Ohio History Journal

THE SALE OF THE WESTERN RESERVE.

 

AT the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the State of

Connecticut claimed the strip of land lying within her

charter limits, forty-one degrees and forty-two degrees

two minutes north latitude, extending from the Dela-

ware River to the Mississippi River. The State of Penn-

sylvania also claimed so much of this strip as lay within

her charter limits; that is, east of a meridian line five

degrees west of the Delaware. A bitter controversy between

the two States was decided by a Federal court, sitting

at Trenton, New Jersey, in 1782, in favor of Pennsylvania.

This decision left Connecticut in possession of, at least

claiming, that part of the belt lying west of the western

boundary of Pennsylvania. Then came on the cessions

of their Northwestern claims by the claimant States, New

York, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. On Sep-

tember 14, 1786, by her delegates in Congress, the last named

State executed a deed of release and cession, of which the

following is the material part:

"An ample deed of release and cession of all the right,

title, interest, jurisdiction, and claim of the State of Con-

necticut to certain western lands, beginning at the com-

pletion of the forty-first degree of north latitude, 120

miles west of the western boundary line of the Common-

wealth of Pennsylvania as now claimed by said Common-

wealth, and from  thence by a line drawn north parallel

to and 120 miles west of the said west line of Pennsyl-

vania, and to continue north until it comes to forty-two

degrees and two minutes north latitude. Whereby all the

right, title, interest, jurisdiction, and claim of the State

of Connecticut to the lands lying west of the said line to be

drawn as aforementioned 120 miles west of the western

boundary line of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as

now claimed by said Commonwealth, shall be included,

released, and ceded to the United States in Congress

assembled, for the common use and benefit of the said

States, Connecticut inclusive."

The effect of this release and cession was to leave Con-

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476    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

necticut in possession of the lands, bounded north and

south by the parallels of forty-two degrees two minutes,

or rather the international boundary line, and forty-one

degrees, and east and west by the western boundary line

of Pennsylvania and a line parallel with that boundary

and west of it 120 miles. In respect to these lands, Con-

necticut claimed all that she had released and ceded in

respect to the others, viz: the right, title, interest, and

jurisdiction, which is as exclusive and absolute a claim as

she could to-day make to the city of Hartford or to Tolland

county. In other words, the lands not released and ceded

to the States were, to all intents and purposes, a part of

the State of Connecticut. No inquiry will here be made

into the grounds or validity of this claim farther than

to say that the claim rested on the charter given by Charles

II in 1662 to the Governor and Company of Connecticut,

which granted that colony all the lands within her charter

limits west of Narragansett Bay to the South Sea; and

that if this charter entitled Connecticut to anything within

the boundaries of her western claim it entitled her to

everything, both soil and jurisdiction.  The lands that

Connecticut did not release and cede she was said to

"reserve"; and they soon came to be called "The West-

ern Reserve of Connecticut," "The Connecticut West-

ern Reserve," "The Western Reserve," and "New Con-

necticut." These names were all popular in their origin,

but they are found in historical and legal documents.

In 1786 the lands were uncultivated and waste, and in

sole possession of wild animals and wild men; they were

far beyond the farthest reach of western emigration; never-

theless the disposition to be made of them became at

once an interesting public question. An attempt to sell

a part of the lands was made the very month following the

execution of the deed of release and cession.

In October, 1786, the Legislature resolved to put the

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The Sale of the Western Reserve.        477

lands lying east of the Cuyahoga River, the Portage Path,

and the Tuscarawas River on the market.     The resolu-

tions then adopted, together with some amendments made

in May of the next year contained a full statement of the

method of surveys and sales. Some features of the plan

are worthy of note.

The lands should be sold for the public securities of the

day, except that $27 for each township was required in

specie, enough, it was supposed, to pay for the surveys.

They should not be sold for less than three shillings law-

ful money per acre, or fifty cents of our currency. The

territory should be surveyed into townships six miles

square, lying in tiers parallel with the western boundary

of Pennsylvania, and numbered from   east to west, one,

two, three, etc.  The townships should also be numbered

from south to north in the same way. Five hundred acres

of good land were to be reserved in every township to the

public for the support of the gospel ministry; the same

quantity for the support of schools; and 240 acres were to

be granted, in fee simple, to the first gospel minister who

should settle in the town. The sales should be made by

townships.  The Legislature also appointed a committee

of three persons to manage the surveys and sales, and

directed how the titles should be made.  It also guaran-

teed the preservation of the peace and good order of the

settlers under the authority of Connecticut, in a manner

consistent with the National Confederation, until the State

should resign its jurisdiction, and local government should

be duly established.  This feature of the plan is deserv-

ing of special notice.

