# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 5/27th Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 122

Chap. CXXII.—An Act to provide for the armed occupation and settlement of the unsettled part of the peninsula of East Florida.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,Certain persons settling in Florida entitled to a quarter section of land, on the following conditions. That any person, being the head of a family, or single man over eighteen years of age, able to bear arms, who has made, or shall, within one year from and after the passage of this act, make an actual settlement within that part of Florida situate and being south of the line dividing townships numbers nine and ten south, and east of the base line, shall be entitled to one quarter section of said land, on the following conditions and stipulations:
To obtain a permit describing the land. Proviso.First. That said settler shall obtain from the register of the land office, in the district in which he proposes to settle, a permit describing as particularly as may be practicable, the place where his or her settlement is intended to be made: Provided, That no person who shall be a resident of Florida at the time of the passage of this act, who shall be the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land, at the time he proposes to settle, shall be entitled to a permit from the register.
Five years’ residence.Second. That said settler shall reside in the Territory of Florida, south of said township line, for five consecutive years, and to take his grant on any public land south of that township.
Erection of a house, &c.Third. That said settler shall erect thereon a house fit for the habitation of man, and shall clear, enclose, and cultivate at least five acres of said land, and reside thereon for the space of four years next ​following the first year after the date of his permit, if he or she shall so long live.
Settlements, &c. how to be proved.Fourth. That such settler shall, within one year after the survey of said lands, and the opening of the proper office for the entry and sale of the same by the United States, prove, before such tribunal and in such manner and form as shall be prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, with the approval of the President, the fact that the settlement has been commenced, and the particular quarter section upon which it is located; and, also, that such settler shall, within six months after the expiration of five years from the date of his permit, prove, in like manner, the fact of continued residence and cultivation, as required in the second and third conditions herein above prescribed; whereupon, and not until then, a patent shall issue to said settler, for such quarter section.
In case of settlement by two or more, the right to be determined by priority.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That in case of the settlement of the same quarter section by two or more settlers, the right to the location shall be determined by priority of settlement, to be ascertained under such rules as the Commissioner of the General Land Office, with the approval of the President, may prescribe; and the subsequent settler or settlers shall be permitted to locate the quantity he, she, or they may be entitled to elsewhere within the same township, upon vacant public lands.
Settlements not to be made within 2 miles of a permanent military post.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That no right or donation shall be acquired under this act within two miles of any permanent military post of the United States, established and garrisoned at the time such settlement and residence was commenced.
Sales, &c. of land acquired by this act, before the patents have issued, void.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That all sales, gifts, devises, agreements, bonds, or powers to sell, transfers, or liens, whatsoever, private or judicial, of the lands, or any portion thereof, acquired by this act, made at any time before patents shall have issued for the same, shall be utterly void and without effect, to every intent and purpose, whether in law or equity; and the purchaser or obligee, under any such sale, agreement, bond, or power to sell, transfer, or lien, shall not be entitled to recover back the price or consideration paid therefor, but shall forfeit the same absolutely to such settler or his heirs.
On the death of a settler, his rights descend to his widow, &c.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That upon the death of any settler before the end of the five years, or before the issuing of the patent, all his rights under this act shall descend to his widow and heirs at law, if he leaves a widow, and to his heirs at law, if he leaves none, to be held and divided by them according to the laws of Florida, any previous sale or transfer of the same or of any interest, legal or equitable, in the same, to the contrary notwithstanding. And proof of his compliance with the conditions of this act, up to the time of his death, shall be sufficient to entitle them to the patent.
In case of settlement before survey on a 16th section, other school lands to be selected.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That where any settlement, by the erection of a dwelling, or the cultivation of any portion thereof, shall be made upon the sixteenth section, before the same shall be surveyed, then and in that case other lands shall be selected by the school commissioners of the township, in lieu of said section sixteen, or such part thereof as may be claimed under this act.
Land for settlement limited.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That not exceeding two hundred thousand acres of land shall be taken for settlement under this act.
President may suspend the settlement.Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States may, at any time, by proclamation, suspend all further permits and settlements under this act, by giving three months’ notice thereof.
Names of settlers, &c. to be reported to Congress.Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall, on or before the first day of February, eighteen hundred and forty-four, report to Congress the names of every individual who shall have made the actual settlement required by the ​first section of this act, specifying the heads of families, and the single men, and the location of each quarter section occupied by each of said settlers.
Approved, August 4, 1842.