Partly-printed vellum DS as president, one page, 13 x 9.5, November 29, 1817. President James Monroe grants "John Van Allen Junior, late a private in Chapman's Company of the sixth Regiment of Infantry, a certain Tract of Land, containing One hundred and sixty Acres…in the Tract appropriated…for Military Bounties, in the Territory of Illinois." Boldly signed at the conclusion in ink by President James Monroe, and countersigned by Commissioner of the General Land Office Josiah Meigs. The white paper seal affixed to the lower left remains intact. Reverse bears a General Land Office tag offering “a Map of the Military Bounty Lands" for a price of one dollar. In very good to fine condition, with scattered light staining, heavier along the left edge, and a tape repair to the reverse.
Shortly before the War of 1812, the US Congress reserved an unorganized territory in what later became western Illinois so that quarter-sections of land could be promised to men who enlisted to fight against the British. That encouraged both enlistment and later settlement, although many soldiers eventually sold or traded their plots.
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