No attempt was made to execute the surveys that the

resolutions of 1786-87 contemplated.  Nor was more than

one sale made in consequence of these resolutions.  This

was "The Salt Springs Tract" of 24,000 acres, lying in

the Mahoning Valley below Warren, sold to General Sam-

uel Holden Parsons, of Middletown, Connecticut, in 1788.

The tract was described in the deed as though the survey

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478   Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

was actually made; but the lines were first run by the

Connecticut Land Company several years later.   General

Parsons at once began to make sales of parts of his pur-

chase and to execute deeds. General Parsons was drowned

a few years later, leaving his business in some confusion,

and the adjustment of the rights growing out of his pur-

chase to the rights of the Connecticut Land Company gave

no little trouble. No settlements were then made on the

tract.

For a number of years the inhabitants of certain Con-

necticut towns that had suffered losses of property in the

incursions made by the British troops into the State dur-

ing the Revolutionary war, had been praying the General

Assembly for relief on the ground that they alone should

not be compelled to bear these losses.  The propriety of

this prayer had been recognized by an abatement of

taxes. Now the proposition was brought forward to grant

to the petitioners a part of the western lands.  Accord-

ingly, May 10, 1792, the Legislature adopted the following

preamble and resolution:

"Upon the memorial of the inhabitants of the towns

of Fairfield and Norwalk, showing to this Assembly that

many of the inhabitants of said towns, suffered great

losses by the devastations of the enemy during the late

war, praying a compensation therefor; and on report of a

committee appointed by this Assembly, at their sessions

held at Hartford, in May 1791, to ascertain from docu-

ments in the public offices, the amount of the losses of the

said memorialists, and others, under similar circum-

stances, which had been estimated conformably to acts of

this Legislature, being such as were occasioned by incur-

sions of the enemy during the late war, distinguishing

the losses of buildings and necessary furniture from those

of other articles by said documents, or otherwise; and

also, to ascertain the advancements which have been

made to the sufferers, by abatement of taxes or other-

wise; and report the same, with their opinion relative to

the ways and means of affording further relief, as per

memorial and report on file,

Resolved by this Assembly, That there be, and there here-

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The Sale of the Western Reserve.       479

 

by is, released and quit-claimed to the sufferers hereafter

named, or their legal representatives where they are dead,

and to their heirs and assigns forever, five hundred thousand

acres of the lands belonging to this State, lying west of

the State of Pennsblvania, and bounding northerly on

the shore of Lake Erie, beginning at the west line of

said lands, and extending eastward to a line running

northerly and southerly, parallel to the east line of said

tract of land belonging to this State, and extending the

whole width of said lands, and easterly, so far as to

make said quantity of five hundred thousand acres of

land exclusive of any lands within said bounds, if any

be, which may have been heretofore granted, to be divided

to and among the said sufferers, and their legal represent-

atives, where they are dead, in proportion to the several

sums annexed to their names, as follows in the annexed

list."

The resolution then enumerates the sufferers under their

respective towns, and assigns to each one his amount of

loss as the committee had found. In all there are 1870

persons, and an aggregate loss of £161.548 11s.  These

lands, known in Connecticut history as the " Sufferers

Lands," and in Ohio history as the "Fire Lands," are com-

prised, for the most part, in the present counties of Huron

and Erie. In time the sufferers were duly incorporated,

both in Connecticut and Ohio, with the title, "The Pro-

prietors of the Half Million Acres of Land lying south

of Lake Erie." In time the lands were duly surveyed

and divided among the proprietors. Connecticut granted

the sufferers only the soil, retaining the jurisdiction in her

own hands.

In May, 1793, the General Assembly appointed a com-

mittee of eight men, one from each county in the State,

to sell the remaining lands and to execute deeds for them,

accepting such proposals as not less than six of the

committee should consider advantageous, provided that

not more than six years time should be allowed for com-

pleting the payments, and that the deferred payments should

bear interest at six per cent. In October of the same year

the Assembly took the following action:

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480    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

"An Act Establishing Funds for the Support of the Min-

istry and Schools of Education.

