Have you ever requested land papers from the National Archives? Although I have quite a few potential requests that I could make, I’ve only requested a couple of them. One request was for the papers associated with the claim of Hiram M. Curry in Peoria County, Illinois.
While Hiram M. Curry filed for and paid for 35.36 acres in the south west quarter of section five of township number 10 north of the base line in range number nine East of the 4th principal meridian, the claim was contested by Isaac Underhill.
While several of the affidavits claim bribery of witnesses by Isaac Underhill, Hiram Curry’s claim #8250 was eventually cancelled. These land entry papers are an interesting read and well worth whatever I spent to obtain the copy.
National Archives Land Entry File
Curry, Hiram M. Certificate #8250 Land Office: Quincy, Illinois
page 1
I do solemnly swear that I was in actual occupancy of and raised a crop on the South west fractional qr of Sec 5 town 10 North of Range 9 East of the 4th principal Meridian in the year 1833 and that I was in actual possession and occupancy of the same at the passage of the law on the 19th of June 1834 and am still in possession and I hereby apply to enter the same by preemption agreeably to the Act of Congress n that care made and provided Hiram M Currey
Sworn to and subscribed before me n this 19th day of March 1836 Linus Scovill JP
We do solemnly swear that Hiram M Currey was in actual occupancy of and raised a crop n the south west fractional qr of Sec 5 in Town 10 North of Range 9 East of the 4th principal Meridian n the year 1833 and that he was in actual occupancy of the same on the 19th of June 1834 and still is in possession and that we are not interested or directly or indirectly in his obtaining a preemption Silas Allen James Cannon Harris (his mark) Whitaker
page 2 shall be entitled to receive a patent for the lot above described Pre Act 1834 Saml Alexander Register
Charles [Ballance] of Peoria of lawful age agrees and says in addition to his foregoing that he has been acquainted with Hiram M Curry since early in 1832 that in the latter part said year this deponent and said Curry were two of the commissioners appointed by the County of Peoria to locate a road towards Knoxville to pass on the North line of the above described tract that his deponent was then in the house of said Curry and has frequently been on the premises same and states of his own knowl- edge that said Curry has ever since resided on said land with his family Neither has he ever heard of his having had any other home during said time nor has he heard of any other person having a claim to said land until the last week C Ballance Subscribed & Sworn to before me on this 30th day of May 1836 J. H. [Raentor] J. P.
page 3 Sworn to and subscribed before me on this 19th day of March 1836 Linus Scovill JP
We do swear that the subscribing witnesses to the within preemption proof are persons of respectability and their oath entitled to credit William Fletcher Thompson Linus Scovill [Jun] Sworn to and subscribed before me on this 26th day of March 1836 Linus Scoville J. P
I do hereby certify that the above named witnesses are persons of respectability and their oath entitled to credit Linus Scovill JP
State of Illinois Peoria County To Wit – I William Mitchell clerk of the County Commissioners Court for said County do certify that Linus Scovill Esqr whose names appears to the foregoing certificates was on the day of the date thereof an acting Justice of the Peace in and for said County, duly commissioned and qualified [seal] to [?] record in my office; and that as such — [rest missing]
page 4 It is hereby certified, that in pursuance to law Hiram M. Curry of the County of Peoria and state of Illinois on this day purchased of the Register of this Office, the lot or South West fractional quarter of section Five in Township No Ten North of the base line Range nine West of the 4th principal meridian containing 35 35/100 acres at the rate of one dollars and twenty five cents per acre amounting to forty four dollars and twenty cents for which the said Hiram M Curry has made payment in full as required by law, No therefore e it known, that on presentation of this certificate the Commissioner of the [?] [Hiram M Curry] shall be entitled to receive a patent for the lot above described Pre Act 1834 Saml Alexander Register NOTE: CANCELLED written over top of document
Charles Ballance statement below above document
page 5 — same as page 4
page 6 State of Illinois Peoria County Clerks Office County Commission [?] William Mitchell clerk of said court do hereby certify that Linus Scovill Esqr whose name appears to the within certificate was at this time the same was made an acting Justice of the Peace in and for said County duly commissioned and qualified as appears of record in my office and that as such full faith and credit an act of right ought to be given to be his official acts given under my hand and seal of said Court at Peoria this 25th day of May AD 1836 William Mitchell Clk Co Comm PC
