjected other part to be sold to raise money as a donation to be employed according to the act of Congress for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the government of the United States under and upon the terms and conditions contained in each of the said deeds; and many of the proprietors of lots in Carrollsburgh and Hamburgh have also come into an agreement, subjecting their lots to be laid out anew, giving up one-half of the quantity thereof to be sold, and the money thence arising to be applied as a donation as aforesaid, and they to be reinstated in one-half of the quantity of their lots in the new location, or otherwise compensated in land in a different situation within the city, by agreement between the commissioners and them, and in case of disagreement, that then a just and full compensation shall be made in money. Yet some of the proprietors of lots in Carrollsburgh and Hamburgh, as well as some of the proprietors of other lands, have not, from imbecility and other causes, come into any agreement concerning their lands within the limits hereinafter mentioned, but a very great proportion of the landholders having agreed on the same terms, the President of the United States directed a city to be laid out, comprehending all the lands, beginning on the east side of Rock creek, at a stone standing in the middle of the road leading from Georgetown to Bladensburgh; thence along the middle of the said road to a stone standing on the east side of the Reedy branch of Goose creek; thence southeasterly, making an angle of sixty-one degrees and twenty minutes with the meridian, to a stone standing in the road leading from Bladensburgh to the Eastern Branch ferry; then south to a stone eighty poles north of the east and west line already drawn from the mouth of Goose creek to the Eastern Branch; then east, parallel to the said east and west line, to the Eastern Branch; then with the waters of the Eastern Branch, Patowmack river, and Rock creek to the beginning, which hath since been called the city of Washington.

And whereas it appears to this general assembly highly just and expedient that all the lands within the said city should contribute in due proportion, in the means which have already very greatly enhanced the value of the whole; that an incontrovertible title ought to be made to the purchasers, under public sanction; that allowing foreigners to hold land within the said territory will greatly contribute to the improvement and population thereof, and that many temporary provisions will be necessary till Congress exercise the jurisdiction and government over the said territory.

And whereas in the cession of this State, heretofore made, of territory for the government of the United States, the lines of such cession could not be particularly designated, and it being expedient and proper that the same should be recognized in the acts of this State:

2. That all that part of the said territory called Columbia, which lies within the limits of this State, shall be, and the same is hereby, acknowledged to be forever ceded and relinquished to the Congress and government of the United States in full and absolute right and exclusive jurisdiction, as well of soil as of persons residing or to reside thereon, pursuant to the tenor and effect of the eighth section of the first article of the Constitution of government of the United States: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed to vest in the United States any right of property in the soil so as to affect the rights of individuals therein, otherwise than the same shall or may be transferred by such individuals to the United States: And provided also, That the jurisdiction of the laws of this State over the persons and property of individuals residing within the limits of the cession aforesaid shall not cease or determine until Congress shall by law provide for the government thereof, under their jurisdiction, in manner provided by the article of the Constitution before recited.

