Report of the Commissioner of the Land Office of Maryland

Excerpt from Report of the Commissioner of the Land Office of Maryland: From October 1st, 1897, to September 30, 1899 By the Acts of 1780 and 1781, all the lands belonging to British subjects were confiscated to the use of the State, and with these lands Maryland rewarded the officers and soldiers who faithfully served in the revolution in the Maryland Line. The Act of 1781 created a Land Office for the Western Shore, and another for the Eastern Shore, and placed each of them under the direction and care of a Register. In 1841 these two offices were consolidated, and the present Land Office was established at Annapolis. By the Constitution of 1851, the "Commissioner of the Land Office" was created and directed to perform the duties formerly discharged by the Chancellor, Register and Examiner-General, and to act as Judge in caveat cases. In 1853 the General Assembly passed an Act declaring the Court of the Commissioner of the Land Office to be a Court of Record. The Act of 1862 and the Constitution of 1864, made the Commissioner of the J-and Office the keeper of the Chancery Records and the ante-revolutionary and revolutionary papers. By the Constitution of 1867 he was further required "to collect, arrange, classify and keep all papers, records and relics connected with the early history of Maryland." Besides performing the duties required by the Acts mentioned, the Commissioner of the Land Office, among other things, has to issue warrants; to make searches; to furnish copies; to prescribe rules and regulate the conduct of Surveyors in making surveys and returning certificates and plats; to examine and pass upon certificates returned to his office by Surveyors and to hear, examine and decide upon all caveats which come before him as Commissioner. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.