"BE IT ENACTED, etc., That the moneys arising from

the sale of the territory belonging to the State, lying west

of the State of Pennsylvania, be and the same is hereby

established a perpetual fund, the interest whereof is granted

and shall be appropriated to the use and benefit of the

several ecclesiastical societies, churches, or congregations

of all denominations in this State, to be by them applied to

the support of their respective ministers or preachers of the

gospel and schools of education, under such rules and regula-

tions as shall be adopted by this or some future session of the

General Assembly."

At that time State and Church were considerably mixed

up in Connecticut; the "towns" and the "societies" or

churches were but different aspects of the same politico-

ecclesiastical corporations; and the Congregational churches

long had almost exclusive control of public education.

The act just quoted was preceded by a long and earnest

discussion in the Legislature; and it was followed by one

longer and more earnest throughout the State. This dis-

cussion had the effect to suspend the sale of the lands, and

the legislation of 1792 were finally repealed.

The General Assembly of the State, in May, 1795, adopted

the following resolution:

Resolved, by this Assembly, That a committee be appointed

to receive any proposals that may be made by any person

or persons, whether inhabitants of the United States or

others, for the purchase of the lands belonging to this

State lying west of the west line of Pennsylvania as

claimed by said State; and the said committee are hereby

fully authorized and empowered, in the name and behalf

of this State, to negotiate with any such person or

persons on the subject of any such proposals.     And,

also, to form and complete any contract or contracts for

the sale of said lands, and to make and execute, under

their hands and seals, to the purchaser or purchasers, a

deed or deeds, duly authenticated, quitting, in behalf of

this State, all right, title, and interest, juridicial and terri-

torial, in and to the said lands, to him or them, and to his

or their heirs forever. That before the executing of such

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The Sale of the Western Reserve.         481

 

deed or deeds, the purchaser or purchasers shall give their

personal note or bond, payable to the treasurer of this

State, for the purchase money, carrying an interest of six

per centum, payable annually, to commence from the

date thereof, or from  such future period, not exceeding

two years, from the date, as circumstances, in the opinion

of the committee, may require, and as may be agreed on

between them and the said purchaser or purchasers, with

good and sufficient sureties, inhabitants of this State, or

with sufficient deposit of bank or other stock of the United

States, or of the particular States, which note or bond

shall be taken payable at a period not more remote than

five years from the date; or, if by annual installments, so

that the last installment be payable within ten years from

the date, either in specie, or in six per cent., three per cent.,

or deferred stock of the United States, at the discretion of

the committee.   That if the committee shall find that it

will be most beneficial to the State or its citizens to form

several contracts for the sale of said lands, they shall not

consummate any of the said contracts apart by themselves

while the others lie in a train of negotiation only, but all

the contracts which taken together shall comprise the

whole quantity of the said lands shall be consummated

together, and the purchasers shall hold their respective

parts or proportions as tenants in common of the whole

tract or territory, and not in severalty.  That said com-

mittee, in whatever manner they shall find it best to sell

the said lands, whether by an entire contract or by several

contracts, shall in no case be at liberty to sell the whole

quantity for a principal sum less than one million of dol-

lars in specie, or if day of payment be given for a sum of

less value than one million of dollars in specie with inter-

est at six per cent. per annum from the time of such sale."

And the same session the following:

"This Assembly do appoint John Treadwell, James

Wadsworth, Marvin Wait, William Edmonds, Thomas

Grosvenor, Aaron Austin, Elijah Hubbard, and Sylvester

Gilbert, Esquires, a committee to negotiate a sale of the

western lands belonging to this State lying west of the

west line of Pennsylvania, as claimed by said State,

according to a resolve for that purpose, passed at the pres-

ent session of the General Assembly."

The Assembly also passed an act which repealed the

 

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482    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

act of October, 1792, devoting the proceeds of the lands

to the support of the ministry and education, and at the

same time passed a new act which established the future

school fund of the State. These are summaries of its three

principal sections:

1. That the principal sum obtained from  the sale of

the said lands shall be a perpetual fund for the purposes

hereinafter mentioned; and the interest arising therefrom

shall be appropriated to the support of schools in the sev-

eral societies constituted, or which shall be constituted, by

law, in certain local bounds within the State.

