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United States, Appellants, vs. Elizabeth Wiggins, Appellee, The U.S. 334 (1840)

handle is hein.slavery/ussccases0079 and id is 1 raw text is: 334 SUPREME COURT. THE UNITED STATES, APPELLANTS, VS. ELIZABETH WIGGINS, APPELLEE. A grant of land by Estrada, the Governor of East Florida, was made on the 1st of Au- gust, 1815, to Elizabeth Wiggins, on her petition, st6ting, that owing to the diminu- tion of trade, she will have to devote herself to the pursuits of the country. The grant was made for the quantity of land apportioned by the regulations of East Florida, to the number of the family of the grantee. It was regularly surveyed by the surveyor general, according to the petition and grant. No settlement or improvement was ever made by the grantee, or by any one acting for heron the prbperty. In 1831, Elizabeth Wiggins presented a petition to the Superior Courtof East Florida, praying for a con- firmation of the grant; and in July, 1838, the Court gave a decree in favour of the claimant. On an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, the decree of. the Superior Court of East Florida was reversed. The Court held, that by the regulations established on the 25th November, 1818, by Governor Coppinger, the grant had become void, because of the non-improvement, and the neglect to settle the land granted. The existence of a foreign law, especially when unwritten, is a fact to be proved like any other fact, by appropriate evidence. A copy of a decree by the governor of East Florida, granting land to a petitioner while Spain had possession of the territory, certified by tle secretary of the government to have been faithfully made from the original in the secretary's office, is evidence in the Courts of the United States. By the laws of Spain, prevailing in the province at that time, the secretary was the propler officer to give copies; and the law trusted him for this par- ticular purpose, so far as he acted under its authority. The original was confined to the public office. The cases of Owings vs. Hull, 9 Peters, 624. Percheman's case, 7 Peters, 51, The United States vs. Delespine, 12 Peters, 655, cited. Prima facie evidence of a fact, is such, as in judgment of law is sufficient to establish the fact, and if not rebutted, remains suffi6ient evidence of it. Kelly vs. Jackson, 6 Peters, 632, cited. The eighth article of the Florida treaty stipulates that, grants of land made by Spain in Florida, after the 24th of January, 1818, shall be ratified and confirmed to the persons in possession of the land, to the same extent that the same grants would be valid if the government of the territory had remained under the dominion of Spain. The government of the Unijed States may take advantage of the non-performance of the conditions prescribed bv the law relative to grants of land, if the treaty does not provide for the omission. In the cases of Arredondo, 6 Peters, 691, and Percheman, 7 Peters, 51, it was held, that the words in the Florida treaty shall be ratified and confirmed ; in reference to, perfect titles, should be construed, are ratified and confirmed. The object of the Court in these cases was to exempt them from the operation of the eighth article, for that they were perfect titles by the laws of Spain when the treaty was made; and that when the soil and sovereignty of Florida were ceded by the second article, private rights of pro- perty were, by implication, protected. By the law of nations, the rights to property are secured when territories are ceded; and to reconcile the eighth article of tile treaty with the law of nations, the Spanish side of the article was referred to in aid of the American gide. The Court held, that perfect titles, stood confirmed by the treaty; and must be so recognised by the United States, in our Courts. Perfect titles to lands, made by Spain in the territory of Florida before the 24th January, 1818, are intrinsically valid, and exempt from the provision of the eighth article of thie treaty; and they need no sanction from the legislative or judicial departments of the United States. The eighth article of the Florida treaty was intended to apply to claims to land whose validity depended on the pertiormance of conditions, in consideration of which the con- cessions had been made; and which must have been performed before Spain was bound to perfect the titles. The United States were bound after the cession of the country, to the same extent that Spain had been bound before the ratification of the treaty, to perfect them by legislation and adjudication.

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