TIP #246 - TELLICO CLAIMS The Tellico lands were defined by the Kentucky Legislature as: "Beginning at the mouth of Duck River, running thence up the main street of the same to the junction of the fork, at the head of which fort Nash stood, with the main south fork; thence a direct course to a point on the Tennessee river bank, opposite the mouth of Hiwasee river. If the line from Hiwassee should leave out Field's settlement, it is to be marked round his improvement, and then continued the straight course; thence up the middle of the Tennessee river, (but leaving all the islands to the Cherokees,) to the mouth of Clinch river; thence up the Clinch river to the former boundary line agreed upon with the said Cherokees, reserving at the same time, to the use of the Cherokees, a small tract of land lying at and below the mouth of Clinch river, from the mouth extending thence down the Tennessee river, from the mouth of Clinch to a notable rock on the north bank of the Tennessee, in view from South West Point; thence a course at right angles with the river to the Cumberland road; thence eastwardly along the same, to the bank of Clinch river so as to secure the ferry landing to the Cherokees up to the first hill, and down the same to the mouth thereof, together with two other sections of one square mile each, one of which is at the foot of the Cumberland mountains, at and near the place where the turnpike gate now stands; the other on the north bank of the Tennessee river, where the Cherokee Talootiske now lives." On January 31st, 1810, the Kentucky Legislature passed an act dealing with the Tellico Claims. They are sited in 4 Litt. 167. How the lands were to be taken up: It was lawful for every free white male or widow, or unmarried female above the age of 18 years, who has already settled and resided on these lands for six months - land to be considered waste and unappropriated lands - those acquired by the treaty of Tellico. They had to apply to the Circuit Court of the county where they had settled and prove to the court by two witnesses that they had occupied the land for the required time. They were then entitled to a certificate for any quantity of land not more than 200, nor less than 100 acres including their settlement. The certificate was to show the specific location of the land. The clerk of the court delivered one copy to the claimant and the claimant paid 1 shilling for the land. HOWEVER, they could not apply for any land that contained a salt spring, silver or lead mine or within 1,000 acres of same. The person, in possession of the certificate, had twelve months after the date shown on the certificate to produce it to the register of the land office. He paid the treasurer $40 for each 100 acres. He was then entitled to a warrant for the land and the proprietor then paid the register twenty five cents. The owner then had 12 months to have the land surveyed and the plat and certificate recorded in the surveyor's office. He paid a fee to have this done. There was a special regulation that no location or survey shall in its length exceed its breadth mroe than one third unless interrupted by prior claims. When conditional lines had already been established between the claimants, the lines were binding as the true boundary lines between them. If a person had settled and resided on these lands acquired by the Tellico treaty, and had not within the twelve month limit obtained his certificate for the lands, any other settler on the Tellico lands could give the settler a notice in writing, witnessed by two witnesses, in which notification was given that should they fail to obtain a certificate for the land by the fourth day of the second Circuit Court after the delivery of the notification, he - the other settler - would be applying for a certificate. The act above was amended on January 31, 1811 and dealt primarily with the payment method and handled installment buying. I guess this is not a new concept! They were now allowed to pay in four equal annual installments due January first each year at 6 percent per annum. If payments were not received, the land was open for sale again. Again, on February 8th, 1812 (4 Litt. 404) more amendments were made. This stated that any person who obtained a certificate for any of the waste and unapproiated lands under the treaty of Tellico, now had 3 years to pay for the land at $20.00 per 100 acres, still due on January 1st of each year. If a payment was missed, the land was again exposed to sale. By January 4th 1813, more changes were made per 5 Litt. 5. Any payment which was due on the first day of January 1813 was now extended to January 1, 1814. They were again postponed by an act passed January 28th, 1814 allowing the settler to hold off payments until 1815, payable in December. January 31st 1815 saw another postponement covering payments which were due in 1812, 1813, 1814 and 1815 and made payable in December 1815 through 1818 respectively.. In January of 1816 (5 Litt 325), the Legislature made a special offer - anyone who would pay the lands off in full would be allowed a discount. This appears to have been indefinitely postponed year after year through 1821. (c) Copyright 3 June 1999, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved. sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Colonel Sandi Gorin 205 Clements,Glasgow, KY 42141 (270) 651-9114 or E-fax (707)222-1210 Gorin Genealogical Publishing: http://members.delphi.com/gorin1/index.html TIPS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Tips KYBIOS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Bios ARCHIVES: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl