On the 12th of December, Governor Patrick Henry issued three
important sets of instructions in accordance with the provisions of
the Act creating the County of Illinois. As the signing of the bill
by the Speakers was mandatory after its passage, it is easy to
understand the issuance of these instructions previous to the
signing. It is almost impossible to conceive that Governor Henry,
who showed marked interest in the Western frontier, should first
have begun to issue orders at least six weeks after the county was
formed, as is implied by the date commonly given for its formation.
For the legislative history of the act, see "Jour. H. of Del.," Va.,
Oct. Sess., 1778, 65, 72, 79-80, 91, 96, 106-7; "Jour. of Senate,"
Va., Oct. Sess., 1778, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 70-1.

2 "Jour. H. of Del." Va., Oct. Sess., 1778, 72; "Hening's Statutes,"
IX., 553.

3 "Public Lands," II., 204, 206-9.

4 The Illinois and Wabash Land companies, which had several members in
common, united in 1780. After a long series of memorials to
Congress, the Supreme Court of the United States, in 1823, decided
that "a title to land, under grant to private individuals, made by
Indian tribes or nations, northwest of the river Ohio, in 1773 and
1775, can not be recognized in the courts of the United States"--8
"Wheaton," 543-605. In general see: "Pub. Lands," I., 24, 27, 72,
74, 160, 189, 301; II., 108-20, 138, 253; "Sen. Jour.," 1793-99,
317, 326; _Ibid._, "2d Cong.," 165; "Va. Calendar State Papers," I.,
314; "Jour. of Cong.," III., 676-7, 681; IV., 23; "An Account of the
Proceedings of the Ill. and Ouabache Land Companies," 1-55, Phil'a,
1796; "Memorial of the Ill. and Wabash Land Company," 1-26, Phil'a,
1797; "Memorial of the Ill. and Ouabache Land Companies," 1802,
1-20; "An Account of the Proceedings of the Ill. and Ouabache Land
Company," 1-74, Phil'a, 1803; "Memorial of the United Ill. and
Wabash Land Companies," 1-48, Baltimore, 1816. For a map of the
claims, see "Map of the State of Ky. with the Adjoining
Territories," 1794, pub. by H. D. Symonds; also a copy of the same
published by Smith, Reid and Wayland, in 1795; and "States of
America," by J. Russell, London, C. Dilly and G. G. & J. Robinson,
1799. The last map gives the claims of the Ill., Waba