The following are the names by which
the different bodies of these lands
are designated, on account of these
different forms of transfers,
to-wit:
1. Congress Lands |
11. Zane's Grant |
2. United States
Military |
12. Canal Lands |
3. Western Reserve |
13. Turnpike Lanes |
4. Fire Lands |
14. Maumee Road Lands |
5. Ohio Company's
Purchase |
15. School Lands |
6. Donation Tract |
16. College Lands |
7. Symme's Purchase |
17. Ministerial Lands |
8. Refugee Tract |
18. Moravian Lands. |
9. French Grant |
19. Salt Sections |
10. Dohrman's Grant |
20. Virginia Military
Land. |
CONGRESS LANDS.
Congress
Lanes are so called because they
were sold to purchasers by the
immediate agents of the government
conformably to laws enacted by Congress.
They are all regularly surveyed
townships of six miles square each,
under the authority and at the expense
of the national government. In
the eastern half of the State, that is,
east of the Scioto river, and on a
meridian lawn drawn three miles within
the eastern limits of Marion and
Crawford counties, the ranges are
counted from east to west, and the
numbers of the townships, from south
to north, beginning on the Ohio as a
base. But in the wet half of
the State, the ranges begin on the
State line of Indiana, and are
counted eastwardly, until they reach
the other ranges, which are numbered westwardly, as above mentioned,
excepting between the two Miami
rivers, where the ranges run from
south to north, and the numbers of
the townships from west to east,
that is, from the Great Miami as a
base. In the purchase made in
1818 north of the Greenville treaty
line, however, a "base line" is made
in about the middle of the tract, on
the parallel of the 41st degree
north latitude, from which the
townships are numbered both north
and south.
UNITED STATES
MILITARY LANDS.
Those lands are so called, from the
circumstance of their having been
appropriated by an act of Congress,
of the 1st of June 1793, to satisfy
certain claims of the officers and
soldiers of the revolutionary war.
The tract of country embracing these
lands is bounded as follows:
Beginning at the north-west corner
of the original seven ranges, thence
south fifty miles, thence west to
the Scioto river, thence up said
river to the Greenville treaty line,
thence north-easterly with said
line, to old Fort Lawrence on the
Tuscarawas river, thence due east to
the place of beginning, including a
tract of about 4,000 square miles,
of 2,560,000 acres of land. It
is, of course, bounded north by the
Greenville treaty line, east
by the seven ranges of townships,
south by the congress and refugee
lands, and west by the Scioto river.
These lands are surveyed into townships of five miles
square. The townships were
then again originally surveyed into
quarter townships, of two and a half
miles square, containing 4,000 acres
each. Subsequently, some of
these quarter townships were
subdivided into forty lots of 10_
acres each, for the accommodation of
those soldiers who held warrants for
100 acres only. And again,
after the time originally assigned
for the location of these warrants
had expired, certain quarter
townships, which had not been
located, were divided into sections
of one mile square each, and sold by
the general government like the main
body of congress lands.
WESTERN
RESERVE.
This land, as before slated, was
originally granted to Connecticut,
by Charles H., in 1662.
This territory is situated in the
northeast portion of the State,
between Lake Erie on the north,
Pennsylvania on the east, the
parallel of the 41st degree of
latitude on the south, and Sandusky
and Seneca counties on the west.
It extends 120 miles from east to
west, and will average about 50
miles north and south, though upon
the Pennsylvania line it is 68 miles
from north to south. The area
is about 3,800,000 acres. It
is surveyed into townships of five
miles square.
After the United States became a nation, the
interfering claims of the different
States in regard to the original
grants made by the Kings of England,
as before stated, were likely to
become a source of trouble, that
might terminate in disastrous
results. When Congress
undertook to obtain the titled from
the States, of their rights to these
territories, it was with difficulty
that the consent of Connecticut, to
the cession of her rights, could be
obtained. A compromise was
finally effected, by which
Connecticut retained ___ right to
the soil of these 3,800,000 acres,
while Congress obtained the right to
the Jurisdiciton over it. They
then united this tract to the
territory that now forms the State
of Ohio.
FIRE LANDS.
This is a tract of 781 square miles,
or 500,000 acres, in the
western part of the Reserve.
