Partly-printed vellum DS as president, one page, 12.25 x 14.75, December 27, 1798. President John Adams, "in consideration of military service performed by Ballard Smith (a Lieutenant three years) to the United States, in the Virginia Line on Continental Establishment," grants a plot of land to an assignee containing "one thousand acres situate between the little Miami and Sciota Rivers, north-west of the River Ohio." Signed at the conclusion by President Adams and Secretary of State Timothy Pickering, and countersigned on the reverse by Secretary of War James McHenry. The lower left corner retains the original white seal. In very good to fine condition, with scattered staining and toning, and Adams' signature rather light but fully legible.
The land referred to here, known as the Virginia Military District (in what is now Ohio), consisted of a tract in the southwestern part of the state that contained more than four million acres. General George Washington had enticed residents to join the Continental Army by offering them large bounties in land in exchange for either three years of service, or the duration of the war. After the Revolution, state officials used the land to award claims to veterans in exchange for their military service.
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