156
Statute I.April 22, 1826.
Decisionsmade by thecommission-ers appointedto ascertainclaims, &c., tolands in WestFlorida , con-firmed.
Reports re-cognised asvalid, &c.
Act of March3, 1825, ch. 83.
The Spanish claims contain-ed in specialreports, act ofMay 8, 1822,ch. 129, con-firmed.
Claims to lotsin report, &c.,with the excep-tion, confirmed,&c.
Claims con-tained in thereport of theregister, &c.,confirmed.
Location ofthe claim ofFrancisco andFernando Mo-reno.
Claims tolands in reportL. with the ex-ception of thaton the squareFerdinand sev-enth, confirm-ed, &c.
Proviso.
Chap. XXIX. — An Act to confirm the reports of the commissioners for ascertain-ing claims and titles to lands in West Florida , and for other purposes, (a)
Be it enacted by the Senate and House o f Representatives of the UnitedStates of America, in Congress assembled, That all the decisions madeby the commissioners, appointed to ascertain claims and titles to lands inthe district of West Florida , made in favour of claimants to lands and lotsin said district, contained in the reports, opinions, and abstracts, of thecommissioners, which have been transmitted to the Secretary of the Trea-sury, according to law, be, and the same are hereby, confirmed.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all the reports, abstracts,and opinions, made and forwarded by the two commissioners in said dis-trict, subsequently to the first day of January, eighteen hundred andtwenty-five, the period at which that board expired by law, be, and thesame are hereby, recognised as valid, and confirmed as aforesaid; andthe said commissioners, and their secretary, shall be entitled to receivethe same compensation as they were authorized to demand by law, priorto that day, up to the time at which the receiver and register took pos-session of their records, in obedience to an act of the third day of March,eighteen hundred and twenty-five, entitled “An act to extend the time forthe settlement of private land claims, in the territory of Florida, ’’ &c.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Spanish claims containedin special reports, from one to thirty, reported in obedience to the fourthsection of an act of Congress , approved May eighth, eighteen hundredand twenty-two, entitled “An act for ascertaining claims and titles to landsin the territory of Florida, ” be, and the same are hereby, confirmed to theclaimants in possession.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the claims to lots in reportand abstract K, recommended for confirmation as equitable titles, withthe exception of the last ten, be, and the same are hereby, declared validand confirmed, and the claim of the Catholic inhabitants to a lot on whichthe church stands, be, and the same is hereby, confirmed to them forthat use, so long as it is occupied for that purpose.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the claims contained inthe report of the receiver and register, made to the Secretary of theTreasury, in obedience to a law of the last session of Congress , dated thethirteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, be, andthe same are hereby, confirmed.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the claim of Francisco andFernando Moreno, near fort San Carlos de Barancas, shall be so locatedas not to interfere w'ith the grounds reserved by the laws and ordinancesof the Spanish government, for forts, nor with that which has been latelyselected for a navy yard and naval depot, by the navy commissioners,and approved by the President of the United States .
Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the claims to lots in report L,with the exception of that on the square Ferdinand Seventh, be, and thesame are hereby, approved and confirmed, so far as the United States haveany title to the same, without prejudice to the rights ofthe corporation: andthe lots reserved for market house and other public uses, in the planof the Constitutional Cabildo, are relinquished and confirmed to thecorporation of Pensacola ; and the lots reserved and granted for church,parish, vicar, school, and custom-house, are respectively set apart andconfirmed, for the objects set forth in the decrees of said Cabildo, so faras the United States * have any title to the same, without prejudice, asaforesaid: Provided, That no claim on the public squares of Seville ,Ferdinand Seventh, and the square and garden on which the court-house stands, as laid off in said plan of the Cabildo, shall be allowed or
(a) See notes to the act of May 8, 1822, ch. 129.