Ohio History Journal

The Scioto Company and its Purchase.       109

 

 

THE SCIOTO COMPANY AND ITS PURCHASE.

The history of the founding of Gallipolis, now turning in

its career into its second century, is one of the most interesting

and at the same time one of the saddest studies in American

annals.  It is the story of a disappointing and impracticable

scheme; and were it not for the fact that the blood of its found-

ers, mingling with the American stock of their day and genera-

tion, has given strength, versatility and industry to the people

of Southern Ohio, the influence of the early settlers of Galli-

polis would be scarcely noticeable in the history of the State.

Understand me, that I do not underrate the probity or the gen-

ius of your fathers, but their influence by reason of the histori-

cal failure of the settlement, has been in the lines of private and

domestic life, rather than in shaping public affairs or influencing

the destiny of the State. A careful study of the elements

which made up the emigration from France one hundred years

ago and which resulted in the settlement whose centennial we

now celebrate, will readily develop the fact that it was an en-

tirely different stock from that which landed at Marietta or

which settled in the Western Reserve or which located in Cin-

cinnati and its surrounding settlements. The hardihood of the

pioneers who came into the territory of the Northwest from

New England, Pennsylvania and Virginia, was a capital stock in

all their enterprises which the more delicate and impractical

French never possessed. The men and women who came from

Paris and Lyons in 1790, under the flattering representations

presented to them by the leaders of American emigration in

France, were of good families, well educated and brilliant, and

adapted by their previous occupations, methods of living and

their surroundings to any other life then possible in the world,

rather than that of pioneers on the banks of the Ohio. But I

do not propose at this time to go into any discussion in relation

to the social conditions of the French settlers of Gallipolis until

we arrive at a better understanding of how and under what circum-

stances the emigration was accomplished, and to what end I de-

sire to set forth, as clearly and as extensively as is necessary in

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an historical address of this nature, the different events leading

up to the foundation of Gallipolis. Under what circumstances

and by what authority were these people brought from a foreign

land, and, under a system of emigration entirely foreign to

American ways at that time, made one of the foundation stones

in the structure of the great commonwealth of Ohio? In the

settlement of the territory of the Northwest, this instance of

Gallipolis is the only one where the pioneers were brought from

an alien clime. How this was done, why, and the results of

this interesting historical event in our State are worthy indeed

of remembrance, and deserve the careful investigation of the

student of history; and if to-day I go into historical details I

justify it on the ground that we are here for truth and facts

rather than rhetoric or eloquence. The evolution of the settle-

ment of the great territory of the Northwest, and the opening

out to emigration of the great broad acres of the Ohio Valley,

were not only required to attain development of the country for

the future, but it was absolutely necessary for the maintenance

of the government at that time. For a better understanding of

the Centennial which we to-day celebrate, let me review as con-

cisely as I can the methodsl [see Appendix No. 1] and the re-

sults of the distribution of the public lands here one hundred

years ago.

The close of the War of the Revolution left an army of

men, the defenders of the country, impoverished. They had

given their best blood to establish a nation in which they could

live as freemen, but that country could not repay them for their

services. Its wealth lay not in gold or silver or precious stones,

but in an unknown quantity-its western lands.

The formation of the Confederacy of the States was the first

step toward a government, but that confederation, built almost

entirely on the doctrine of state sovereignty, did not, and could

not, long survive. It could enlist an army, but it could not pay

it save by consent of the States. No national coin was then

issued and a national treasury was then practically unknown.

The soldiers, looking in vain to a helpless government, re-

membered the promises made them by the "Resolves of Con-

gress," which had, in the beginning of the struggle, in August

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The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.        111

 

and September, 1776, promised to each soldier a bounty in

lands, an acre of which it did not then actually possess.

With the close of conflict came the settlement of these

questions. Conservative opinions prevailed and by the cessions

of the various States holding claims to the territory northwest

of the Ohio river, beginning with New York in 1781, Congress

became peacefully and quietly possessed of a vast domain of

land, more than enough to supply all claims.