2. As the said interest becomes due from time to time,

it shall be paid over to the said societies, in their capacity

as school societies, according to the list of polls and valu-

able estates of such societies respectively.

3. Provided, that whenever such society shall, in a

legal meeting called for that sole purpose, by a two-thirds

vote of the legal voters present, request of the General As-

sembly liberty to improve their proportion of said inter-

est, or any part thereof, for the support of the Christian

ministers or the public worship of God, the Assembly

shall have full power to grant the request; and in case of

such grant, the school society shall pay over the amount

so granted to the religious societies, churches, or congre-

gations of all denominations of Christians within its lim-

its, to be proportioned to such societies, etc., according to

the list of their respective inhabitants or numbers which,

when such payments from time to time are made, shall

have been last perfected; and in case there shall be in

such school society any individuals who compose a part

only of any such religious society, church, or congrega-

tion, then the proportion of such individuals shall be paid

to the order of the body to which they belong.

In June of the same year the committee caused the

action of the Legislature and the lands to be advertised

in the newspapers of the State, and in Boston, Providence,

Albany, New York, and Philadelphia. In August the

committee met the second time, to see what response their

advertisements would call out. Speculation in wild lands

was epidemic in New England at the time, and a large

number of would-be purchasers flocked to Hartford. The

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The Sale of The Western Reserve.         483

 

report of the committee to the Legislature gives a full

history of its proceedings, and also enables one to see

what was going on among the bidders outside.

Elkanah   Wilson  offered  $1,000,000  for the lands;

Zephania Swift, for himself and associates, the same; Col.

Silas Pepoon, for himself and associates, $1,130,000; Hart,

Phelps, and others, $1,150,000; James Sullivan, $1,010,-

000; John Livingston, for himself and associates, $1,250,-

000.  Most of the bidders were Connecticut men, but

Livingston belonged to New York, and had acquired some

celebrity as a speculator in lands in the western part of

that State.  The Connecticut men seem     to have been

jealous of those competitors who were not such, and they

formed themselves into what the report calls the "State

Companies."   Livingston offered to let the Connecticut

men have a one-half interest in the purchase if his propo-

sition was accepted; and they offered him an interest in

the lands over and above 3,000,000 acres if he would

withdraw  from  the contest, provided they obtained the

lands. Livingston's offer was the largest one made, but

the committee feared that difficulties between him and the

Connecticut men would arise out of the moiety arrange-

ment, and also that he could not give such security for

the lands as they demanded.   Livingston finally withdrew

with the understanding that he should be admitted to a

share of the excess over 3,000,000 acres, leaving the Con-

necticut men a clear field.  The report contains the sig-

nificant remark that the State Companies seemed to com-

prise all the inhabitants of the State who wished to inter-

est themselves in the purchase, and that they appeared to

have formed a coalition.  In fact, the State Companies

had become confederated through representatives called

in the report "the agents."   The withdrawal of Living-

ston and the formation of the coalition put an end to all

competition.  Recognizing this fact, the committee disre-

garded the rule that it had adopted requiring all proposi-

sitions to be made in writing, and invited the agents to a

personal conference, which immediately took place.   In

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484    Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

this conference the agents submitted in writing an offer

of twelve hundred thousand dollars, payable in five years,

to bear interest at six per cent after two years from the

delivery of the deeds, with such security as the Legislature

required. The committee accepted the offer, and the

agents gave a bond for $100,000, binding themselves to

complete the purchase.   The seven agents were Oliver

Phelps, William   Hart, Samuel Mather, Elijah     Hyde,

Mathew Nicoll, Moses Cleaveland, Gideon Granger, jr.

Several of these are names well known to students of

early Western Reserve History.

