Sale of Lands. SALE OF LANDS. I Sec. 15. No purchase or contract for the sale of lands in 2 this State, made since the fourteenth day of October, one 3 thousand seven hundred and seventy-five; or which may here4 after be made, of, or with the Indians, shall be valid, unless 5 made under the authority, and with the consent of the 6 Legislature. Old Colony Laws and Acts, etc. OLD COLONY LAWS AND ACTS OF THE LEGISLATURE COMMON LAW COMMISSIONERS TO BE APPOINTED—THEIR DUTIES. I Sec. 16. Such parts of the common law, and of the 'acts 2 of the Legislature of the Colony of New York, as together did 3 form the law of the said colony, on the nineteenth day of 4 April, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and the 5 resolutions of the Congress of the said colony, and of the con6 vention of the State of New York, in force on the twentieth 7 day of April, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven, 8 which have not since expired, or been repealed or altered; 9 and such acts of the Legislature of this State as are now in 10 force, shall be and continue the law of this State, subject to such alterations as the Legislature shall make concerning the 12 same. But all such parts of the common law, and such of the II 13 said acts, or parts thereof, as are repugnant to this Constitution, are hereby abrogated. 14 Grants of Land Since 1775-Prior Grants. GRANTS OF LAND SINCE 1775 — PRIOR GRANTS. I Sec. 17. All grants of land within this State, made by 2 the king of Great Britain, or persons acting under his 3 authority, after the fourteenth day of October, one thousand 4 seven hundred and seventy-five, shall be null and void; but 5 nothing contained in this Constitution shall affect any grants 6 of land within this State, made by the authority of the said 7 king or his predecessors, or shall annul any charters to bodies 8 politic or corporate, by him or them made, before that day; 9 or shall affect any such grants or charters since made by this 10 State, or by persons acting under its authority; or shall impair II the obligation of any debts contracted by the State, or indi12 viduals, or bodies corporate, or any other rights of property, 13 or any suits, actions, rights of action, or other proceedings in 14 courts of justice. Sec. Art. to give notice to said junior grantee, has never had, and shall not have standing or effect against such junior title, or color of title, acquired without such or actual notice of such prior claim of title or right; and no condition annexed to such grants, not archieved, or recorded, or occupied as aforesaid, has been, or ever shall be released or waived, but actual performance of all such conditions shall be proved by the person or persons claiming under such title or claim of right in order to main Sec. Art. Grants of Land Since 1775-Prior Grants. tain action thereon, and the 4. XIII. No claim of title or right to land, which issued prior to the 13th day of November, 1835, which has not been duly recorded in the county where the land was situated at the time of such record, or which has not been duly archived in the general land office, shall ever hereafter be deposited in the general land office, or recorded in this State, or delineated on the maps, or used as evidence in any of the courts of this State, and the same are stale claims; but this shall not affect such rights or presumptions as arise from actual possession. By the words "duly recorded," as used in sections 2 and 4 of this article, it is meant that such claim of title or right to land shall have been recorded in the proper office, and that mere errors in the certificate of registration, or informality, not affecting the fairness and good faith of the holder thereof, with which the record was made, shall not be held to vitiate such record. 8. XIII. All claims, locations, surveys, grants and titles of any kind, 2. which are declared null and void by the Constitution of the Republic or State of Texas, are. and the same shall remain forever null and void. All unsatisfied genuine land certificates barred by section 4, article 10, of the Constitution of 1869, by reason of the holders or owners thereof failing to have them surveyed and returned to the land office by the first day of January, 1875 are hereby revived. All unsatisfied genuine land certificates now in existence shall be surveyed and returned to the general land office within five years after the adoption of this Constitution, or be forever barred; and all genuine land certificates hereafter issued by the State shall be surveyed and returned to the general land office within five years after issuance, or be forever barred: Provided, That all genuine land certificates heretofore or here after issued shall be located, surveyed or patented only upon vacant and unappropriated public domain, and not upon any land titled or equitably owned under color of title from the sovereignty of the State, evidence of the appropriation of which is on the county records or in the general land office; or when the appropriation is evidenced by the occupation of the owner, or of some person holding for him. |