The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1875-10-21
LAND PIRACY.
The Porterfield Scrip Raid upon the Palmer
House Property in Chicago.


House Property in Chicago.
The Washington correspondent of the
Chicago Tribune says:
The Porterfeld scrip, which a Mr..
Middleton, of Washington, D. c., en-
deavored to locate upon the Palmer
House property in Chicago, belongs to
the last Issue of. scrip which was availa.
BILE before the issue Of the still more vii
famous Valentine scrip. On account of
It's scarcity, the Porter6eld scrip was
bought up by spectators, and has been
boarded by them for such uses as that to
which Mr.. Middleton has just attempt
ed to apply it in Chicago.
Charles Porterfeld was Captain of
the Virginia Line in the Revolutionary
War, and as such was entitled to 6, 1873
acres OF land on account of his superior
services. The STATE of Virginia passed
legislation which barred Porterield from
taking advantage of this right; and the
United States, in 1852, passed a general
act under which he was also barred.
Both of these acts had been overlooked
by Porterfeld, and, shortly after discov-
ering the fact, he died. He had been a
gallant soldier, and his heirs successful
ly applied to Congress for relief. They
were very poor, and their ancestors gal
lantry, with some ingenious lobbying on
the part of the relatives of the family,
succeeded in securing the passage for
them, In 1860, of the special act of Con-
gress under which this Porterfeld scrip,
or, more properly, this Revolutionary
bounty land warrant, was issued. The
for, hat AIo
amount OF the scrip was speedily sold
by them for 81 per acre. About 5000
acres of it fell into the hands of various
parties, was held by them for some time,
and sold at large advance, or located.
A little more than one-half of the scrip
is already located, the lands covered by
it being, for the most part, in the popu-
lated States, where, through some care
lessness of clerks in the old days, some
neglect of registry, some error in the
record of the plat, worthy people had
left their estates open to the approaches
of the land-sharks.
The authority to commit land piracy,
which this character of scrip represent
ed, was confined to this issue for con-
siderable number of years. This was
the only scrip which could be used for
the purpose of robbing people of their
land, until the later and recent issue of
the more infamous Valentine scrip.
The fruits of this later piece of lobby
villainy will be remembered in many al
humble home throughout this general
ton. The remaining half of the Porter
field scrip came into the hands of the |
law firm of Chapman, Hosmer & Co., one
of the members of which is in some way
related to the heirs of Porterfeld. This
firm paid $12 per acre for about one-half
of the scrip, and have held their pur-
chase for some years. 1t doubtless has
somewhat deteriorated in value since the
issue of the Valentine scrip, which latter
permits it's owners to commit an act of |
piracy anywhere. Chapman, Hosmer &
Go. have located considerable amount
of the Porterfeld scrip upon valuable
lands in Ohio and in other of the central |
Western States.
The Commissioner of the Land Office
is having great deal of trouble with
speculative lawyers with regard to scrip
Of this sort. This class of Adventures |
resort to an infinite variety of ingenious /
devices to obtain possession of certified
copies of the original tract maps and
books of the Land Office. Many have
requested county officers in various sec
tons to make formal application to the
Commissioners of the Land Office for the
certified copy of the original tract of the
county, in order that the Assessors may
be better able to assess taxes. In the
few cases where any such requests have
been applied for, the Commissioner has
soon discovered that the information
given out has resulted in the immediate
commencement of speculative suits upon
the land of some unfortunate people in
those sections. The process is, to dis
cover the original record of the original
tract books; to compare it with the actual
location at the local offices; and, if there
is slip of any sort which would warrant
the procedure, pieces of the Porterfeld
or Valentine scrip, which have been re-
served for such uses, are Immediately
made available to seize the lands. In
many cases, persons have been hired to
make entries on lands the descriptions
Of which have been in this way obtained.
Commissioner Drummond, in view OF
this experience, has adopted an almost
rule to permit no informa-
tion of this sort to leave his office under
anv circumstances