AS TO THE RE-SURVEY ON THE COVE
From what Colo. Cresap has told him; perhaps Col. Cresap (to whom I have wrote often upon the Subject, but never received any answer) may have had the Resurvey made, & a proper Certificate return'd to the Land Office; in that Case, Mr. Lawson has Nothing more to do than to carry the Certificate from the Office to his Lordship's Agent, & pay Him the Caution Money, at the Rate of five pounds Sterling hund. Acres, for the vacant Land included therein, taking his Rect. & upon his Indorsation on the Certificate, that the Ld. proprietor's Dues are paid, a Patent will issue from the Land Office, which is to be granted, in the common Form, to George Mason his Heirs & Assigns—and there will be no Occasion to trouble either the present or the late governor with my letters etc. NB. The Patent must be signed by the Governor—the Certificate shou'd pass thro the Hands of the Examiner General before a Patent can issue; but I believe this is usually done imediatly after the Return to the Office. If the Certificate of Re-survey has been return'd more than two Years to the Office, & any Person, taking Advantage of the non-payment of the Caution Money, has lodged Information, or made Application for the Land, a Caveat must be entered in my Name agst. such Person's having a Patent, if you find it necessary; but as it will clearly appear from the Deputy Surveyor's Letter to me wth. the Warrant return'd to me unexecuted, that I have been guilty of no Omission; for being inform'd that no Certificate had been returned, or Re-survey made, I had no Foundation for paying, or tendering the Caution Money. Under these Circumstances, I apprehend a Patent will be granted me, notwithstanding any other Person's Application. If no Certificate of Re-survey has been return'd (which I believe will turn out to be the Case) then Mr. Lawson will apply to the present Governor, & Colo. Sharpe, & endeavour to get his Excellency Mr. Eden's order to the Land Office to renew the Warrant of Resurvey, or take such other Steps as shall appear best.
AS TO THE RE-SURVEY ON THE LIMESTONE ROCK
A Certificate of Re-survey has no Doubt been return'd to the Office, but how long I know not, as I never cou'd get a Copy of it from Surveyor until April 1769, as will appear by his Deputy's Letter to me, enclosing the Certificate of Limestone Rock, & the Warrant on the Cove; altho' I had often applyed for it; & when I did receive it, I found it was return'd in the name of Daniel Cresap; so that I was, & still am at a Loss [as to] what Application to make to the Office, or how to act with Regard to paying the Caution Money for the Vacant Land; which I shou'd not care to do, unless I can obtain the Patent in my own name. This I wrote to Col. Cresap about, & desired him to get a proper Assignment from his Son; & by what he has said to Colo. Mercer, perhaps he may have done so, & lodged it with the Certificate in the Land Office; if so, Mr. Lawson has nothing more to do but to pay the Caution Money, & take out the Patent in my Name, as before directed, in the Re surveys, on the Cove; unless some Person has already made Application for the non-payment of the Caution Money; in which Case it may be necessary to enter a Caveat in my Name agst. a Patent &c. but as the Surveyor has return'd the Resurvey in the Name of a Person in fact no Way concer'd or interested in it, I shou'd apprehend no such Advantage cou'd be taken of me, who am the Person really interested, & that under such Circumstances a Patent wou'd be granted to me, notwithstanding such an application. Indeed I am apt to believe that there has been a Mistake made either by the Surveyor, or some of the Clerks in the Land Office; for to the best of my Remembrance, the Warrant was actually renewed in my own Name, & if so, the Warrant ought to have issued in my Name, & the Certificate shou'd have been return'd accordingly; this the Office Books will shew, & if it shou'd prove so, I suppose the Surveyor must alter the Certificate. At all Events it will be proper to tender the Caution Money to his Lordship's Agent, & get him to indorse upon the Certificate that the Money has been tendered. Or perhaps it will be found necessary to lay what they call a Proclamation Warrant upon it:—Tho' upon the Whole, as these, & all the adjacent Lands are now included within the Bounds of his Lordship's new Mannor, I apprehend no Person can have made any Application on Account of the non-payment of the Caution Money, & that they still remain in the Power of the Government; & I make no Doubt, upon being truly inform'd of the Circumstances, the Judges of the Land Office will grant the Patents upon the Payment of the Lord Proprietor's Dues. Qn. if the two Years allowed for the Payment of the Caution Money shou'd not be computed from the time the Surveyor furnishes the Person with a Copy of the Certificate? I have not been furnished with a Copy of the Certificate more than one year.
NB. any Tobo. charges attending the Patents &c. may be sent against me into Charles County as usual, where I have an Estate, & to the Sherif of that County [where] all Officer's fees agst. me have been sent for many Years
NB. Neither of these Warrants [in] any way concern my Dispute with Doctr. Ross, being quite different Tracts of Land