The sale was made August 12.    On September 2, 1795,

the committee and the purchasers came together to com-

plete the sale and purchase. There was a good deal of

friction between the two parties, but this was allayed and

the transaction completed.   The printed form   of deed

used begins with reciting the resolutions adopted by the

Legislature in May, and then proceeds as follows:

"Now, know ye, that we, John Treadwell, James Wads-

worth, Marvin Wait, William Edmonds, Thomas Grosve-

nor, Aaron Austin, Elijah Hubbard, and Sylvester Gilbert,

being the committee in the said last recited resolve, in

pursuance of and agreeable to the trust reposed in us by

said recited resolve, having formed sundry contracts with

divers persons for the sale of said lands, which contracts,

taken together, compose the whole quantity of said lands,

for the consideration  of        dollars, secured  to be

paid agreeable to the terms of said resolves, to the full

satisfaction of said committee, by --------, of ------, in

the county of -------, in the State of -------, the receipt

of which is hereby acknowledged-Do by these presents, in

behalf of the State of Connecticut, grant to the said

-------, and to his heirs forever, all right, title and inter-

est, judicial and territorial, in and to twelve hun-

dred thousandths of the lands described in said first men-

tioned resolve, to be held by the said --------- as tenants in

common of said whole tract or territory with the other

purchasers, and not in severalty,"

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The Sale of the Western Reserve.      485

 

The seven agents, to whom the sale had been made,

were the representatives of what would to-day be called a

"syndicate," consisting, for the most part, of Connecticut

men, formed to buy and sell these lands. Their sole pur-

pose and object was speculative. The journal of the com-

mittee says thirty-six deeds were made, but only thirty-

five are found in the records of Trumbull county. Each

deed was made to what in law is called a "purchaser,"

but some of the purchasers were several different individ-

uals; besides, some of these represented others, whose

names do not appear on the list of purchasers or in the

deeds. The names of forty-eight men appear on the list,

and as many as fifty seven persons are said to have been

directly interested in the purchase. It will be seen that

each deed conveyed to the purchaser, whether one indi-

vidual or more, as many twelve-hundred-thousandths of

the whole tract of land as he had agreed to pay dollars to the

total purchase money, but in common with the other pur-

chasers, and not in severalty.

No money was paid to the State at the time. Each pur-

chaser gave his bond, with approved personal security, for

as many dollars as he received twelve-hundred-thousandths

of the land. The committee's report shows that the pur-

chasers had no small difficulty to furnish the security that

was demanded; and a careful examination of the bonds

made reveals the fact that the members of the syndicate

helped one another, the man who appears on one bond as

principal appearing on other bonds as a surety. Much

more of this helping one another was allowed than would

be considered business-like to-day, unless in a Western

town smitten  by a real estate mania.   However, the

committee say they are satisfied the security is for the

time sufficient, but do not know how it will be in

five years.  At a later time, however, the purchasers

secured the State by giving mortgages on the lands.

Such are the material facts in the history of the great-

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486   Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.

 

est land transaction in the history of Ohio, so far as quan-

tity of land sold is concerned. It was a large business

transaction of any kind for the time. Moreover, it was at

once followed by very interesting and important events,

as the settlement of the Western Reserve, and the establish-

ment of home government within its limits.

The Connecticut School Fund, which amounts to some-

thing more than two million dollars, consists wholly of

the proceeds of those lands and of capitalized interest.

Hon. C. D. Hine, the Secretary of the State Board of Ed-

ucation, questions the current opinion that this fund has

promoted the cause of public education. He said two or three

years ago:

"The School Fund, derived from the sale of Western

lands, yielded an income last year of $120,855, which

amounts to eighty cents for each person of the school age.

The average expense of educating each of these persons

throughout the State, is $10.31, so that the fund now fur-

nishes about eight per cent. of the total cost. In those

towns and cities where the people insist upon good schools,

no reliance is placed upon these permanent funds. Indeed,

the history of our State shows conclusively that at the

time when the fund was most productive, yielding $1.40

or $1.50 for each person of the school age, and when

towns depended upon it, as they generally did, for the support

of their schools, the schools themselves were poor and short.

in fact, this was the darkest period of our educational

experience. A very striking deterioration took place as

soon as the fund became productive and the income

began to be distributed.  Before that period schools had

been maintained at least six months, and at most nearly

the whole year, according to the size of the district.

After, and not long after, this new source of income

was opened, the usual length of the schools was reduced

to only three months, or just the time that this fund

would maintain the schools. The sums which came as

gratuities relieved the people of responsibility and dead-

ened their interest, until the schools were continued only

so long as the charity lasted.    Happily, the danger

from  this direction is passed and cannot return.  The

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The Sale of the Western Reserve.         487

 

fund has probably reached its greatest productiveness, and

the per capita will constantly decrease. The public schools

must draw their sustenance from the people who are directly

or indirectly benefited by them."1

B. A. HINSDALE.

1The Nation, No. 1076.

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