| 1790.
CHAP.
XLIII. |
LAWS of MARYLAND.
lawful for the remaining commissioners, or a majority of them, to appoint
another
skilful person or persons to supply such vacancies, and every person
so appointed
shall have the same power and authority as any of the commissioners appointed
by this act. |
Who are to
repair to the
Indian settlement,
&c. |
II. And be it
enacted, That the said commissioners, or the major part of
them, shall be and hereby are authorised and empowered, with all convenient
speed after the passage of this act, to repair to the Indian settlement,
near Secretary's
Creek, in Dorchester county, and to contract, covenant and agree, in behalf
of this state, with the Choptank Indians inhabiting the said settlement,
for the
purchase of all and singular the lands, tenements and appertenances,
belonging
to the said Indians, and to enter into such covenant and agreement on the
part of
this state, for enabling the said commissioners to obtain the right
and title of the
said Indians to the said lands, tenements and appertenances, as in
their discretion
and judgment shall be deemed advisable; provided nevertheless, that in
making
such contract and agreements it shall be covenanted and agreed by the said
Indians,
that the right, title and interest, of and in the said lands, tenements
and
appertenances, shall be granted by the said Indians, and for ever thereafter
vested
and confirmed in this state, and that, in consideration thereof, it
shall be covenanted
and agreed by the said commissioners, on the part of this state, that there
shall be reserved to the said Indians, for their own cultivation and
improvement,
a quantity of the said land not exceeding three hundred acres, to be so
laid off by
the said commissioners as to include their present settlements, and a suitable
proportion
of the woodland, and that the quantity of land so reserved, shall be held,
used and occupied, by the said Indians, so long as their tribe shall
continue to inhabit
the said settlement; and also, that an annuity in current money, not exceeding
three hundred dollars, shall be settled on the said Indians, and be payable
for their use quarterly, out of the treasury of the eastern shore, to the
orders of such
person or friend as the said Indians shall, from time to time, appoint
to draw
the same, and that the payment of such annuity shall commence on the first
Monday of January next ensuing the date of such agreement, and be payable
as
aforesaid so long as the said tribe shall continue in their said settlement. |
COntract to be
written on
parchment,
&c. |
III. And be
it enacted, That on the completion of such contract and agreement,
the terms thereof shall be fully and distinctly written on parchment or
paper, and the same shall be subscribed and executed, in the presence of
two justices
of the peace of the said county, by the said Indians, or by some of them,
on the part and with the consent of their tribe, and by the said commissioners,
or
the major part of them, on behalf of this state, and the attestation thereof
shall
be made and certified by the said justices, and the said agreement
shall, in some
convenient time thereafter, be deposited in the office of the clerk of
the said county,
and be recorded by him among the land records of the county, and after
the
enrolment thereof the same shall be transmitted by the said commissioners
to the
governor and the council, to be filed and retained by them for safe custody. |
COmmissioners
to cause
the lands to
Be surveyed,
&c. |
IV. And be it
enacted, That after the completion and execution of the said
contract and agreement, the said commissioners shall determine on a certain
day
when they shall meet together at the said Indian settlement, and shall
cause a
summons to be served on the surveyor of the said county, or on such other
qualified
person as they shall nominate for this purpose, directing him to be and
appear
at such time and place in order to survey the said lands, and shall give
public native
of their intentions to survey the same by advertisement to be set up
at the court-house
of the said county, and at other public places in the neighbourhood; and
the said commissioners and surveyor, or other qualified person summoned
as aforesaid,
shall accordingly meet at such time and place, and shall thereupon proceed,
from time to time, to make an accurate survey of the said lands, and of
the several
creeks, branches, tenements, roads, and other particulars, in the discretion
of the said commissioners, which may be necessary to furnish a just
idea of their
situation and value; and after such survey thereof, the said surveyor shall
make
an exact and correct plot thereof, describing thereon the said several
tenements,
creeks, branches and roads, and such other particulars as shall be directed
by the |
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