A Bit of History
Arrendondo Land Grant Settlement
1832
In March of 1832, over ten years after had Florida became a U.S. territory, in the case of United States vs. Arredondo, the United States Supreme Court finally resolved[1] the question of ownership of the Arrendondo land grant in Alachua and ruled in favor of Don Fernando De la Maza Arrendondo.
Of the objection that the land was within Indian boundaries, the court said, “Of the fact of such location there seems to be no doubt, as the center of the grant is the Indian town of Alachua.” The opinion issued by the court stated that Arrendondo and son wrongfully represented “that the said lands had been abandoned by the said Indians and were vacant” but in fact “in truth and in fact the said lands were not vacant nor abandoned by the said Indians, but that, on the contrary, the said Indians had constantly been, and still were, possessed of the said lands at the date of the said supposed grant, and that they had continually occupied the same, and had never left the said lands, unless they were driven off by a superior and lawless force, and then only temporarily.” But went on to say that “The title of the Indians to these lands is not a matter before us,” and then went on to explain why that it did not matter.
As far as the condition of having 200 families settled on the land within three years the court ruled, “we are abundantly satisfied that the establishment was commenced within the time required (which appears to have been extended for one year beyond that limited by the grant)”
Justice Thompson dissented in the decision due to the condition stated the settling families must be “Spanish” but there was a discrepancy in that the grant had two versions, one in Spanish and one in English and with one specifying “Spanish” and the other did not. The ruling stated that in February of 1822 William H. Simmions visited Alachua and “saw five or six houses; Wanton was there, and he understood had been upwards of a year. That on his first visit, there was no other person established there but Mr. Wanton and some negroes.”
Edward Wanton and Moses Levy were both greatly relieved with the Supreme Court ruling with both having substantial lands within the grant given to them by Arrendondo. Wanton’s and Micanopy settlements along with Moses Levy’s Pilgrimage settlement were instrumental in providing the needed people for the court ruling. Part of Moses Levy’s plan was to sell some of the land granted to him by Arrendondo to raise funds for his settlement and not being able to for so many years limited his funds. With the ownership resolved, Levy could now sell some of his holdings.
Well mostly, it would not be until 1916, 62 years after Moses Levy died, that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a proclamation signed by President Wilson issued that the track of land within the Arrendondo grant designated as Section 5 of Township 10 South, Range 21 East was owned by Moses Levy and his heirs. The tract of land happens to be the very heart of downtown Gainesville, then and still now, the county seat of Alachua. It is interesting that David Yulee (Levy) chose to have the first railroad run though the same very tract of land causing the creation of Gainesville as the new county seat.
Moses Levy Settlement
Final ruling signed by President Woodrow Wilson
[1] United States v. Arredondo, 31 U.S. 691 (1832)