Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, Circa 1852-1904
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http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/hb109nb422 Online items available Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1904 Finding Aid written by Michelle Morton and Marie Salta, with assistance from Dean C. Rowan and Randal Brandt The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California, 94720-6000 Phone: (510) 642-6481 Fax: (510) 642-7589 Email: [email protected] URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ © 2008, 2013 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Finding Aid to the Documents BANC MSS Land Case Files 1852-1892BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM 1 Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in Cali... Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1904 Collection Number: BANC MSS Land Case Files The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California Finding Aid Written By: Michelle Morton and Marie Salta, with assistance from Dean C. Rowan and Randal Brandt. Date Completed: March 2008 © 2008, 2013 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Collection Summary Collection Title: Documents pertaining to the adjudication of private land claims in California Date (inclusive): circa 1852-1904 Collection Number: BANC MSS Land Case Files 1852-1892 Microfilm: BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM Creators : United States. District Court (California) Extent: Number of containers: 857 Cases. 876 Portfolios. 6 volumes (linear feet: Approximately 75)Microfilm: 200 reels10 digital objects (1494 images) Repository: The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California, 94720-6000 Phone: (510) 642-6481 Fax: (510) 642-7589 Email: [email protected] URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ Abstract: In 1851 the U.S. Congress passed "An Act to Ascertain and Settle Private Land Claims in the State of California" which required all holders of Spanish and Mexican land grants to present their title for confirmation before the Board of California Land Commissioners. Land from titles not confirmed became part of the public domain. This Act placed the burden of proof of title on landholders and initiated a lengthy process of litigation that resulted in most Mexican Californians, or Californios, losing their titles. While 604 of the 813 claims brought before the Board were confirmed, most decisions were appealed to U.S. District Court and some on to U.S. Circuit Court and the Supreme Court. The confirmation process required lawyers, translators, and surveyors, and took an average of 17 years to resolve. The records of the District Court cases, the Land Case Files, were deposited on permanent loan in The Bancroft Library by the U.S. District Court in 1961. There are 857 total cases: Northern District Cases 1-458 and Southern District Cases 1-399 (see "Additional Notes on the Collection" for a note on case number discrepancies). Materials include transcripts, witness depositions, materials presented as evidence, and other legal documents. Most maps were transferred to the Map Collection of The Bancroft Library for separate cataloging (see: Maps of private land grant cases of California). Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English and Spanish Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. Access Portions of the collection are available on microfilm (see Container List). Please use microfilm when possible: BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM. Index to microfilm in Microfilm Binder 42. Publication Rights Finding Aid to the Documents BANC MSS Land Case Files 1852-1892BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM 2 Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in Cali... The Land Case Files were placed on permanent deposit in The Bancroft Library by the U.S. District Court in 1961. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the custodian of the physical items. Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, BANC MSS Land Case Files [case no.], The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Alternate Forms Available Portions of this collection are available on microfilm: BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM. Digital reproductions of selected cases are also available. Digital reproductions of diseños, plats, and surveys related to the Land Case Files are available through the Online Archive of California: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/hb8489p15p Additional Notes on Collection: The Land Case Files at the Bancroft Library are the cases presented in U.S. District Court in San Francisco between 1852 and 1892. Other terms used to describe cases related to Spanish and Mexican land titles include expediente (records of the original petition) and docket (cases presented before the Board of California Land Commissioners). While 857 case numbers were assigned in U.S. District Court (458 in the Northern District and 399 in the Southern District), the total number of Land Case Files at the Bancroft Library is 839 (442 in the Northern District and 397 in the Southern District). This discrepancy is the result of 17 cases transferred from one district to another and 1 clerical error. In some cases there remains a case portfolio with a record indicating the case has been transferred. Most of the diseños, plats, and surveys associated with the Land Case Files have been transferred to the Map Collection of The Bancroft Library for separate cataloguing (see Maps of private land grant cases of California). The alphabetical designations A-F indicate size, with A being the smallest and F the largest. Maps with an R designation are small maps that were not transferred or catalogued and remain in their respective Land Case Files. Bowman assigned certain maps with an S designation in his Index of Maps. S indicates the map is either duplicated or can only be found in the Spanish Archives California in the California State Archives. The Bancroft Library holds microfilm of the Spanish Archives of California: BANC MSS C-I 87 FILM. Original expediente material related to the land case claims can be found in the Cartographic Branch of the National Archives (Record Group 49.3.4). Other materials related to the Land Case Files can also be found in the National Archives, including the California Board of Land Commissioner Records (RG 49), Circuit Court Records (RG 21), and Records of the Attorney General related to Supreme Court cases (RG 60). Spanish Archives National Archives, Cartographic Branch (RG 49.3.4 [BLM Records]) The Private Land Claims Division of the Cartographic Branch of the National Archives holds original expediente material from the Spanish Archives that survived the 1906 earthquake and fire. Microfilm of Related Land Case Collections in other Repositories California Private Land Claim Dockets (BANC MSS C-I 100 FILM) Cases or dockets brought before the California Board of Land Commissioners. Includes Docket Register and Old Index organized by docket number (1-621). 118 reels. Finding aid in Microfilm Binder 42, photocopy shelved with Bowman Indexes. Originals in National Archives. California Board of Land Commissioners Records) Journals (1851-1856), 4 reels (BANC MSS 70/27c FILM) Letterbook (1852-1855), 1 reel (BANC MSS 70/66c FILM) Petitions (1852-1854), 1 reel (BANC MSS 70/28c FILM) Decisions (1853-1856), 3 reels (BANC MSS 70/29c FILM) Evidence, 21 reels (BANC MSS 69/127c FILM) Maps, 1 reel (BANC MSS 69/97c FILM) Originals in National Archives California Land Grant Documents (BANC MSS C-I 87 FILM). Spanish Archives of California (8 vols. in Spanish, 8 vols. in English, 2 vols of maps, I vol. Toma de razón). Transcriptions and translations of title papers and land claims made from Spanish and Mexican Records in the U.S. Finding Aid to the Documents BANC MSS Land Case Files 1852-1892BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM 3 Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in Cali... Surveyor General's Office in San Francisco for the California Legislature. Created by Rufus Hopkins and John Clar between 1866 and 1871. Includes expedientes, títulos, tomas de razón, and diseños. Finding aid in Microfilm Binder 47. Originals in California State Archives. Libro donde se asientan los despachos de terrenos … (BANC MSS C-A 162 FILM) The "lost" Toma de Razón officially recording land grants by Mexican governors. Originals in California State Library. Private Land Case Files and Index (RG 21 FILM [T-1207]) Ninety-four private land cases from the Circuit Court of the Northern District of California (1852-1910), arranged numerically by case number. 28 reels. Originals in National Archives. Department of Justice Records (RG 60 FILM) Records of the Office of U.S. Attorney General relating to California land claims. 6 reels. Originals in National Archives. Related Manuscript Collections in the Bancroft Library The following manuscript collections are directly related to land cases: California Land Miscellany (BANC MSS C-I 16) Deeds, agreements, notices, legal documents, and correspondence related to land tenure and the sale and transfer of property. While the largest collection is listed under BANC MSS C-I 16, other land materials can be found in the BANC MSS C-I call number range. Halleck, Peachy & Billings, 1852-1857 (BANC MSS C-B 421) A law firm involved in many land cases. This collection has an online finding aid: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf9r29p0xt J.N. Bowman papers (BANC MSS C-R 18) Bowman's research materials on land grants and California history.