3. That all the lands belonging to minors, persons absent out of the State, married women, or persons non compos mentis, or lands the property of this State, within the limits of Carrollsburgh and Hamburgh, shall be and are hereby subjected to the terms and conditions hereinbefore recited as to the lots where the proprietors thereof have agreed concerning the same; and all the other lands belonging as aforesaid within the limits of the said city of Washington shall be and are hereby subjected to the same terms and conditions as the said Notley Young, Daniel Carroll of Duddington, and others have, by their said agreements and deeds, subjected their lands to, and where no conveyances have been made the legal estate and trust are hereby invested in the said Thomas Beall, son of George, and John Mackall Gantt, in the same manner as if each proprietor had been competent to make, and had made, a legal conveyance of his or her land, according to the form of those already mentioned, with proper acknowledgments of the execution thereof, and, where necessary, of release of dower; and in every case where the proprietor is an infant, a married woman, insane, absent out of the State, or shall not attend on three months' advertisement of notice in the Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, the Maryland Herald, and in the Georgetown and Alexandria papers, so that allotment cannot take place by agreement, the commissioners aforesaid, or any two of them, may allot and assign the portion or share of such proprietor, as near the old situation as may be, in Carrollsburgh and Hamburgh, and to the full value of what the party might claim under the terms before recited; and as to the other lands within the said city, the commissioners aforesaid, or any two of them, shall make such allotment and assignments within the lands belonging to the same person, in alternate lots, determining by lot or ballot whether the party shall begin with the lowest number: Provided, That in the case of coverture and infancy, if the husband, guardian, or next friend, will agree with the commissioners, or any two of them, then an effectual division may be made by consent; and in case of contrary claims, if the claimants will not jointly agree, the commissioners may proceed as if the proprietor was absent; and all persons to whom allotments and assignments of lands shall be made by the commissioners, or any two of them, on consent and agreement, or pursuant to this act without consent, shall hold the same in their former estate and interest, and in lieu of their former quantity and subject in every respect to all such limitations, conditions, and incumbrances as their former estate and interest were subject to, and as if the same had been actually re-conveyed, pursuant to the said deed in trust.*

*See 1793, ch. 58, sec. 3.

4. That where the proprietor or proprietors, possessor or possessors, of any lands within the limits of the city of Washington, or within the limits of Carrollsburgh or Hamburgh, who have not already, or who shall not within three months after the passage of this act, execute deeds in trust to the aforesaid Thomas Beall and John M. Gantt of all their lands within the limits of the said city of Washington, and on the terms and conditions mentioned in the deeds already executed by Notley, Young, and others, and execute deeds in trust to the said Thomas Beall and John M. Gantt of all their lots in the towns of Carrollsburgh and Hamburgh, on the same terms and conditions contained in the deeds already executed by the greater part of the proprietors of lots in the said towns, the said commissioners, or any two of them, shall and may, at any time or times thereafter, issue a process directed to the sheriff of Prince George's county, commanding him in the name of the State to summon five good, substantial freeholders, who are not of kin to any proprietor or proprietors of the lands aforesaid, and who are not proprietors themselves, to meet on a certain day and at a certain place within the limits of the said city, to inquire of the value of the estate of such proprietor or proprietors, possessor or possessors, on which day and place the said sheriff shall attend, with the freeholders by him summoned, which freeholders shall take the following oath or affirmation on the land to be by them valued, to wit: "I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will, to the best of my judgment, value the lands of C. D., now to be valued, so as to do equal right and justice to the said C. D. and to the public, taking into consideration all circumstances," and shall then proceed to value the said lands; and such valuation, under their hands and seals and under the hand and seal of the said sheriff, shall be annexed, to the said process and returned by the sheriff to the clerk appointed by virtue of this act, who shall make record of the same, and the said lands shall, on the payment of such valuation, be, and is hereby, vested in the said commissioners in trust, to be disposed of by them or otherwise employed to the use of the said city of Washington; and the sheriff aforesaid, and freeholders aforesaid, shall be allowed the same fees for their trouble as are allowed to a sheriff and jurymen in executing a writ of inquiry; and in all cases where the proprietor or possessor is tenant in right of dower, or by the courtesy, the freeholders aforesaid shall ascertain the annual value of the lands and the gross value of such estate therein, and upon paying such gross value, or securing to the possessor the payment of the annual valuation, at the option of the proprietor or possessor, the commissioners shall be, and are hereby vested with the whole estate of such tenant, in manner and for the uses and purposes aforesaid. 5. That all the squares, lots, pieces, and parcels of land within the said city, which have been or shall be appropriated for the use of the United States, and also the streets, shall remain and be for the use of the United States; and all the lots and parcels which have been or shall be sold to raise money as a donation, as aforesaid, shall remain and be to the purchasers according to the terms and conditions of their respective purchase; and purchases and leases from private persons claiming to be proprietors, and having, or those under whom they claim having, been in possession of the lands purchased or leased, in their own right, five whole years next before the passing of this act, shall be good and effectual for the estate, and on the terms and conditions of such purchases and leases respectively, without impeachment and against any contrary title now existing; but if any person hatli made a conveyance, or shall make a conveyance or lease of any lands within the limits of the said city, not having a right and title to do so, the person who might be entitled to recover the land under a contrary title now existing may, either by way of ejectment against the tenant or in an action for money had and received for his use against the bargainor or lessor, his heirs, executors, administrators, or devisees, as the case may require, recover all money received by him for the squares, pieces, or parcels appropriated for the use of the United States, as well as for lots or parcels sold and rents

