Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian., 1859-01-15
Deeds from Pre-Emptofs. before Issue
5 OF Patents, Decided to bo Valid


OF Patents, Decided to be Valid
Among the few cases decided by the Su-
preme Court at its late session, and almost
the only one of the numerous cases OF great
public importance before them that they did
decide, was that of ROBERT SMITH cersus
CAMP, involving the vital question, whether a
deed of sale, executed prior to the issuance Of
a patent, by pre-emptor of government
lands, conveying to third party the land
pre-empted by him, was. valid instrument,
or whether it was void under the act of Con-
gress of 1S41, which declares, in so many
words, that any assignment or transfer " Of
the pre-empted land before the actual issu-
ance of the patent, shall be absolutely void
For years this has been matter upon which
the ablest lawyers have differed. The ques-
ton was directly raised in the case above re-
ferred to. The facts were these: ANsoN
NoRrHRUp in 1856 pre-empted forty acres and
a fraction in Minneapolis, embracing the st.
Anthony Falls water power Oh the West side
of the river, now of immense value. lie sold
and conveyed this property by warrantee
deed to ISAAC ArwArER, now one of the Judg-
es of the Supreme Court, who re-conveyed
the property again to Hon. ROBERT SMITH,
of ILL.,, and others, composing the Minneapolis
Water Power Company. After the issuance
of the patent, NoRTHRUP again made deed
of conveyance to GEORGE A. CAMP, who &C
cordingly entered into possession of certain
lots in Minneapolis laid out on portion OF
the property pre-empted. SMITH brought
suit in the District Court to eject him, and
gained the cause in that Court; and theques-
ton came up for argument upon its merits.
There is, we believe, an old rule of Court,
that Attorneys shall not exceed each an hour
in their arguments; but on this occasion the
Chief Justice remarked, inasmuch as the
question involved was one of such unusual
importance, it was the wish of the Court,
(ExxEr and FLANDRAu only) that counsel
should not feel themselves restricted as to
time, but that the argument should be as ex-
tended as they might desire.
The case was thereupon argued by Mr..
Parsons, of Minneapolis, and Mr.. BRIsBIN, Of
St. Paul, for CAMP against the validity Of the
deed from NoRrHRuP to ATwArER, and for the
right of CAMP to hold the property under the
deed to him from NoRrHRUP after the patent
had been issued. Mr.. CORNELL, of Mime
apolis, and Judge COOPER, Of St. Paul, argued
the case in behalf of SMITH, sustaining the
validity of the first conveyance.
The case was very fully argued, although
the young Associate, FLANDRAU, notwithstand-
ing the announcement of the Chief Justice
that the Court desired full argument, arbi-
trarily and somewhat boorishly cut short the
argument of Mr.. CORNELL almost Immediately
on his opening.
After holding the case under advisement
for couple of weeks, the Court announced
its decision, affirming the Judgment of the
Court below thus deciding, that deed made
by a pre-emptor, at any time after the entry
and receipt of his duplicate certificate from
the District Lsnd Office, is a valid deed and
conveys the fee simple to the purchaser.
The opinion of the Court has not been filed
yet, so we cannot present the reasons for the
conclusion which the Court arrived at.