Battle of New Orleans.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

The Military Tract of 1812

From Wikipedia.

This is a follow up to my Feb. 18, 2013 entry about War of 1812 genealogy with some of the sources coming from bounty land warrants, which I had never heard of before.  So, I had to do some more research.

On May 6, 1812 (six weeks before the declaration of war), an Act of Congress set aside land as payment to volunteer soldiers for the upcoming war (they definitely must have been expecting it).  Land in the west that eventually became the states of Arkansas, Michigan and Illinois.  Missouri land was added after the land in Michigan was determined to be undesirable.

Land was given as partial compensation by states and later the federal government.  This had also been done during the American Revolution, but most of that land was in western Virginia.

Shoot Gun, Get Land.  --Brock-Perry

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