page 7 We James Cannon and Harris Wittaker do solemnly swear that Hiram M Curry is not entitled to a preemption to the South west fractional qr of sec no 5 10N 9 East for which he has our evidence to his preemption papers bearing date 19th March aD 1836 We were altogether unacquainted with the boundarys of said fractional qr until a recent survey of the same and hereby swear that said Curry never cultivated any part thereof to our knowledge as set fort in said preemption papers James Cannon Harris (his mark) Wittaker
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 24th day of May 1836 Linus Scovill Justice of the Peace
page 8 I William M C Bogardus hereby make oath that Hiram M Curry is not entitled to a preemption to the SW factional qr of Sec No 5 10 North 9 East for which he has my affidavit concerning I do not want the Register to receive said affidavit as there is a mistake in the same and further that I swear that the section lines do not come within three or four rods of the fence whee he states that he cultivated the same, and further one of the witnesses is Curry’s own son; and the other is under age W M C Bogardus
State of Illinois Peoria County I Lewis Bigelow, an acting Justice of the peace within and for the county of Peoria, hereby certify that on the 23 day of May AD 1836 the above named William M C Bogar dus personally appeared before me and made oath to the truth of the foregoing affidavit by him sub scribed Lewis Bigelow, J. Peace
Page 9 State of Illinois Peoria County Clerks Office County Commissioners Court William Mitchell clerk of said court do hereby certify that Lewis Bigelow Esqr whose name appears to the foregoing certificate was at the time the same was made an acting Justice of the Peace in and for said county regularly commissioned and qualified as appears of record in my office and as such [full] [faith] and credit are and [of rights] ought to be given to all his official acts In tes- timony whereof I have hereunto [subcribed] my hand and seal of said Court at Peoria this twenty fifth day of may AD 1836 William Mitchell Clk
page 10 I Alexander Fo[r]sh being of lawful age and first duly sworn testify that sometime in the summer of the year 1836 in the town of Peoria I heard a conver- sation between Isaac Underhill and another indi- vidual respecting his [operations] at Rome on the Illinois River in which said Underhill boasted of having defeated the pre-emption of a settler in that neighborhood by procuring his witnesses to swear that their affidavits by which they established the pre-emp tion were not true. In that part of the conversation which was in my hearing he stated distinctly that he had paid one of said witnesses to wit William M. C. Bogar- dus the sum of two hundred dollars or four hundred dollars (I am not certain which) to procure him to go before a justice of the peace and recant upon oath his former affidavit My impression is that he did not give the name of the person whose pre-emp tion he had endeavored to destroy but he described it as being a fraction and otherwise so spoke of it as to leave no doubt that it was the pre-emption of Hiram M Curry to which he alluded and further this affiant saith not Alex H Fa[sh] State of Illinois Peoria County I William Martin a justice of the peace in and for said county do hereby certify that on the ninth day of November AD 183[7] person ally appeared before me Alexander H Fa[sh] and was by me sworn to the truth of the foregoing affidavit given under my hand the date aforesaid Wm Martin JP
State of Illinois Peoria County I, William Mitchell, Clerk of the County Commissioners’ Court for said county, do hereby certify that William Martin Esquire, whose name appears to the foregoing certificate, was on the day of the date thereof, an acting Justice of the Peace, in and for the county aforesaid, duly commissioned and qualified, as it appears to me of record in my office; and that, as such, full faith and credit are due to all his official acts. In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and affixed the seal of said court, at Peoria, this Seventh day of December 1839 William Mitchell Clerk
page 11 I Charles Ballance do solemnly swear that shortly after Isaac Underhill had filed the affidavits of William M C Bogardus, and others in the land office to defeat H. M. Curry’s right of pre-emption to a tract of land adjoining Peoria in the county of Peoria Ill that said Curry stated tome that said Bogardus had ackn owledged to him that said Underhill had bulied him for the sum of four hundred dollars to swear to an affi davit contradicting his former affidavit which he had made to establish said Curry’s pre-emption that supposing if said statement was true it was not [susceptible] of proof [Issued] to the attention to it Until about two months ago said Curry in- formed me he could prove said [?] by Alexander H Fash [first] not having an opportunity to take his affidavit then and his residence being several miles from here I had not a convenient opportunity to take it until November 9th last past and it was not then forwarded to the general land office because I wanted to procure further testimony especially the testimony of Luther Sears who was an associate of said Underhill and who I understood from Fash knew all about it On this day I called on said Search who stated that he heard said Bogardus and Underhill bargain ing about said affidavit. Underhill offered a price to Bogardus if he would upon oath recant his former affidavit Bogardus refused to do it for the price offered but agreed to do it for a large price After or [number] offers were made and refused a sum was agreed upon and
