LAWS OF MARYLAND.— 1785.

205

vacant land hereafter may be directed by the legislature to be
taken up at.
*By 1823, ch. 160, vacant lands in Allegany county, upon paying one
shilling and three-pence; and by 1827, ch. 201, in Washington county, bf
paying twenty-five cents.

SEC. 7. And, whereas there are sundry citizens of this state
who hold lands in virtue of patents granted by the late proprie-
taries of Pennsylvania, antecedent to the running and settling
of the divisional line between the two states : And whereas it is
mutually agreed by the two proprietaries, that all inhabitants
on either side of the boundary line, who obtained patents for
their lands in Pennsylvania or Maryland, should have their
titles confirmed in which ever they happened to fall ; therefore,
Be it enacted, That any person or persons holding lands within
the limits of this state, granted and patented by the proprieta-
ries of Pennsylvania antecedent to the settlement of the said
divisional line, and which were, before the running and settling
the divisional line aforesaid, considered as lying within the
limits of Pennsylvania, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,
shall be at liberty to take out and receive patents from the land
office of this state; and the register of the land office of the
western shore is hereby empowered and directed, on application
of any of the above described landholders, and upon their pro-
ducing their Pennsylvania patents, or authenticated copies,
which shall be lodged in the land office, to grant patent or
patents for the land expressed in such original grant or grants,
and the person or persons thus receiving patents in exchange
shall not be liable to pay any purchase or caution money, or be
liable to any charge or demand whatsoever, except the common
fees of office.

Persona
may take
out patents,

&c.

SEC. 8. And be it enacted, That the chancellor shall have
full power and authority, before the title of the state is granted
or conveyed, to determine, in a summary way, all disputes
between purchasers of confiscated property, and, for his infor-
mation, to cause surveys to be made and certificates to be
returned, and to order witnesses to be summoned by the regis-
ter of the land office aforesaid, and to enfore obedience to such
summon by attachment; and in case of dispute between any
purchaser of confiscated property, before the state's title is con-
veyed as aforesaid, and any other person, the chancellor shall
have full power and authority to hear and determine the same
as aforesaid ; and if the chancellor shall be of opinion that the
purchaser under the state can derive a right or title from the
state to only part of the land purchased, and that the person or
persons disputing such title have a right to part of the said land,
then the chancellor shall issue a commission to five men of
integrity and understanding, residing as near to the land as may
be, and not interested in the dispute, or connected with the

Chancellor
to deter-
mine dis-
putes, &c.