1832 Land Lottery

1832 Land Lottery in Georgia

Authority: Act of December 21, 1830 (1830 Ga. Laws p. 127)

Year of Drawing: 1832

Counties

The original Cherokee Indian territory became Cherokee County by an Act of December 26, 1831. A law passed on December 3, 1832, divided original Cherokee County into ten counties: Cass (renamed Bartow), Cherokee, Cobb, Floyd, Forsyth, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Murray, Paulding, and Union. In the drawing of tickets and in the granting of the land, the area was treated only as Cherokee territory. It was divided between land lots distributed by the sixth land lottery and “gold” lots that were distributed by the seventh land lottery.

Sections and Land Districts

• The territory was so expansive that Cherokee County was divided into four sections, and each section was divided into districts. There were a total of 60 land districts, and each was divided into land lots. Fractional lots of 100 acres and more were counted as whole lots.

First Section Districts 6-10, 16-19.

Second Section Districts 4-14, 20, 22-27

Third Section Districts 5-16

Fourth Section Districts 4-15, 18-19

Size of Land Lots

• 160 acres

Grant Fee

• $18.00 per Land Lot

Person Entitled to Draw

• Bachelor, 18 years or over, 3-year residence in Georgia, citizen of the United States – 1 draw
• Married man with wife and/or minor son under 18 and/or unmarried daughter, 3-year residence in Georgia, citizen of United States – 2 draws
• Widow, 3-year residence in Georgia – 1 draw
• Wife and/or child, 3-year residence in Georgia, of husband and/or father absent from state for 3 years – 1 draw
• Family (one or two) of orphans under 18 years, residence since birth in state – 1 draw
• Family (three or more) of orphans under 18 years, residence since birth in state – 2 draws
• Widow, husband killed or died in Revolutionary War, War of 1812, or Indian Wars, 3-year residence in Georgia – 2 draws
• Orphan, father killed in War of 1812, or Indian War – 2 draws
• Wounded or disabled veteran of War of 1812 or Indian Wars, unable to work – 2 draws
• Veteran of Revolutionary War – 2 draws
• Veteran of Revolutionary War who had been a fortunate drawer in any previous lottery – 1 draw
• Child or children of a convict, 3-year residence in Georgia – 1 draw
• Male idiots, lunatics or insane, deaf and dumb, or blind, over 10 years and under 18 years, 3-year residence in Georgia – 1 draw
• Female idiots, insane or lunatics or deaf and dumb or blind, over 10 years, 3-year residence in Georgia – 1 draw
• Family (one or two) of illegitimates under 18 years, residence since birth in Georgia – 1 draw
• Family (three or more) of illegitimates under 18 years, residence since birth in Georgia – 2 draws

Persons Excluded

• Any fortunate drawer in any previous land lottery who has taken out a grant of said land lot.
• Any person who mined—or caused to be mined—gold, silver, or other metal in the Cherokee territory since June 1, 1830.
• Any person who has taken up residence in Cherokee territory.
• Any person who is a member of or concerned with “a horde of Thieves known as the Pony Club.”
• Any person who at any time was convicted of a felony in any court in Georgia.

How do I find the names of the winners?

• The Cherokee Land Lottery Containing a Numerical List of the Names of the Fortunate Drawers in Said Lottery with an Engraved Map of Each District, by James F. Smith; new material by Silas Emmett Lucas Jr.. (New York: Harper and Bros., 1838; repr. Greenville, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1991).