page 12 the affidavit was made out and sworn to by said Bogardus, and the price paid by said Underhill, as he understood from them both, but what was the amount paid said Sears could not recollect. After said matter was arranged said Sears stated that said Underhill explained the transaction to him and told him that it was Hiram M Curry’s pre- emption claim near Rome that said affidavit was taken to defeat. Said Underhill explained his having to give so high a price for this affidavit to be that in addition to the reluctance of the witness to contradict himself, he was interested in Curry’s claim, and it was necessary to give him more then his interest [amounted] to to get him to swear against Curry Said Sears who seemed to know all about the said transaction stated that he had “no doubt there was perjury n the business.” I then asked him I he would give and affidavit stating these fact, to which he answer ed that being a friend of Mr. Underhills he would not give any statement on oath as the subject unless required in a court of justice and in this case he would swear to the facts as detailed to me and related above and further this affi ant saith not Charles Ballance Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of December AD 1839. In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of the county Commissioners Court of Peoria County, State of Illinois this day last above said William Mitchell Clk
page 13 State of Illinois Peoria County I Linus Scovill of lawful age being fist duly sworn depose and say that I am the Justice of the peace of said county before whom the witness so were sworn who established Hiram M. Curry’s right of Pre-emption to the South West fractional quarter o Section No 5 in township 10 North of the base line and range No 9 East of the 4th principal meridian and when James Cannon and Har ris Whitaker were afterwards bought before me by Isaac Underhill to recant upon oath the statements they had formerly made I at first refused to swear them to said last mentioned affidavits on ac count of its apparently involving them in perjury and I enquired of them their motive for so great in consistency. They informed me that Isaac Underhill and Jefferson Taliaferro (who had floated on said Curry’s claim) informed them that they (said Under- hill & Taliaferro) had had said land surveyed and had ascertained that no part of the field which said Curry had cultivated in 1833 was on said tract of land and therefore as said Curry had during said year cultivated nowhere else they were quilty of perjury in swearing he had cultivated a part of said tract during said year and that said Underhill and Taliaferro had threatened to present them for perjury unless they would recant upon oath the statements aforesaid respecting said Curry’s pre-emption. I further state that I am well acquainted with all the parties and the premises in dispute that said Curry is a poor man who to my certain knowledge has lived upon the land in dispute ever since some time in the year 1832 until a few months past his family has
page 14 been absent (as is said) upon a visit to distant relatives That I called to see said Curry some time the fall of of 1833 and found him sowing a crop of what and had at the time a crop of corn and pumpkins grown The field he was cultivating was always understood to be the fraction of section 5 township 10 north of range 9 east partly on the NW qr and partly on the SW qr but having nev er surveyed it have not say possibly where our east & west line would run but have no doubt that the house and part of the field are on the SW frac tional quarter Said witnesses are very young and could I presume be easily frightened or per suaded to make such recantation without any criminal intention I was at the time said Curry settled on said land living said neighborhood and have ever since lived there Given from under my hand this 28th day of January 1837 Linus Scovill (seal) State of Illinois Peoria County This day personally appeared before me William Mitchell a notary public of said county Linus Scovill personally known to me to be the identical person who subscribed and sworn to the foregoing instrument of writing and deposed that the statements therein made are just and true according tot he best of his knowledge & beliefs I also certify that the said Linus Scovill is a man of integrity & credibility and that his statements on oath may be relied on Given under my hand and seal notarial at Peoria this 28th January AD 1837 William Mitchell Not Pub PC