The name originated from the
circumstances of the State of
Connecticut having granted these
lands in 1792, as a donation to
certain sufferers by fire,
occasioned by the burning of the
property of her citizens by the
English during the Revolutionary
war, particularly at New London,
Fairfield and Norwalk. These
lands include the five western-most
ranges of the Western Reserve
townships. Lake Erie and
Sandusky Bay project so far south as
to the leave but the space of six
tiers and some fractions of
townships between them and the 41st
parallel, or a tract of about 30 by
27 miles in extent.
The tract is surveyed into townships of about five
miles square each, and these
townships are divided into four
quarters.
OHIO COMPANY'S LAND.
This is a body of land containing
about 1,500,000 acres, including
however, the donation tract, school
lands, &c., lying along the Ohio
river, and including Meigs, nearly
all of Athens, and a considerable
part of Washington and Gallia
counties. This tract was
purchased by the government, Oct.
27, 1787, by Manasseh
Cutler and Winthrop
Sargeant, from the
neighborhood of Salem,
Massachusetts, as agents for the
"Ohio Company" so called which had
been formed in Massachusetts, for
the purpose of a settlement in the
Ohio country. Only 964,285
acres were ultimately paid for, and,
of course, patented. This body
of land was then apportioned out
into 817 shares of 1,173 acres each,
and a town lot, of one-third of an
acre to each share. These
shares were made up to each
proprietor, in tracts, one of 640
acres, one of 262, one of 160, one
of 100, one of 8, one of 3 acres,
besides the before-mentioned town
lot.
Unfortunately for the Ohio Company, owning to their
want of topographical knowledge of
the country, the body of land
selected by them, with some partial
exceptions, is the most hilly and
sterile of any tract of land of
similar extent in the State.
|
A great portion of its first
settlers were revolutionary officers
and soldiers, with their families.
They made their first settlement on
the Ohio river, at the mouth of the
Muskingum, where they founded the
town of Marietta, which was the
first important settlement in the
State.
THE DONATION TRACT.
Is
a body of 100,000 acres set off in
the northern limits of the Ohio
Company's tract, and granted to them
by Congress, provided they should
obtain one actual settler, upon each
100 acres thereof, within five years
from the date of the grant, and that
so much of the 100,000 acres
aforesaid, as should not be taken
up, shall revert to the general
government.
This tract may, in some respects, be considered a part
of the Ohio Company's purchase.
It is situated in the northern
limits of Washington county.
It lies in an oblong shape,
extending nearly seventeen miles
from east to west, and about seven
and a half miles from north to
south.
SYMMES' PURCHASE
This was a tract of 311,682 acres of
land, in the south-western quarter
of the State, between the Great and
Little Miami rivers. It
borders on the Ohio river, a
distance of 27 miles, and extends so
far back from the latter between the
two Miamis, as to include the
quantity lf land just mentioned.
It was patented to John Cleves
Symmes in 1794, for 67 cents per
acre. Every section 16, or
mile square in each township, was
reserved by Congress for the use of
schools; and section 29 for the
support of religious institutions,
besides 15 acres around Fort
Washington in Cincinnati. This
tract of country is now one of the
most valuable in the State.
REFUGEE TRACT.
This a body of 100,000 acres of land
granted by Congress, Feb. 18, 1801,
to certain individuals who left the
British provinces during the
revolutionary war and espoused the
cause of freedom. It is a
narrow strip of country 4½
miles broad from north to south, and
extending eastward from the Scioto
river 48 miles at Columbus into
Muskingum county. It includes
portions of the counties of
Franklin, Fairfield, Perry, Licking
and Muskingum.
FRENCH GRANT.
This a tract of 24,000 acres of land
bordering on the Ohio river, in the
south-eastern portion of Scioto
county. It was granted by
Congress, in March, 1795, to a
number of French families, who lost
their lands at Gallipolis, by
invalid titles. It extends
from a point on the Ohio river, 1½
miles above, but opposite the mouth
of Little Sandy creek in Kentucky,
and extending eight miles in a
direct line down the river, and from
the two extremities of that line,
extending back at right angles
sufficiently far to include the
quantity of land required, which
exceeded four and a half iles back.
Twelve hundred acres additional were afterwards
granted, adjoining the above
mentioned tract, at its lower end,
toward the month of Little Scioto
river. Although the land in
question was originally granted
exclusively to Frenchman, not more
than eight or ten French families
permanently settled on it, the other
portion of the population being
composed of emigrants from Vermont,
New Hampshire and other States.
This tract is composed of the
township of Green in Scioto county.
DOHRMAN'S
GRANT.
