REPORT.

MICHIGAN STATE LAND OFFICE,
Lansing, November 1, 1871.

To His Excellency, HENRY P. BALDWIN,

Governor of the State of Michigan: SIR-In accordance with the provisions of act No. 126, approved April 15, 1871, the following is presented as the annual report of this office for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1871. The various classes of lands under the jurisdiction of this department may be enumerated as follows: Primary School Lands, University Lands, Normal School Lands, Asylum Lands, State Building Lands, Salt Spring Lands, Internal Improvement Lands, Agricultural College Lands, Asset Lands, and Swamp Lands.

PRIMARY SCHOOL LANDS.

By the provisions of an act of Congress approved June 23, 1836, entitled "An act supplementary to the act entitled 'An act to establish the northern boundary line of the State of Ohio, and to provide for the admission of the State of Michigan into the Union on certain conditions,"""section numbered sixteen in every township of the public lands, and where such section has been sold, or otherwise disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto, and as contiguous as may be," was granted to the State for the support of schools; and it appears by the last annual report from this office, that of this class of lands there was vacant and subject to entry on the 30th day of November, 1870, 468,713.07 acres; sold since November 30, 1870, 26,447.16 acres; leaving vacant and subject to sale, 442,265.91 acres at the date of this report.

Table No. 1 exhibits an abstract of sales by counties, showing the whole number of acres sold, amount sold for, the amount paid, and the amount still due on which the State is receiving interest.

Table No. 2 makes the same exhibit in regard to the sales of land once forfeited for non-payment of interest.

Table No. 3 gives a monthly abstract of sales, including "State" lands and "Forfeited" lands. The item of $500.00 in the month of March, in Table No. 3, was received on deposit by my predecessor, in payment for certain property in the city of Marshall, supposed to belong to the State by virtue of a chancery sale on the foreclosure of a certain mortgage given by Andrew Mann to John D. Pierce, Superintendent of Public Instruction, dated August 7, 1837. A memorandum of agreement now on file in this office, of which I give a copy, will explain the sale of said property:

"It satisfactorily appearing to the undersigned, that under and by virtue of joint resolution No. 26, laws of 1857, our immediate predecessors in office examined into the condition of the premises mentioned in said joint resolution, and on the 15th day of July, 1868, agreed to sell and transfer the interest of the State in and to said premises to Hon. Preston Mitchell for the sum of five hundred dollars, and that said Mitchell, on the day and year last aforesaid, deposited said sum with the Hon. B. D. Pritchard, then the Commissioner of the State Land Office, where the same has since and now remains: And it further appearing to us from an examination of the premises, that to gain possession of said premises for the State will require long litigation with the heirs and representatives of one Joseph Sibley: We do therefore hereby consider it for the best interests of the State to ratify and carry into effect the verbal arrangement heretofore made by our predecessors in office and the said Mitchell, and do accept the said sum of five hundred dollars in full for any and all the interest the State has in and to the said premises and every part thereof; and, in consideration of the premises, we do hereby agree to sell the interest of the State in and to said premises for the sum aforesaid, and accept said sum in full payment thereof, and acknowledge receipt of the same in full.

LANSING, March 10, 1871. (Signed)

(Signed)

"CHAS. A. EDMONDS,
• Commissioner State Land Office.

"DWIGHT MAY,

"Attorney General."

In pursuance of the foregoing agreement I executed and delivered to said Mitchell a quit-claim deed for that portion of said property that belonged to the Primary School Land, and the five hundred dollars was paid into the Treasury to the credit of that fund. That part of the land that was taken as security for the loan from the University Fund has not been sold, and the title in the State is so questionable that I have not thought best to report the land as subject to sale.

In addition to the above amount of Primary School Land, the State is still entitled to about 45,000 acres, to be selected, in lieu of and for deficiencies in section sixteen, in cases of fractional townships, in which there is no such section; and correspondence with the Department at Washington on this subject was commenced in 1861 by the Hon. Samuel S. Lacey, then Commissioner of this office, but no satisfactory conclusion has as yet been reached.

