Shelton v. Keirn

Citations

• 45 Miss. 106

Syllabus

<p>1. Commissioner oe general land oeeioe—decision by him not binding on the courts.—A decision by the commissioner of the general land .office of the United States, or of any other officer, in respect to conflicting claims to land, does not affect the power of the courts to decide on the facts and law of a case involving them, and has no binding force upon the courts.</p> <p>2. Public lands—mode oe disposition—discretion oe congress on the subject. — Congress has a discretion as to the manner of disposing of the public lands of the United States, and is not confined to conveying title by patent, but may select any other mode and declare the effect as evidence of any other form of conveyance.</p> <p>3. JEEEERSON COLLEGE — GRANT OE LAND—EEEEOT OE CERTIEIOATE OE REGISTER. ON LOCATION UNDER TRANSFER FROM THE COLLEGE. —The Certificate of the register of the land office to the assignee of Jefferson College, who had located his claim, by virtue of the act of congress of the 20th April, 1832, for the relief of that college, is equivalent to a patent, and a patent for the same land afterward issued by the United States to another person is void.</p> <p>4 Same—same—consequence oe location embracing land appropriated —void as to SUCH, but not in toto.—Under the requirement of the act of congress of 20th April, 1832, for the relief of Jefferson College, that the lands granted should be located in bodies not less than two sections, and that each location should be of one body of contiguous lands, and on unappropriated land, such location, where it afterward appears that part of the land was an Indian reservation and another part was a pre-emption claim, together covering nearly one-half, is void only as to so much as was embraced in the reservation and pre-emption, and good for the rest, although the contiguity of the remaining parts was destroyed.</p>