This is a six mile square township
of land, containing 23,010 acres,
situated in the south-east portion
of Tuscarawas county. It was
given to Arnold Henry Dohrman,
a Portuguese merchant of Lisbon, by
act of Congress, of Feb. 27, 1801,
"in consideration of his having,
during the revolutionary war, given
shelter and aid to the American
cruisers and vessels of war."
MORAVIAN LANDS.
These are three several tracts of
4,000 acres each, originally granted
by the old continental Congress, in
July, 1787, and confirmed by the act
of Congress, of June 1, 1796, to the
Moravian brethren, at Bethlehem in
Pennsylvania, in trust and for the
use of the christianized Indians
living thereon. They are laid
out in nearly square forms, on the
Muskingum river, in what is now
Tuscarawas county. They are
called by the names of Schoenbrun?
Guadenhutten, and Salem tracts.
The Indians have long since left
them.
ZANE'S TRACTS.
These are three several tracts of
one mile square each - one on the
Muskingum river, which includes the
city of Zanesville - one at the
crossing of the Hocking river, on
which the town of Lancaster is land
out - and the third on the
left bank of the Scioto river,
opposite Chillicothe. They
were granted by Congress, in May,
1796, to Ebenezer Zane, on
condition that he should open a road
through them form Wheeling, Virginia
to Maysville, Kentucky.
There were also three other tracts, one mile square
each, granted to Isaac Zane,
in 1802, in consequence of his
having been taken prisoner by the
Indians when a boy, during the
revolutionary war, and living with
them most of his life, and having
during that time, performed many
acts of kindness and beneficences to
wards the American people.
These tracts are situated in
Champaign county, on King's creek,
from three to five miles north-west
of Urbana.
THE MAUMEE ROAD
LANDS.
These are a body of lands, averaging
two miles wide, lying along, one
mile on each side of the road from
the Maumee river at Perrysburg, to
the western limits of the Western
Reserve, a distance of about 46
miles, and comprising nearly 60,000
acres. They were originally
granted by the Indian owners, at the
treaty of Brownsville, in 1808, to
enable the United States to make a
road on the line just mentioned.
The general government never moved
in the business until February,
1823, when Congress
[Pg. 11]
passed an act, making over the
aforesaid lands to the State of
Ohio, provided she would, within
four years thereafter, make and keep
it in repair, a good road throughout
the aforesaid route of 46 miles.
This road the State government
opened out, obtained the land and
sold it.
TURNPIKE LANDS.
These are forty-nine sections,
amounting to 31,360 acres, situated
along the western side of the
Columbus and Sandusky turnpike, in
hte eastern parts of Seneca,
Crawford and Marion counties.
They were originally granted by an
act of Congress, on the 3d of March,
1827, and more especially, by an a
supplementary act the next year.
The considerations, for which these
lands were granted, were that the
ail stages, and all troops and
property of the United states, which
should ever be moved and transferred
along this road, should pass free of
toll.
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OHIO CANAL
LANDS.
Congress by an act,
passed on the 24th of May, 1828,
granted to the State of Ohio 300,000
acres of land to aid the State in
completing her canals, and also a
quantity “equal to one-half of five
sections in width on each side of
said canal,” (the Miami canal) so
far as it passes through the public
lands, north of the old Greenville
treaty line, and this is estimated
at 106 miles, thereby making the
quantity of mud thus granted 340,000
acres—or 810,000 acres in all.
provided that all troops and
property of the United States
transported thereon, shall pass free
of toll, as in the case of the
before mentioned turnpike lands.
For both t lie canal and turnpike lands, the Governor
made deeds to the individual
purchasers.
SCHOOL LANDS.
By compact between the United States
and the State of Ohio, when the
latter was admitted, it was
stipulated, for and in consideration
that the State should never tax the
Congress lands, until after they had
been sold five years, and
inconsideration that the public
lands would thereby more readily
sell, that the one thirty-sixth part
of all the territory included within
the limits of the State, should be
set apart, for the support of common
schools therein. And for the
purpose of getting at lands, which
should, a point of quality of soil,
be on an average with the whole of
the land in the country, they
decreed that at should be selected
by lot, in small tracts, that to
effect this fairly, it should
consist of section number 16, let
that section be good or bad, in
every township of Congress
land, and also in the Ohio Company's
land, and in Symmes'
purchases, all of which townships
are composed of thirty-six sections
each, and for the United States
Military Lands and Western Reserve,
a number of quarter township, two
and a half miles square each..