UNIVERSITY LANDS.

By an act of Congress approved May 20, 1826, two entire townships, or seventy-two sections of land, were set apart and reserved from sale "for the use and support of an University" within the Territory of Michigan. And by an act approved June 23, 1836, the said seventy-two sections were "granted and conveyed to the State," and the report from this office for the year 1870 shows that on the 30th day of November of that year there was vacant and subject to entry 131.75 acres, and there have been no sales during the year of this class of lands.

NORMAL SCHOOL LANDS.

Twenty-five sections of the Salt Spring Lands were appropriated by act No. 138 of the laws of 1849, for the establishment of a State Normal School; ten sections for the erection of buildings, and fifteen sections for a Normal School Endowment Fund. The last annual report from this office says that

"The lands belonging to this fund have all been sold, and nothing remains to be done at this office excepting to receive the balance due upon certificates, and close up the accounts."

ASYLUM LANDS.

By the provisions of "An act to establish an Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind, and also an Asylum for the Insane of the State of Michigan," approved April 3, 1848, eight sections of the State Salt Spring Lands "were appropriated for the erection of suitable buildings therefor," and by section three of act No. 133 of 1849, the amount was increased to fifteen sections, and an additional appropriation of ten sections was made by act No. 282 of the laws of 1850. At the last report there remained unsold of this class of lands, 880 acres, and there have been sold during the year just closed, 120 acres; leaving vacant and subject to entry, 760 Tables 4 and 5 give an abstract of sales of this class

acres.

of lands.

STATE BUILDING LANDS.

Five entire sections of land were donated to the State by an act of Congress approved June 23, 1836, for the purpose of completing or erecting public buildings for the State Capitol, the selection and disposition of the same being given by Congress to the State Legislature. In addition to this, Blocks No. 91, 100, 101, 111, 112, and 249, in the city of Lansing, were, by the provisions of law, purchased from the Primary School Lands for the sum of one dollar, and were thereafter designated as State Building Lands. Also, certain other lots in Lansing were obtained from one William H. Townsend, which were disposed of by the State for the same purpose. The last report from this office says "there are no vacant lands belonging to this fund."

SALT SPRING LANDS.

By the fourth proposition of the act of Congress of June 23, 1826,"All salt springs within the State not exceeding twelve

"in number, with six sections of land adjoining, or as con"tiguous as may be to each," were granted to the State for its use, and their sale by the State was subsequently authorized by Congress. The Normal School and Asylum Lands were appropriated by the State Legislature from this class of lands, and there remained unsold at date of last report, 1,255.63 acres. Sold since date of last report 40 acres, leaving vacant and subject to entry 1,215.63 acres.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT LANDS.

Five hundred thousand acres of land for the purposes of internal improvement were granted to the State by an act of Congress approved September 4, 1841, and it appears from the report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office for the year 1870, that there remains to be selected for the State 1,361.46 acres, and from the last report of the Commissioner of the State Land Office it appears that the total amount of this class of lands unsold was 460.31 acres. Sales during the year, 160 acres, leaving vacant and subject to entry 300.31 acres at the date of this report.

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE LANDS.

These lands were granted to the State by an act of Congress approved July 2, 1862, which provided that "an amount of public land, to be apportioned to each State, a quantity equal to thirty thousand acres for each Senator and Representative in Congress to which the States are respectively entitled by the apportionment under the census of 1860," and according to the report from this office for the year 1870, there was received from the United States, under the grant, 235,673.37 acres, and there were at that time vacant 218,393.37 acres. During the past year there have been sold 9,372.44 acres, eaving vacant and subject to entry 209,020.93 acres. On the 30th day of September, 1871, Tables 8 and 9 show abstracts of sales of these lands, and a comparison with sales of the preceding year shows an increased sale of 6,092.44 acres.