PRESIDENT JAMES MADISON - LAND GRANT SIGNED 08/26/1813 CO-SIGNED BY: EDWARD TIFFIN - HFSID 4940

JAMES MADISON
Land Settlement in the Mississippi Territory, spurred by the Louisiana Purchase.
Partly Printed DS: "James Madison" as President. 1p, 14½x8¼. On vellum. Washington, 1813 August 26. Countersigned: "Edward Tiffin" as Commissioner of the General Land Office. In part: "Know ye, that John Hughs of Madison County having deposited in the Treasury a certificate of the Register of the land office at Huntsville whereby it appears that full payment has been made for the North East quarter of section Ten of Township Four...West of the Meridian Line of lands directed to be sold at Huntsville in pursuance of the laws providing for the sale of the lands of the United States in the Mississippi Territory is granted, by the United States, unto the said John Hughs the quarter lot or section of land above described...." The Mississippi Territory was the southwestern border of the United States prior to the Louisiana Purchase. In 1798, Congress organized the Mississippi Territory which was composed of Mississippi, which became a state in 1817 and Alabama, which became a state in 1819. With the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, western immigration was spurred and the Mississippi Territory became a destination for settlement. PRESIDENT MADISON issued this land grant during the War of 1812, the only period when immigration in the Mississippi Territory slowed. EDWARD TIFFIN served as Commissioner from 1812-1829. Soiled. Folds. Worn, nicked edges. Lightly creased, lightly worn 2-inch diameter seal at lower left. Slightly stained.