Lot 4

President John Quincy Adams Announces Public Land Sale in Palestine District of Illinois

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President John Quincy Adams Announces Public Land Sale in Palestine District of Illinois

Estimate: $300 - $400

Starting Bid: $100

(0 Bids)

April 23, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
Live Auction
Wilton, CT, US

Description:

John Quincy Adams
Washington, DC, July 14, 1827
President John Quincy Adams Announces Public Land Sale in Palestine District of Illinois
Printed document

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, Printed Document, Declaration of Public Land Sale in Palestine, Illinois, July 14, 1827, Washington, D.C. Co-signed in print by George Graham, Commissioner of the General Land Office. 1 p., 8" x 13.25". Edge tears; light water staining; foxing.

This broadside announces the sale of public lands in the Palestine District of Illinois in early November 1827. The Palestine District was located in southeastern Illinois along the Indiana border.

Excerpts
"In pursuance of law, I, John Quincy Adams, President of the United States, do hereby declare and make known, that a Public Sale will be held at the land Office at Palestine, in the State of Illinois, on the first Monday in November next, for the disposal of the Lands hereinafter designated, viz:
"For the sale of such Lands, not heretofore offered for sale, now situated in the Palestine District, in Illinois, as were purchased at the Land Office at Vincennes, in Indiana, and which have since been relinquished to the United States, under the provisions of the several acts of Congress, passed between the 2d day of March, 1821, and the 4th of May, 1826, inclusive, granting relief to the purchasers of the Public Lands, and providing for the extinguishment of the debt due by them; and also, such Lands as have been forfeited to the United States, under the heretofore existing laws...."

"The Lands will be offered in the order herein designated, commencing with the lowest number of section subject to sale in each Township.
"The Lands reserved by law for the use of Schools, or for other purposes, will be excluded from the sale—which will be kept open for six days, and no longer."

Historical Background
Land offices for the purchase of land in Illinois had been established at Vincennes, Indiana, and Kaskaskia, Illinois, as early as 1804. In 1812, Congress authorized another land office in Shawneetown, Illinois, and in 1816, another in Edwardsville, Illinois. The land office in Palestine, Illinois, about 25 miles north of Vincennes, Indiana, was created in 1820.

Shortly after its creation in 1820, the Palestine district reported that it had sold 714 acres but had an additional 2,880,720 acres that had been surveyed but not sold. In 1828, the Palestine land office made sales of public lands of $25,671.62, and the following year, receipts more than doubled to $59,026.81. Most of the land sold for an average of $1.25 per acre.

On July 14, 1827, President Adams wrote in his diary, "Mr. Graham brought me two Proclamations for Land Sales, which I signed, one for the 3d Monday of November, of Washington, Mississippi. The other for the first Monday of November, at Palestine, Illinois. I desired him to send me all the Land-Patents prepared for my signature, and about 1000 blanks to be signed before my Northern Excursion."

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) was born in Massachusetts, the son of future President John Adams. He accompanied his father on several diplomatic missions in the 1770s and 1780s and graduated from Harvard College in 1787. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1791. Adams served successively as minister to The Netherlands, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, and Britain, from 1794 to 1801 and from 1809 to 1817. He began his career as a moderate Federalist but switched to the Jeffersonian Republican Party around the year 1807. He helped negotiate the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812, and was a brilliant Secretary of State (1817-1825), taking the lead role in formulating the Monroe Doctrine. He won the election of 1824, which was decided in the House of Representatives because no candidate won a majority in the Electoral College. Adams's "deal" with House Speaker Henry Clay, whom he named Secretary of State, helped spark the formation of an opposition party around Andrew Jackson. John Quincy Adams served one largely frustrating term as president and lost in the election of 1828 to Andrew Jackson. Surprising most observers, Adams stood for election to the House of Representatives in 1831 and served seventeen memorable years, becoming a bulwark for civil liberties and a voice in the emerging anti-slavery movement. He defended the Amistad slaves before the Supreme Court in 1841 and died of a stroke on the floor of the House in 1848.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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    Dimensions:
  • 8" x 13.25"
  • Artist Name:
  • John Quincy Adams
  • Medium:
  • Printed document<br />

Accepted Forms of Payment:

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