How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X

Manuscript Land Indenture
Vincennes, Knox County, Northwest Territory, March 14-15, 1799. Scallop-edge bifolium, approximately 12 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. (324 x 197 mm). Manuscript land indenture between Louis Edeline and his wife Marie, granting General Washington Johnston two arpents of land southwest of Vincennes, at the cost of $400; signed by Edeline, his wife (her mark), as well as witnesses Pierre Gamelin and Charles ____; paper seals intact on third-page. Creasing from old folds, several separations traversing same.

An early Northwest Territory land indenture, for land in Vincennes, Knox County (in current day Indiana), issued to General Washington Johnston (1776-1833).

Born in Culpepper County, Virginia, Johnston came to the Northwest Territory in 1793 at the age of 17, being one of the first Americans to permanently settle in the region. He later served as a private in General William Henry Harrison's Army at the Battle of Tippecanoe (Johnston's legal first name was "General"), and then as an aide to General John Gibson. Johnston studied law in Louisville, and became the first man to be admitted to the bar in the Northwest Territory. He became a member of the first Indiana territorial legislature on April 20, 1810, and was elected Speaker on behalf of the first legislature to ever propose Indiana statehood. Once a state, he served as a member of the state legislature for several terms and was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. He then served as auditor for the Indiana territory and became Treasurer once statehood was achieved. Previously, in 1808, as chairman of a committee debating the question of whether slavery would be allowed in the territory, he supported the anti-slavery platform, which was then unanimously adopted.

Louis Edeline (1730-99) was an early French settler of Vincennes. Born in Longueuil, New France (Canada), he moved to Detroit as a young man, and later married Philadelphia-born Marie-Joseph Thomas there, in 1759. Following the fall of Detroit to the British during the Seven Years' War, Edeline and his family moved to the remote outpost of Vincennes, where he became a leading town member. During the American Revolution, he signed an oath of allegiance with the Americans, and served under George Rogers Clarke in the siege of Fort Vincennes. He was then appointed one of Vincennes' four magistrates (alongside Pierre Gamelin, who has signed this indenture), a position he retained for the remainder of his life.