LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 December Signature Texana Auction #661  / 

56334

Rental of land of Fort Griffin, Texas to U.S.A.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Militaria Start Price:390.00 USD Estimated At:800.00 - 1,200.00 USD
Rental of land of Fort Griffin, Texas to U.S.A.
<B>Kentuckian Rents Part of the Land of Fort Griffin, Texas, to the United States</B></I>. Comprises contemporary copies of: <B>1)</B></I> Power of Attorney, two pages, 8" x 12.5", 1875; <B>2)</B></I> Certification of Power of Attorney, 1.5 pages, 8" x 12.5"; <B>3)</B></I> Indenture, five pages, 8" x 12.5". San Antonio, Texas, July 1, 1875. Signed "<I>S.B. Holabird</B></I>" as Deputy Quarter Master General U.S. Army and Chief Quarter Master Department of Texas, and "<I>D.M. Dowell/By G A Kirkland atty in fact</B></I>." All three documents are attached at top. Folded for filing, docketed "<I>Lease/of/Part of the site of/Fort Griffin, Texas/By/D.M. Dowell/To The/United States/July 1 1875/Filed Nov. 9th 1876/J N Masterton/Clerk</B></I>." Two endorsements have been affixed to the right of the docket: "<I>Headquarters Department of Texas/San Antonio, Texas, July 28, 1875/Approved</B></I>" signed "<I>J.H. Taylor</B></I>" as "<I>A.A. General/In the absence of and by direction/of the Brigadier General Commanding</B></I>," 3.25" x 1.75"; "Headquarters Military Division of the Missouri/Chicago, Aug. 9th 1875/Approved/By Command of Lieut. Gen. Sheridan" signed "<I>R.C. Drum</B></I>" as Assistant Adjutant General," 3" x 2.25'. The Power of Attorney is certified as being "<I>A True Copy</B></I>" by "<I>Placidus Ord</B></I>," 1st Lieutenant 19th Infantry, Aide-de-Camp. Upon graduation from West Point in 1849, <B>Samuel B. Holabird</B></I> (1826-1907) was assigned to the First Infantry then serving on the Rio Grande. In the Civil War, he saw action at Harpers Ferry. After serving as Chief Quarter Master of the Department of Texas, Holabird served as Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army from 1883-1890. <B>Joseph H. Taylor</B></I> (1836-1885), the nephew of Pres. Zachary Taylor and son-in-law of Gen. M.C. Meigs, served in Kansas, in the Utah expedition, and in a campaign in 1860 against the Kiowa and Comanche Indians of Colorado. He won the brevet of Major at Fair Oaks and that of Lieutenant Colonel at Antietam. Taylor served as Assistant Adjutant General from 1862 until his death. During the Mexican War, <B>Richard C. Drum</B></I> (1825-1909) fought at the siege of Vera Cruz, and was brevetted First Lieutenant for bravery at Chapultepec and the capture of Mexico City. He was Assistant Adjutant General from 1861 until 1880 when he became Adjutant General of the Army with the rank of Brigadier General. Both Taylor and Drum are buried in Arlington. In 1867, <B>Placidus Ord</B></I> (1821-1876), brother of Gen. E.O.C. Ord, was promoted to First Lieutenant by Pres. Andrew Johnson "for gallant and meritorious services in the siege of Vicksburg, Miss." He died after being thrown from a carriage by a runaway horse in San Antonio, Texas, a year after signing this document. The indenture is between General Holabird and D.M. Dowell of Louisville, Kentucky, who "does hereby dismiss, let, rent, and lease to the United States of America, all that tract of land situated upon the south bank of Clear Fork of Brazos river containing two hundred and twenty-one (221) acres more or less...and a portion of the land upon which the Military Post of Fort Griffin is situated...together with the privilege of using and hauling water therefrom...the yearly rent or sum of one hundred dollars..." Established in Shackelford County in 1867, Fort Griffin was a strategic unit in the string of border and frontier outposts defending Texas settlers against hostile Indians and outlaws. By 1879, the southern buffalo herd was depleted, eliminating the Indians' food supply. Fort Griffin was closed in 1881 and is today in Fort Griffin State Historical Park. Fine condition.<B>Condition Report:</B> <BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
Sign In to Bookmark Lot