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HENRY ECKFORD.

JANUARY 20, 1831.

Mr. WHITE, of New York, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which had been referred the case of Henry Eckford, made the following

REPORT:

The Commillee on Naval Affairs, to which was referred the petition. of Henry Eckford, respectfully report:

That they have had the same, and the papers relative to his claim, under consideration, and find that on the 17th day of February, 1829, the committee reported to the House thereon, that

"By the papers referred to the committee, it appears that Captain Isaac Chauncey, while in command at Sackett's Harbor during the late war, as the agent of the United States, and for the use thereof, and with the public money, purchased three pieces of land at Sackett's Harbor, and which were afterwards conveyed by him to the then Secretary of the Navy.

"By the extracts from the records of deeds in the county of Jefferson, it appears that Captain Chauncey obtained the following conveyances, on the said extracts numbered

6

"No. 6-By deed dated December 28, 1814, in consideration of $3000, of Navy Point,' so called, and whereon the military establishment of Fort Tompkins is erected.

"No. 7-May 10, 1814.

Consideration $193 75, of about three acres three rods and twenty perches, called Hospital Ground.'

"By the papers in the case these parcels of land appear to have been conveyed to Mr. Eckford for the original consideration paid therefor by Captain Chauncey, with interest thereon up to the time of purchase. One moiety was conveyed July 1, 1815, and the residue in 1820, by contract executed in 1822.

"The papers in this case contain the most satisfactory proof that the purchase of these two lots was made by Captain Chauncey, as the agent of the United States, for the use of the United States, and were in point of fact, paid for by the public money, and the money by him regularly charged in account against them, but which, as is alleged by him and the Secretary of the Navy, was disallowed by the proper accounting officers of the Govern

ment.

"By the report of Captain Woolsey to the Navy Commissioners, of August 24, 1816, it appears that, on Navy Point, he erected a small and cheap barrack before the war, and in 1812 the work called Fort Tompkins; that Captain Chauncey purchased the property, in aid of the military and naval operations of the Government; that, after this purchase, Captain Chauncey

'made some addition to the work, by erecting two flanks to the battery, raised the merlons, erected platforms, built the marine barracks, blockhouse, and a rigging-loft, and had the whole picketted and palisadoed in.' "On Navy Point is the New Orleans, covered with a superior framed building, affording store-room enough for whatever this station can possibly require; also, a joiner's and boat builder's shop, a mess house and blacksmith's shop. All the improvements on Navy point have been made by the Department. The buildings on the point are valued at not less than $16,000.' The value of the hospital is $3,500.'

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"The Secretary of the Navy, in his letter of January 7, 1829, to the Chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs, states, that Mr. Eckford built a house on part of the land, which [house] was purchased of him by Commodore Chauncey, to be used as a hospital, for the sum of $2,478, and paid on the 28th January, 1815.' As this is said in answer to an inquiry of the moneys paid by the United States to Mr. Eckford, the committee understand by it that the United States have paid Mr. Eckford for the hospital buildings, with the incidental right to use them as a hospital.

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All these facts were well known to Mr. Eckford at the time of his chase of these two lots. He built the ship standing on Navy point, and was familiarly acquainted with the progress of the public works at Sackett's Harbor. On his application to Congress for relief in the premises, the committee consider Mr. Eckford as a purchaser from the trustee of the United States of the trust estate, with a full knowledge of the trust, bound in equity and good conscience to execute that trust, and secure to the United States the use of the property in question, and entitled to all the benefits of a trustee holding this property for their use. These benefits are, on the execution of a proper conveyance, to receive of the United States the consideration money paid, and remaining unpaid, the interest thereon, and any actual expense which the trustee may have necessarily incurred in the care and preservaof the trust estate.

"The information in the possession of the committee may not enable them to ascertain the precise amounts of these moneys. But they can approximate to it, so as not to do injustice to Mr. Eckford.

"The original consideration money for Navy point and Hospital Ground, as above stated, is $3,193 75, the annual interest on which, at 7 per cent., the legal rate of interest in that State, $223 56; and by Mr. Eckford's account, it appears that the Secretary of the Navy has paid him, as for the rent of this property, at the rate of $290 per annum, for eight years, from January 1, 1815, to January 1, 1823, amounting to $2,320. As this supposed rent greatly exceeds the interest on the consideration for the period specified, it may be considered as a full compensation for such interest, and all reasonable charges for the care of the trust estate during the period alluded to. "The consideration money will then be "The interest thereon, from the 1st day of January, 1823, at 7 per cent. per annum, the legal rate of interest of the State where the estate is situate, to May 1, 1829, six years and four months, will be

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$3,193 75

1,415 88

$4,609 63

The committee are not informed that Mr. Eckford has been subject to any charges for the care of this land since January 1, 1823; and they con

sider the great rent paid for the then eight preceding years as an ample satis faction of all prior claims, if any, of that nature. They report a bill to enable the Secretary of the Navy, on the execution of a proper conveyance to the United States, to pay to Mr. Eckford the consideration money for these two lots of land, and the unpaid interest thereon.

"The papers laid before the committee do not contain such information as to enable the committee to decide on the subject of the claim for the property at Storrs' harbor. If, as the committee are informed, one of the public vessels has been built thereon with the consent of the owners, and is standing thereon, it would be just for the United States to pay a ground rent for so much of the land as has been, and is actually occupied by the United States. In his letter to the Secretary of the Navy of January 29, 1828, Mr. Eckford offers to sell his property at Storrs' harbor for $5,000, and describes it as three hundred acres of land, covered with heavy timber. At this rate, the land would average $163 per acre, a high price for wood land in that quarter of the country. The committee have no information of the precise quantity of the land actually occupied by the United States. A few acres would appear to be sufficient; and though they may be of greater than the average value of the lot, it appears that the value of the land occupied by the United States is small, and that, as it is a part of a wood lot, the rent would be quite small. The annual appropriations have and will put it in the power of the Secretary of the Navy to pay any such reasonable rent. On the propriety of the United States purchasing this land, the committee have not the information to enable them to judge.

