Name/Title
Record, LegislativeEntry/Object ID
2010.017.0748Scope and Content
Official City of Benicia document in relation to Land Titles in Benicia. The date is January, 1867. It shows the names of the three trustees of Benicia:
Samuel C Gray
C.B. Houghton
E. H. von Pfister
Inside is written a note that it was "filed Dec 29th 1864 and is signed by H. B Sheldon Clerk and by F.P. Cosligan D Clk. The County Clerks Office is written on the bottom inside cover.
Also mentioned is Lansing B Mizner - Attorney for Trustees.
The text seems to be an affirmation of the legitimacy of the land titles held in the City of Benicia. The first part asks the US Senate and House to pass an act allowing the Trustees to enter at a minimum price the land on which said town of Benicia is situated. It then goes on to mention the Act of Congress dated 03/03/1863 which allowed other purchasers of the Soscol Ranch land to pay $1.25 per acre. This is in contrast to the land in the City of Benicia which the Act of 07/01/1864 seems to say should pay over $100 per acre.
In the back of the document are affidavits from John B Frisbie, WF Swasey (in the Arsenal), Henry F Teschemacher (mayor of San Francisco),and Joseph P Thompson, .
BHM has a ledger from 1866 that appears to be the registration of land claims in Benicia based on the decisions reached by Congress over the Soscol Ranch lands. (2014.099.0011)Collection
Benicia Historical Museum Collection
