ABRAHAM VAN BUREN - LAND GRANT SIGNED 03/20/1837 - DOCUMENT 17141

 

ABRAHAM VAN BUREN
Martin Van Buren's eldest child signs a land grant.
Partly Printed DS: "A. Van Buren" as President Van Buren's secretary and "H.M. Garland" as Recorder of the General Land Office, 1p, 16x10. On vellum. Washington, 1837 March 20. Also secretarially signed "Martin Van Buren". In part: "Whereas John J. Winston of Sumpter County has deposited in the General Land Office of the United States, a Certificate of the Register of the Land Office at Tuscaloosa whereby it appears that full payment has been made by the said John J. Winston according to the provisions of the Act of Congress of the 24th of April, 1820...." Winston has paid for "seventy nine Acres and seventy-five and a half hundredths of an Acre". The Land Act of April 24, 1820 abolished the credit system that enabled settlers to make deferred payments on their land and reduced the per acre price from $2 to $1.25, with the entire amount to be paid at the time of purchase. It is interesting to note that the smallest purchasable unit of land was fixed at 80 acres, which is 24½ hundredths of an acre more than what Winston purchased. By 1833, so many land grants were being issued that President Jackson designated a secretary to sign his name. With very rare exceptions, all presidential land grants issued after 1833 were secretarially signed. West Point graduate ABRAHAM VAN BUREN (1807-1873) fought against the Seminole Indians in 1836, serving as Captain of the 1st Dragoons under General Winfield Scott. After his father became President in 1837, just 16 days before this document was issued, Abraham moved into the White House and served as his father's secretary. He left his White House duties in 1838 when he married Angelica Singleton, whose mother was Dolley Madison's cousin. Lightly creased. Folds, vertical folds touch the "A" in Van Buren's signature and the "n" in Garland. Lightly soiled. Overall, fine condition.