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Done at Georgetown aforesaid, the 30th day of March, in the year of our Lord, 1791, and of the Independence of the United States the fifteenth.

"GEORGE WASHINGTON.

By the President. THOMAS JEFFERSON."

AN ACT

[Of Maryland] concerning the Territory of Columbia, and the City of Washington.

"Whereas, the president of the United States, by virtue of several acts of congress, and acts of the assemblies of Virginia and Maryland, by his proclamation, dated at Georgetown, on the thirtieth day of March, seventeen hundred and ninety-one, did declare aud make known, that the whole of the territory of ten miles square, for the permanent seat of government of the United States, shall be located and included within the four lines following, that is to say: Beginning at Jones' Point, being the upper part of Hunting Creek, in Virginia, and at an angle in the outset of forty-five degrees west of north, and running a direct line ten miles for the first line, then beginning again at the same Jones' Point, and running another direct line at a right angle with the first across the Potomac, ten miles, for the second line, then from the terminations of the said first and second lines, running two other direct lines ten miles each, the one crossing the Eastern Branch, and the other Potomac, and meeting each

other in a point; which has since been called the Territory of Columbia: And whereas Notley Young, Daniel Carroll, of Duddington, and many others, proprietors of the greater part of the land hereinafter mentioned to have been laid out in a city, came into an agreement, and have conveyed their lands in trust to Thomas Beall, son of George, and John Mackall Gantt, whereby they have subjected their lands to be laid out as a city, given up part to the United States, and subjected other parts to be sold to raise money as a donation to be employed according to the act of congress for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the government of the United States, under and upon the terms and conditions contained in each of the said deeds; and many of the proprietors of lots in Carrollsburg and Hamburgh, have also come into an agreement, subjecting their lots to be laid out anew, giving up one-half of the quantity thereof to be sold, and the money thence arising to be applied as a donation as aforesaid, and they to be reinstated in one-half of the quantity of their lots in the new location, or otherwise compensated in land in a different situation within the city, by agreement between the commissioners and them, and in case of disagreement, that then a just and full compensation shall be made in money; yet some of the proprietors of lots in Carrollsburg and Hamburg, as well as some of the proprietors of other lands, have not, from imbecility and other causes, come into any agreement concerning their lands within the limits hereinafter mentioned, but a very great proportion of the land-holders having agreed on the

same terms, the President of the U. States, directed a city to be laid out, comprehending all the lands beginning on the east side of Rock Creek, at a stone standing in the middle of the road leading from Georgetown to Bladensburg, thence along the middle of the said road, to a stone standing on the east side of the reedy branch of Goose Creek, thence southeasterly, making an angle of sixty-one degrees and twenty minutes with the meridian, to a stone standing in the road leading from Bladensburg to the Eastern Branch Ferry, then south to a stone eighty poles north of the east and west line, already drawn from the mouth of Goose Creek to the Eastern Branch, then east, parallel to the said east and west linc, to the Eastern Branch, then with the waters of the Eastern Branch, Potomac river and Rock Creek, to the beginning, which has since been called the city of Washington: And whereas it appears to this general assembly highly just and expedient, that all the lands within the said city should contribute, in due proportion, in the means which have already very greatly enhanced the value of the whole; that an incontrovertible title ought to be made to the purchasers, under public sanction; that allowing foreigners to hold land within the said territory, will greatly contribute to the improvement and population thereof; and that many temporary provisions will be necessary till congress exercise the jurisdiction and government over the said territory: And whereas, in the cession of this state heretofore made, of territory, for the government of the United States, the lines of such cession could not be particularly designated; and it being expedient and

proper that the same should be recognized in the acts of this state :

"2. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That all that part of the said territory, called Columbia, which lies within the limits of this state, shall be and the same is hereby acknowledged to be forever ceded and relinquished to the congress and government of the United States, in full and absolute right, and exclusive jurisdiction, as well of soil as of persons residing, or to reside thereon, pursuant to the tenor and effect of the eighth section of the first article of the constitution of government of the United States: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so constructed to vest in the United States any right of property in the soil, as to effect the rights of individuals therein, otherwise than the same shall or may be transferred by such individuals to the United States. And provided also, That the jurisdiction of the laws of this state, over the persons and property of individuals residing within the limits of the cession aforesaid, shall not cease or determine until congress shall, by law, provide for the government thereof, under their jurisdiction, in manner provided by the article of the constitution before recited.

"3. And be it enacted, That all the lands belonging to minors, persons absent out of the state, married women, or persons non compos mentis, or lands the property of this state, within the limits of Carrollsburgh and Hamburgh, shall be and are bereby subjected to the terms and conditions herein before recited, as to the lots where the proprietors thereof have agreed concerning the same;

and all the other lands, belonging as aforesaid, within the limits of the said city of Washington, shall be, and are hereby subjected to the same terms and conditions as the said Notley Young, Daniel Carroll, of Duddington, and others, have by their said agreements and deeds, subjected their lands to, and where no conveyances have been made, the legal estate and trust are hereby invested in the said Thomas Beall, son of George, and John Mackall Gantt, in the same manner as if each proprietor had been competent to make, and had made, a legal conveyance of his or her land, according to the form of those already mentioned, with proper acknowledgments of the execution thereof, and where necessary, of release of dower, and in every case where the proprietor is an infant, a married woman, insane, absent out of the state, or shall not attend on three months' advertisements of notice in the Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, the Maryland Herald, and in the Georgetown and Alexandria papers, so that allotment cannot take place by agreement, the commissioners aforesaid, or any two of them, may allot and assign the portion or share of such proprietor as near the old situation as may be, in Carrollsburgh and Hamburgh, and to the full value of what the party might claim under the terms before recited; and, as to the other lands within the said city, the commissioners aforesaid, or any two of them, shall make such allotment and assignment, within the lands belonging to the same person, in alternate lots, determining by lot or ballot, whether the party shall begin with the lowest number: Provided, That in the cases of coverture and infancy,