Series 85246

BRIGHAM CITY (UTAH). CITY RECORDER [ 2926 ]

TOWN SITE DEEDS, 1870-1877.
.25 cu. ft. and 1 microfilm reel

A separate agency history is available.

DESCRIPTION: The Brigham City recorder transcribed deeds conveying town site lots from the mayor to individual claimants. When the Brigham City town site was originally surveyed, lots were distributed by the Mormon Church. Since this distribution was not valid under federal law, Congressional and Territorial legislation were necessary to correct the problem. In March 1867, Congress passed "An Act for the Relief of the Inhabitants of Cities and Towns upon the Public Lands" (Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations, of the United States of America, vol. 14, chap. 177). This act provided that officials of incorporated towns should enter town site lands at the land office and purchase them for the benefit of all inhabitants. Pursuant to this law, the Territorial Legislature established further regulations (Compiled Laws of Utah, 1876. Chap 4). Within 30 days after making the entry, the mayor was required to give public notice and advertise the land he had entered. Each person claiming to be a rightful owner of any part of this land was required to present a claim to the probate court, which was to determine the validity of each claim. Once the probate court had validated a claim the mayor was required to issue a deed conveying that land to the claimant to whom it had been adjudged.

Each deed in this record book refers to the above mentioned acts of Congress and of the Territorial Legislature. Each deed states that the land is being conveyed by the mayor to a certain individual. Each deed describes the lot being transferred and tells the amount being paid for it. All deeds are signed by the mayor, the probate court judge and the city recorder.

ARRANGEMENT: Town site deeds were recorded chronologically by date recorded. More than half of them were recorded in 1870.

RESEARCH NOTE: In the back of this bound book someone has recorded a history of the Brigham City council from 1867 to 1888. It includes details about individuals elected or appointed to office in each year and also summarizes important actions taken by the council.

RELATED RECORDS: The brief history recorded in the back of this volume provides some information about the functioning of the Brigham City city council before the council began keeping minutes. City council MINUTES, series 3803, contain many resolutions concerning the appropriation of unclaimed town site lots for public purposes and concerning clarification of mistakes made in early deeds. The mayor's deeds included in this volume should have also been recorded by the Box Elder County recorder. A cursory examination of early DEEDS, series 6291, suggests that they may not have been recorded by the county.

FINDING AIDS: This volume includes an alphabetical index, which cites the name of the recipient and the page number on which the deed is recorded.

PROCESSING NOTE: Brigham City town site deeds, recorded in "City Record C," were microfilmed by Utah State Archives in April 1978 and processed by Rosemary Cundiff in August 2002.

PREFERRED CITATION: Cite the Utah State Archives and Records Service, the creating agency name, the series title, and the series number.