The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1867-11-14

duu paTtieS ueSlIthS lnIOTulatlOn Ia regaF.
TO any tract of land, should give the nam
of the t0arrantee, dufe of The eQrront, an
county IN Uhtch it ,cds located, asd then al
subsequent proceedings, as whether SUI
Vey has been retuYned, patented or not
and the amount due the State, if not pa
tented, can be aScertained.
Now that the real estate of the Com
monwealth is no longer taxed, efforts
should be made to increase the revenues
from all other proper sources, and as 3
very large sum is due the State on account
of unpaid purchase money for lands nos
patented, public policy demands the prompt
payment Of these claims, and the compile
ton Of titles. The Legislature has from
time to time within the last forty years,
passed stringent laws for their collection,
but owing to the herculean task imposed
on the department in getting out these
claims, nearly every account invoking
the closest examination of application,
warrant, survey, vouchers, blotters, day
books, Journals, ledgers, and maps to as
certain the location of the land against
which the lien Is entered, the several
acts were never carried out according to
their spirit and meaning. The last act
on this subject, passed in May, 1864, re-
quires these accounts to be made out, and
liens therefor entered up in the several
counties and it wo1ld be we'll for those
interested to make note of it, for Gene
raj Jacob VI. Campbell, of Cambria coun-
WHO is thorough business man and most
efficient officer, military and civil, has
nearly completed the calculations of the
amounts due on unpatented tracts upon
which surveys have been returned. When
com pleted and entered up as liens in the
several counties, an additional fee of fUs
dollars in each case will be charged.
Many persons seem to labor under an err
| roneous impression that when the liens
are entered up they can settle them at the
respective county seats. But this is not
the fact everything relating to them must
DE transacted through the land depart
ment-the object in entering them up
being probably to prevent alienation of
property until this just debt is paid the
Commonwealth.
The laws relating to this important de-
partment of the State government are SO
numerous, in many cases conflicting, and
IN others their application so obscure, that
the next Legislature should pass care
fully revised act, covering the necessities
that have grown up, and more clearly de-
fning present laws. In doing this the
law-makiGg power should avail itself CT
the suggestions Of the Surveyor General,
as it requires much experience In the de-
partment to make one acquainted with its
necessities and yet protect existing rights
under fc-Iacr laws and customs.
al. IL
rare, and curious documents-someo Older
than the date of the first colony uuder
the founder of the proVinces-and many
have on them the ''stamps" that formed
one Of our grievances against the "Moth-
er Country" Much to connect the past
with the present is here found much to
remind one of the hardships and porils Of
the brave pioneers who first made homes
in our dense forests, and paved the way
for the high state of prosperity and civili-
zation enjoyed by their descendants. A
regular set of books, consisting of day.
book, Journal, and ledger, have been kept
from the year 1719, and are found to be
in a remarkable state of preservation.
These, together with large folios, in which
patents have been recorded, Sill the greater
part of the shelving of the second floor.
From these records we ascertain that
among the quit rents imposed before the
lands were declared allodial was in one in
stance that of one cred rose" annually,
and that the "tather of his country" was
at one time the owner of land In Penn
sylvania, having located tract in West
moreland county. A small circular room
up stairs is nearly filed with papers of
John Nicholson, Esq, at one time the
owner of nearly one-seventh of this State,
and also very large land-holder in the
Southern States, and yet who was always
harrassed with debt and died poor man.
The development of the State by Rail-
roads and the consequent impetus given
to cur lumber, coal, and other mineral in
terests, has so greatly enhanced the value
of lands, few years ago scarcely worth
the taxes assessed upon them, that tho
vacant mountain lands are being rapidly
taken up, and the people are having their
titles perfected by obtaining patents, aud
adjusting in the courts of the Common
wealth contested rights. This involves
the Surveyor Generals office in heavy
correspondence, and the furnishing of
great many copies of official papers.
General Robert A. Mccoy, late private
Secretary to Governor curtin, is the eff.
cient chief clerk of this department, and
to his courtesy am ] indebted for tho
above interesting facts Correspondence
Philadelphia Press.
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