Georgia Land Lottery Grants to Revolutionary Veterans
Georgia's
Land Lottery (the method by which western lands were sold to Georgia's Land
Lottery (the method by which western lands were sold to settlers) stipulated
that every bachelor with three years residence in Georgia was allowed one draw
and every married man with like residence was allowed two draws. Under an act
of December 15, 1818, Revolutionary War veterans were given preference and
allowed two additional draws beginning in the Third Land Lottery of 1820.
The Act
of June 9, 1825, establishing the Fifth Land Lottery of 1827 gave additional
preference: Every veteran with three years residence in Georgia was allowed
three draws if unmarried or four draws if married, regardless of where he had
enlisted or in what regiment he had fought.
Exactly
the same preference was given to all Revolutionary veterans by the Act of
December 21, 1830, setting up the Sixth (Cherokee) Land Lottery of 1832.
Service In the United States armies was the criterion - the State of enlistment
and place of service was not material.
In each
case, the veteran was required to take an oath regarding his Revolutionary War
service.
Inasmuch
as every person claiming Revolutionary service was required to swear to his
claim before fit and proper persons appointed for that purpose by the Inferior
Court of the county of his residence, and inasmuch as those neighbors would
know the truth or falsity of every claim, there can be but little doubt that
every man styled or identified as "Rev. Sol.", "Rev.
S.", or "R. Sol." or "R. S." on the Land
Lottery lists and records was actually a veteran and former soldier of the
United States army in the War of the American evolution.
The
following list includes all of those veterans (2069 in number) who were
"fortunate drawers" in the Third (1820), Fifth (1827) and Sixth
(1832) Land Lotteries. The Georgia Archives does not have any record of other
Revolutionary veterans who may have entered their names for draws but were not
"fortunate drawers."
Under the
words "Fortunate Draw" the first column indicates the Land Lot
number and the second column indicates the District number. Where a number
occurs in the third column, it indicates the Section.
Hitz,
Alex M., comp. Authentic List of All Land Lottery Grants Made to Veterans of
the Revolutionary War by the State of Georgia. Atlanta: Secretary of State,
1966
ALSO SEE:
Georgia's Land Lottery -- 1805 - 1832
1827 Georgia Land Lottery Rules