page 15 State of Illinois Peoria County I William Mitchell Clerk of the County Commissioners Court with & for said county do hereby certify that Thomas Phillips Esqr is the County Surveyor within and for the county of Peoria aforesaid (duly commissioned & qualified) that his commission was dated on the 12th day of August A.D. 1835 and will expire in August 1839 as it appears to me of record in my office and that his signature to the foregoing certificate is genuine In testimony whereof I have herein set my hand and seal of said Court at Peoria this 15 day of May AD 1838 William Mitchell Clerk
I Charles Ballance upon oath do state that the above certificate of Thomas Phillips as signed by him in my presence C Ballance Subscribed & sworn to before me this 15 day of May AD 1838 William Mitchell Clk County Commissioners Court Peoria County Ill
page 16 Surveyor’s Office Peoria County State of Illinois I Thomas Phillips sur- veyor of said county do hereby certify that I have surveyed section No five in township ten North of the base line and range nine East of the fourth principal meridian according to the original field notes or copy of which I have procured from the surveyor General office at St. Louis and find by accurate measurement that the East and West line run ning through the middle of said section runs through the field said to have been cultivated by Hiram M. Curry in the year 1833 dividing it in such a manner as to throw a part of said cultivation on the South West fractional quarter and the residue which is much the larger portion on the North West fraction quarter of said section Given from under my hand at my office this 26 day of November 1836 Thomas Phillips [SC]
page 17 survey map
State of Illinois Peoria County I Thomas Phillips County Surveyor within & for the aforesaid county; do hereby state on oath that I surveyed in the year 1837 fractional section 5 10 North, Range 9 East of the 4 principal meridian; and that no part of the south west fractional quarter, of the fractional section aforesaid [bore no] appearance of ever having been enclosed or cultivated. The cultivation by which it appears Hiram M Curry proved a right of preemption to the said fractional quarter was on the adjoining [contested] quarter. The nearest part of the said cultivation doe not come within fourteen chains of the fractional quarter claimed by Curry.. Deponent further states that a certificate signed by himself and forwarded to the Commissioners of the general land office, certifying that Curry’s improvements were on said fraction aforesaid; was an [imposition] practised on said deponent by one Charles Ballance of Peoria, Ills; and that said deponent signed the same without fully understanding the contents of said certificate; said deponent further states from the best of his knowledge & belief the above plat of said fractional qr claimed by Curry is a correct one: Given under my hand this twenty fourth day of May in the year
page 18 One Thousand Eight Hundred & thirty Eight [SL} Phillips CJPC Subscribed and sworn t before me William Mitchell clerk of the county Commissioners Court within and for the County of Peoria and State of Illinois this 26 day of May AD 1838 Given under my hand and seal of said Court at Peoria this 26th day of May AD 1838 William Mitchell Clerk
Sideways text Survey& affidavit of Thos Phililps County Surveyor Peoria Cy Ill relative to SW qr 5 10th 9E
In relation to Hiram M Curry’s Claim to Sd qr section G.S.O. Filed by King & Wilson 9th June 1838 C.S. P. recd 9 Jun 1838
page 19 State Bank of Illinois 4 [? 4,20] Receiver’s Office, Quincy, Illinois No. 8250 May 30, 1836 Received from Hiram M Curry Peoria County, Illinois the sum of Forty four dollars and twenty cents, being in full payment for the South wet fractional quarter of section No. five Township No. Ten north of the base line of Range NO. nine East of the 4th principal meridian, containing thirty five acres, and 36/100 of an acre, at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre $44.20 Thos Carlin Receiver Pre act 1834 Con[flictng] with entry 7392
page 20 Canceled Certificate 8250 and proof belonging thereto Certificate Canceled [Ss] letter to R&R 3d Oct 1838 also letter from the Hon John T Stuart dated 30 Dec 1839 X Comm & reply of 2d Jany 1840 & letter of same date to R & R
page 21 No. 8250 30 day of May 183[4] I Hiram M Curry of Peoria County of Illinois do hereby apply for the purchase of the South West fractional qr of section numbered five in township numbered ten north of range numbered nine east of the fourth principal meridian, containing thirty five 36/100 acres, according to the returns of the Surveyor General, for which I have agreed with the Register to give at the rate of one dollar and twenty five cents per acre.
I, Samuel Alexander, Register of teh land Office at quincy, Illinois, do hereby certify that the quarter section above descried contains 35 36 acres, as mentioned; and that the price agreed upon is $1 25 per acre Pre Act 1834 Conflicting 7392 Saml Alexander Register