received by the person not having title as aforesaid, with interest from the time of the receipt; and on such recovery in ejectment, where the land is in lease, the tenant shall thereafter hold under, and pay the rent reserved, to the person making title to and recovering the land; but the possession bona fide acquired, in none of the said cases, shall be changed.

6. That any foreigner may, by deed or will, hereafter to be made, take and hold lands within that part of the said territory which lies within this State, in the same manner as if he was a citizen of this State, and the same lands may be conveyed by him, and transmitted to, and be inherited by his heirs or relations, as if he and they were citizens of this State: Provided, That no foreigner shall, in virtue hereof, be entitled to any further or other privilege as a citizen.

7. That the said commissioners, or any two of them, may appoint a clerk for recording deeds of lands within the said territory, who shall provide a proper book for the purpose, and therein record, in a strong legible hand, all deeds duly acknowledged of lands in the said territory, delivered to him to be recorded, and in the same book make due entries of all divisions and allotments of lands and lots made by the commissioners in pursuance of this act, and certificates * granted by them of sales, and the purchase money having been paid, with a proper alphabet in the same book of the deeds and entries aforesaid; and the same book shall carefully preserve, and deliver over to the commissioners aforesaid, or their successors, or such person or persons as Congress shall hereafter appoint; which clerk shall continue such during good behavior, and shall be removable only on conviction of misbehavior in a court of law; but before he acts as such he shall take an oath or affirmation well and truly to execute his office; and he shall be entitled to the same fees as are or may be allowed to the clerks of the county courts for searches, copying, and recording t.

[The above section has been superseded by law of Congress establishing courts, and afterwards by establishing the office of register of deeds.]

8. That acknowledgments of deeds made before a person in the manner, and certified as the laws of this State direct, or made before and certified by either of the commissioners, shall be effectual; and that no deed hereafter to be made of or for lands within that part of the said territory which lies within this State shall operate as a legal conveyance, nor shall any lease for more than seven years be effectual unless the deed shall have been acknowledged as aforesaid, and delivered to the said clerk to be recorded within six calendar months from the date thereof.‡

9. That the commissioners aforesaid, or some two of them, shall direct an entry to be made in the said record book of every allotment and assignment to the respective proprietors in pursuance of this act.

10. And for the encouragement of master builders to undertake the building and finishing houses within the said city, by securing to them a just and effectual remedy for their advances and earnings: Be it enacted, That for all sums due and owing, on written contracts, for the building any house in the said city, or the brick work, or carpenters' or joiners' work thereon, the undertaker or workmen employed by the person for whose use the house shall be built shall have a lien on the house and the ground on which the same is erected, as well as for the materials found by him: Provided, The said written contract shall have been acknowledged before one of the commissioners, a justice of the peace, or an alderman of the corporation of Georgetown, and recorded in the office of the clerk for recording deeds herein created, within six calendar months from the time of acknowledgment as aforesaid; and if, within two years after the last work is done, he proceeds in equity, he shall have remedy as upon a mortgage, or if he proceeds at law within the same time, he may have execution against

*See 1793, ch. 58.

+ See 1793, ch. 58.

By November, 1792, chapter 59, deeds so recorded shall be as valid as if also recorded in the manner prescribed by law before the passage of this act.