Description:

Clark George


George Rogers Clark, "Conqueror of the Old Northwest", Granted 500+ Acres in Virginia after Illinois Campaign


1p partially printed and partially handwritten document from the Virginia Land Office dated January 29, 1780. Signed "S: Carr D.R.L.O." in lower right corner. In good condition. Missing embossed red wax Land Office seal. Several professional repairs verso, including patch under seal remnants. Light to moderate discoloration throughout, with a few minor edge tears. Warrant measures 8.25" x 6.5".


Warrant No. 2134 granted "Five hundred and Sixty Acres of Land" to Revolutionary War militia commander George Rogers Clark (1752-1818) as compensation for "Recruiting his Batalion [sic]" for the Illinois Campaign. The land was a reward for Clark's efforts "in lieu of the bounty of 750 dollars & in Consideration of the Sum of Two hundred Twenty four pounds current Money".


The complete transcript is found below with unchanged spelling mistakes:

 


"To the principal Surveyor of any County within the Commonwealth of Virginia. This shall be your WARRANT to Survey and lay off in one or more Surveys, for George Rogers Clarke his Heirs or Assigns, the Quantity of Five hundred and Sixty Acres of Land, due unto the said Clarke, in trust for Recruiting his Batalion & in lieu of the bounty of 750 dollars & in Consideration of the Sum of Two hundred Twenty four pounds current Money paid into the publick Treasury; the Payment whereof to the Treasurer hath been duly certified by the Auditors of publick Accounts, and their Certificate received into the Land Office. GIVEN under my Hand, and the Seal of the said Office, on this Twenty ninth day of January in the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty. S: Carr D.R.L.O"
.

 


Clark was an energetic young militia leader who gained celebrity during the Revolutionary War. Virginia Governor Patrick Henry had appointed Clark Lieutenant Colonel in the Virginia militia in advance of Clark's ambitious campaign to overthrow British control of the Northwest Territory in modern day Illinois and Indiana. Clark recruited soldiers from Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina throughout 1778 and 1779, and together they secured three pivotal victories in the Illinois Campaign: Kaskaskia (1778), Cahokia (1778), and Vincennes (1779).

 

The Commonwealth of Virginia (then including parts of modern day Kentucky) granted Clark enormous quantities of land in return for Clark's recruiting efforts. The Kentucky Land Office records, digitized and available online, show that Clark was issued over 300 treasury warrants between October 1779 and January 1780. The average land allotment of each of these warrants was between 500-1000 acres each!

 

While the triad of Continental victories during the Illinois campaign secured him celebrity, Clark was plagued with financial difficulties during the rest of his life. He had spent his own money, as well as that of his friends, to pay for the Illinois Campaign when Virginia monies dried up, and he was never fully reimbursed.

 

Clark's legacy is nevertheless considerable: the Illinois Campaign challenged British control in the Northwest Territory, cemented the Continental-French military alliance, and resulted in huge land gains for colonial Virginia.

 


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