, shall proceed with the surveyor to lay off the said one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land on the northwest side of the Ohio river, the length of which shall not exceed double the breadth; and, after laying out one thousand acres at the most convenient place therein for a town, shall proceed to lay out and survey the residue, and divide the same by fair and equal lot among the claimants; but no lot or survey shall exceed five hundred acres. That the said commissioners, in their apportionments of the said land, shall govern themselves by the allowances made by law to the officers and soldiers in the Continental army. That the said commissioners shall, as soon as may be, after the said one hundred and forty-nine thousand acres shall be surveyed, cause a plat thereof, certified on oath, to be returned to the register's office, and thereupon a patent shall issue to the said commissioners or the survivors of them, who shall hold the same in trust for the respective claimants; and they, or the major part of them, shall thereafter, upon application, execute good and sufficient deeds for conveying the several portions of land to the said officers and soldiers."* (*Blackford's Indiana Reports, Vol. 1, Appendix.)
The land was selected on the north side of the Ohio river, extending from below the falls, a little below Silver creek, up the river to the upper end of Eighteen Mile Island. It is situated in Clark, Floyd and Scott counties, Indiana, but mainly in the first named county. It was, in early times, generally called "Illinois Grant," but now, more frequently, "Clark's Grant, '' or simply, "The Grant." The location of the land was vested by the law "in a majority of the officers," but the tract selected was always a favorite locality with General Clark, and his choice was adopted by common consent.
William Clark was appointed principal surveyor of the grant, and he proceeded with a corps of four assistant surveyors, Edmund Rogers, David Steel, Peter Catlet and Burwell Jackson, to lay it off into tracts, intended, generally to contain five hundred acres each, but some of the surveys were very carelessly made. The errors, however, were almost invariably on the side of the soldier, as the tracts often over-ran in quantity, and but seldom if ever fell below it.
Historians have been bothered a good deal to identify this William Clark. Some have supposed he was the William Clark, brother of General George Rogers Clark, who afterwards became very prominent in connection with Merriweather Lewis, in making the first exploration to the Pacific, under the auspices of President Jefferson; others have supposed he was the William Clark who was one of the first United States judges of Indiana Territory. He was neither. He was the William Clark heretofore referred to as the son of Benjamin Clark, and was the brother of Marston Green Clark, and cousin of George Rogers Clark. He was decidedly a man of affairs and of fine ability. He probably had more to do in formulating the boundaries and allotting the lands in Clark's Grant than any other one person. The office plat was his work, and, besides being principal surveyor, he was one of the commissioners, and sometimes clerk of the board. He was, in fact, the general utility man of the concern, and acquired a considerable estate in lands. His will has never been published as far as the author has been able to learn, and is given here in full, as it throws considerable light upon the members of his branch of the Clark family. He died in November, or early in December, 1791.
The will of William Clark, the Surveyor.
"In the name of God, amen. I, William Clark, of Jefferson county, and District of Kentucky, late of Clarksville, being of perfect memory and knowing the uncertainty of this life, do make and declare this to be my last will and testament in the manner following. First desiring that my body be decently interred at the discretion of my executors hereafter named. And as for my temporal estate after all my just debts are paid, I give, bequeath and dispose of in the following manner:
"I