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In relation to Navy point and Hospital Ground, the committee see no reason to change the opinion expressed in the above report adopted by them. The interest on the money has since accrued, and should be added to the amount then reported, and the account will then stand thus:

The consideration money for Navy point and Hospital Ground $3,193 75 · The interest thereon from January 1, 1823, at 7 per cent., the legal rate of interest of the State where the estate is situate, to May 1, 1829, six years and four months

Interest thereon for two years, ending May 1, 1831

Making together in full for that property

1,415 83

447 13

- $5,056 71

And for this amount they have provided in the bill now reported by them. In the papers now submitted to the committee, Mr. Eckford claims, as equitable against the Government of the United States, for the Cost of building dock at Sackett's Harbor, as per estimate Interest thereon from January, 1815, to January 1, 1830, fifteen years, at 6 per cent. per annum

Making together

$4,050 00

·

3,645 00

$7,695 00

If the value of the works for which this claim is asserted was proved to the satisfaction of the committee, the main difficulty to its allowance would still remain. It is known to the committee that Mr. Eckford was extensively employed in ship-building for the United States at Sackett's Harbor, during the late war. The dock in question appears to have been erected in the execution of his contracts with the Government. The committee have not been furnished with these contracts, but suppose the construction of

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this dock came within the intention of them, as a means necessary to enable him to build and launch the public vessels. The committee are satisfactorily informed that, at the close of the war, some of these building contracts were in execution, and the ship-building arrested by order of the Department. Mr. Eckford alleged that he should be able to complete the ships in about thirty or forty days, and claimed the same compensation as he would have been entitled to if he had completed the work; and on a reference of the whole matter to arbitration, his claim was awarded to him, and he paid accordingly. Without going into the particulars of the matters submitted, the award and payments, the committee regard the transaction as a settlement of Mr Eckford's claim for all work done at Sackett's Harbor in his ship-building operations for the United States, and, on the information they now possess, see no reason for the allowance of this part of the present claim

What is stated above in relation to the property at Storrs' harbor, is still true in the main. It appears now by Mr. Eckford's affidavit, that that property cost him

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And he charges interest on it from January 1, 1815, to January 1, 1830, fifteen years, at 6 per cent., or

$3,935 33

3,541 80

$7,477 13

But the committee find no proof that even as much as one acre of that woodlot was in the actual occupation of the United States; and it is quite certain that the ship there, and the yard necessary for building, could cover only a few acres. The reasonable rent for this ground should be small, and proportioned to the actual value of the ground actually occupied by the United States.

To settle this dispute in an equitable manner, and enable the Navy Department to purchase so much of the land, not exceeding ten acres, as may be necessary for naval purposes, the committee have reported a section in the bill for Mr. Eckford's relief, appropriating $2,500 for these purposes.

2d Session.

ELIZABETH OWENS.

JANUARY 24, 1831.

Printed by order of the House of Representatives,

Mr. WHITTLESEY, from the Committee of Claims, made the following

REPORT:

The Committee of Claims, to whom was referred the investigation of the claim of Elizabeth Owens, report:

That it appears that Elizabeth Owens, wife of William Owens, claims, as sole heir at law of James Shirley, a soldier in the service of the United States, and who was killed in descending the Appalachy river in 1817, the amount due him for his services, clothing, &c., at the time of his death. This sum, amounting to $110 78, was paid to the attorney of Martin Shirley in 1822, who claimed to be the sole heir of the said James Shirley. It appears that James Shirley, senior, of the State of South Carolina, married a wife, by whom he had a son, the above mentioned Martin Shirley; that he abandoned his wife and went into Tennessee, and lived with a woman, by whom he had two children, the said James Shirley, whose death has been mentioned, and Elizabeth Owens, the applicant; that Martin Shirley and James Shirley were both soldiers in the army of the United States, and formed an acquaintance with each other; that James Shirley, the younger, told Martin Shirley, that he had had a sister, who was then dead, and the two agreed that, in the event of the death of either, the other should be entitled to his pay. Martin Shirley having heared of the death of James, related the acquaintance he had formed with James, and the agreement they had made with each other, to his mother, Messeniah Shirley, who gave her affidavit before Judge Simpkins, on the 13th of April, 1822, that Martin Shirley was the sole heir of James Shirley, who died unmarried and without father or mother. The money due to James Shirley was obtained on this affidavit, and on the certificate of Captain Blackstone, that James Shirley was killed. Judge Simpkins appears to be satisfied of the falsity of the affidavit, but thinks Mrs. Shirley supposed she was stating the truth, and that Martin Shirley was honest in communicating to his mother what is stated above. It appears that F. Armstrong enlisted James Shirley in Tennessee, in the year 1814; that he was a minor, and lived with Mr. Eskridge, who was his guardian, and whose consent was obtained. It appears from the copy of a letter furnished by the Second Auditor, that Mr. Eskridge wrote to Mrs. Owens on the 21st of November 1821, that her brother James was dead, that she was the only heir, and would entitled to his land and what pay was due him. Mr. Eskridge testifies, he was acquainted with the parents of James Shirley,

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