Background
In 1779 the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia enacted a statute that authorized the sale of otherwise unowned land to private buyers. The act held that anyone who deposits 40 pounds into the state treasury is entitled to 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land West of the Ohio River. The purchaser would receive a receipt for the amount of land to which he was entitled. He would then take the receipt to the Land Office and enter a description of the specific land he wanted to claim. Finally the county surveyor would survey the land according the description entered into the records of the Land Office and record the survey in the county records.
In April 1780 Mason claimed 18,700 acres (76 km2) in two plats along a tributary of the Green River. In October of the same year he restated and clarified his claim with the surveyor. In April 1783 Wilson entered a claim and survey for 40,926 acres (165.62 km2) which included Mason's 8,400-acre (34 km2) plat. The survey of Mason's land was conducted in the Fall of 1783. Changes were made to the claim during the survey. Wilson filed suit to prevent the title to the land they both claimed transferring to Mason. He claimed that Mason's claim was too vague and that the survey was not conducted properly.
Read more about this topic: Wilson V. Mason
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