(being the smallest surveys then
made) should be selected by the
secretary of the Treasury, in
different places, throughout the
United States military tract,
equivalent in quality to the one
thirty-sixth part of those two
tracts respectively. And for
the Virginia military tract,
Congress enacted that a quantity of
land equal to the one thirty-sixth
part of the estimated quantity of
land contained therein, should be
selected by lot, in what was called
the "New Purchase," now comprising
Wayne, Richland, and part of Holmes
and Marion counties, in quarter
township tracts of three miles
square each. Most of these
selections were accordingly made,
but in some instances, by the
carelessness of the officers
conducting the sales, or from some
other cause, a few sections, 16, had
been sold, in which case, Congress,
when applied to, generally granted
other lands in lieu thereof, as for
instance, no section 16 was reserved
in Montgomery township, in which
Columbus is situated, and Congress
afterwards granted therefore,
section 21, in the
township cornering thereon to the
south-east. Furthermore, as
the Virginia military tract was
found to be much larger than was at
first supposed there was not really
school lands enough set off for this
district. It lacked two
quarter townships or 18 sections.
All these lands were vested in the Legislature, in
trust, for the people for school
purposes.
COLLEGE
TOWNSHIPS.
These lands are embraced in three
townships, six miles square each,
granted by Congress, two of them to
the Ohio Company, for the use of a
college to be established within
their purchase - and one for the use
of the inhabitants of Symmes'
purchase.
The two in the Ohio Company's purchase, are situated
near the center of Athens county,
and constitute a considerable part
of the permanent funds of the Ohio
University at Athens. That one
belonging to Symmes'
purchase, composes the north-western
township in Butler county. Its
income is appropriated to the Miami
University, which is erected
thereon. This university was
chartered in 1809, and located in
the town of Oxford, which is
situated in the foregoing township
of land, granted by Congress for its
support.
These lands were really no donation, but were a part of
the considerations inducing the Ohio
Company, and J. C. Symmes to
make their purchases.
MINISTERIAL
LANDS.
In
both the Ohio Company's and
Symmes purchase, every section
29 - equal to one thirty-sixth part
of every township - was reserved as
a permanent fund, for the support of
a settled minister. As the
purchasers of these two tracts came
from parts of the union where it was
customary and deemed necessary to
have a regular settled clergyman in
every town, they therefore
stipulated in their original
purchase, that a permanent fund, in
land, should thus be set apart for
this purpose. In no other part
of the State than in these two
purchases, are any lands set apart
of this purpose.
SALT SECTIONS.
Near the centre of Jackson county,
Congress originally reserved from
sale, thirty-six sections, or one
six mile square township around and
including what was called the Scioto
Salt Licks, also one quarter of a
five mile square township in what is
now Delaware county, in all,
forty-two and a quarter sections, or
27,040 acres. By an act of
Congress, of the 28th of December,
1824, the Legislature of Ohio was
authorized to sell these lands, and
apply the proceeds thereof, to such
literary purposes as the Legislature
may think proper, but to no other
purpose whatever.
VIRGINIA
MILITARY LANDS.
This is one of the largest and most
important reservations of lands made
by the States which ended territorities
to the general government.
This tract of land is situated between the Little Miami
and Scioto rivers. It embraces
within the limits, Adams, Brown,
Clermont, Clinton, Fayette,
Highland, Madison and Union
counties, entirely, and portions of
Marion, Delaware, Franklin,
Pickaway, Ross, Pike, Scioto,
Warren, Greene, Clark, Champaign,
Logan and Hardin. It embraces
a body of 6,570 square miles, or
4,201,800 acres of land.
As stated elsewhere, Virginia had, during the progress
of the revolutionary war, promised
here officers and soldiers serving
in the continental line, large
bounties in land. When she
ended her territory north-west of
the Ohio to the general government,
she reserved enough of the land to
fulfill her engagements with her
troops who had served in the
continental army. Hence the
name, "Virginia Military Lands."
Notwithstanding the United States had, after the
cession by the several States, of
their claims to the western
territory, made several treaties
with the Indians, by which their
titles to their lands seemed to have
been extinguished, yet the tribes
still maintained an attitude of
extreme and relentless hostility,
which continued until after Wayne's
victory in 1794, completely crushed
their hopes and humbled their pride.
It was while the Indians were still in this hostile
attitude, that the first lodgement
of the whites was made in Adams
county, at Manchester in 1791. |