Madison County Illinois, Granite City Press Record - 1817 LAND GRANT IS FOUND ==================================================================== Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: © Joyce Holt Taylor ==================================================================== Granite City Press Record, May 21, 1979 Page 14 (newspaper out of business) 1817 LAND GRANT IS FOUND by Valerie Evenden "Mother's Day was a lovely day for Mrs. Wanda Gibson. All six of her children were home and the traditional day set aside to honor one's mother was spent in the usual way - opening personal gifts, eating a big Sunday dinner and watching the lively antics of her two grandsons. Among the gifts she received was an unwrapped present from a married son that may prove to be invaluable. Mrs. Gibson doesn't know its worth, money-wise, but its historical value is easy to imagine, if authenticated. The Mother's Day gift is a parchment document that grants 150 acres of land in the Territory of Illinois to a soldier named Willis Ramsey. The signature on the land grant is that of James Monroe, the fifth President of the infant United States of America, then in its 42nd year. The document is in surprisingly good condition, considering it was found in an out-of-the-way cupboard beneath a pile of rags. Most of it is legible, including the signature of President Monroe. The reverse side of the document contains readable data relating to the land grant's formal recording at the Recorder's Office, Edwardsville, dated 1818. The recording information includes the statement: "I certify that the written patent duty (was) recorded in my office in Book F1, 1818. The signature appears to be that of a Josiah or Isiah Randle. The mellowed parchment contains printing and written statements. A portion of it states: "Acts of Congress appropriating and granting land to the late Army of the United States (illegible) on and since the Sixth Day of May 1812. "Warrant in his favour No. 9287, there is granted unto the fair Willis Ramsey, a late Private in McIIhenney and Company of the 20th Regiment of Infantry, a certain tract of land containing 100 and 50 acres in the Northeast Quarter of Section 35 of Township 13 South in Range Two West in Tract appropriated (by the Acts aforesaid) for Militaries Bounties in the Territory of Illinois. In testimony whereof." The document states that it originates from the "General Land Office, Washington, D.C., dated the 15th Day of December in the Year of Our Lord 1817 and of the Independence of the United States of America the 42nd by the President (signed) James Monroe." A second signature, unlike President Monroe's bold hand is barely disernible but appears to be a Jerimah Weigo, or Welgo." Mrs. Gibson's married son who lives in Madison (Illinois) found the document by chance a few days before he delivered it to his mother as a gift. "He lives in an old house in Madison and he was cleaning off the back porch and saw these little doors on a cupboard in back of the bathroom to the outside," the mother said. She described the dwelling as the type that commonly is referred to as a "shotgun house." "He reached inside and found some shingles and other stuff, mostly old and dirty. He kept feeling around inside and pulling out more and more junk. Way back inside and around a ledge, he pulled out a bunch of old rags. The paper was underneath the rags," she said. The document wasn't the only "treasure" found in the cupboard that day. Mrs. Gibson also has a full one pound box of C&H Powdered Sugar. The deep and pale blue cardboard exterior, copyrighted in 1939 is unbroken and its contents are soft to the touch. A full can of orange pekoe Monarch Tea, manufactured in Chicago by Reid, Murdoch &Co. established 1853 was found, along with a half filled bottle of Creascomp, a patent medicine which promises relief for coughs and bronchial symptoms if ingested as directed by a specific number of drops. Although Mrs. Gibson's family has had no connection with Madison, oddly enough a relative by marriage some years past was named "Ramsey. "But they came from Tennessee," she said. She is interested in learning whether the document is authentic and is planning to seek some information from museums and the Edwardsville courthouse. The new owner also would like to know the land grant's historical and monetary value, but she really is at a loss to know where to start and she has little time to spend in such pursuits. Mrs. Gibson works at the Olin Corp. plant in East Alton, changing her work shift from days to afternoon and then midnights on a weekly basis. She has been employed by Olin for 13 years and is an ammunition inspector. Jack Gibson, her husband, also is an Olin employee. He has been at the plant for seven years. The Gibsons also have a son and daughter working for the same company and in the same factory. Among their six children, four still are living at home. Wanda Gibson works hard, as do the rest of her family members, with little time off for herself. "Maybe it will end up with us having to go to Washington to find out about the document," she said, laughing.