The derivation of a national revenue from the sales of pub-

lic lands had long been a favorite idea with Congress. In fact, the

idea prevailed long before an American government was antici-

pated. As early as February 2d, 1774, the Governor of the

New York colony was instructed by Earl Dartmouth regarding

"land sales" in the colony. Other colonial records show similar

action regarding the disposition of the lands for the benefit of

those holding title under kingly grants and charters, or for the

benefit of the Crown. July 31st, 1782, the Congress of the

Confederation took steps for the survey and disposition of the

vacant lands, the "back country," for the "common benefit"

and for support to the "public credit." A committee, repre-

senting every State, to whom the whole affair was referred, made

report September 5th of the same year, "that it is their opinion

that the western lands, if ceded to the United States, might

contribute toward a fund for paying the debts of the States."

On motion of Mr. Witherspoon the proposition was amended to

read, "it would be an important fund for the discharge of the

National debt."

Two years after, on April 5th, 1784, another grand com-

mittee reported that " Congress still considers vacant territory as

a capital resource."

The subject came up in one form or another until settled by

the cession by the States of all claims to the "back lands"-the

western country. Immediately following the cessions made by

Virginia, March 1st, 1784, and not awaiting final action by all

the States claiming possessions in the territory (the cessions were

New York, March 1st, 1781; Virginia, March 1st, 1784; Massa-

chusetts, April 18th, 1785; Connecticut, September 14th, 1786),

Congress on May 29th, 1785, passed an act providing for the

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survey and sale of the lands therein. Its main provisions were

that a surveyor should be appointed from each State by Congress,

or a committee of the States, who shall serve under the Geo-

grapher of the United States. Under his direction these sur-

veyors were to proceed to the territory and divide the same into

townships of six miles square by meridian and parallel lines

running due north and south. The first lines were to be estab-

lished by the geographer to begin at a point on the north bank

of the Ohio river "which shall be found to be due north from

the western boundary of Pennsylvania, and from thence west-

ward across the territory: and also a line to run north and south

from the same point;" the geographer to designate the "town-

ships or fractional parts of townships by numbers progressing

from south to north, always beginning each range with number

one; the ranges to be numbered from east to west, the first range

extending from the Ohio river to Lake Erie to be numbered

one."

The townships were to be divided into lots one mile square,

six hundred and forty acres, each in the same direction as the

the external lines and numbered from one to thirty-six, beginning

at the south-east corner of the section, running northwardly;

each succeeding range of lots to begin with the number next to

that with which the preceding one concluded. As soon as seven

ranges should be surveyed, plats were to be sent to the Board of

Treasury, and so on with each seven ranges of townships

throughout the territory. The Secretary of War was author-

ized to take by lot one-seventh part of the surveyed ranges for

the Continental army until all bounties could be satisfied. The

remainder was to be drawn for by the thirteen States according

to the quotas in the last preceding requisition on all States. The

Board of the Treasury was then to transmit to the commissioners

of the loan in the States plats of the quota of each State, which

States could then proceed to sell the allotments. It was also

ordered in the act that the sale should be in the following

manner: "The township or fractional part of a township, No. 1,

in the first range shall be sold entire; and No. 2, in the same

range, shall be sold by lots, and thus, in alternate order, through

the whole of the first range. Township No. 1 in the second



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The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.       113

 

range shall be sold by lots; and No. 2 in the same range, entire;

and so, in alternate order through the entire range," each

succeeding range alternating in townships and ranges as in the

first two ranges.

There was also reserved to the government lots 9, 11, 26 and

29, and for the use of schools lot No. 16. In addition to these

reservations others for various bounties, refugees etc., were also

set aside by this same act of Congress for various objects speci-

fied in the act.

The method of surveys of public lands into well de-

fined districts or townships on the meridian and parallel lines

is worthy of note here. It is the New England idea as against

the Southern or Virginia plan of "indiscriminate locations."

Under this plan a small quit-rent, as it were, of two cents per

acre was demanded of the crown or the proprietor, and anyone

could lay out and survey a tract, suiting himself as to location

and boundary, simply taking care not to overlap other claims

made in like manner. As care was not always exercised in this

particular, conflicting claims constantly arose, the disputes often

extending to several generations. The Virginia Military District

in Ohio is a good example of "indiscriminate locations," and it

is worthy of remark that more litigation over land titles and

boundaries has arisen in that section of Ohio than in all the

remainder of the State.

The township system originated undoubtedly in New Eng-

land. As early as June 17, 1732, the General Court of Massa-

chusetts granted six miles square for a township to be laid out in

a regular form by a surveyor and chainman under oath.

When the first "ordinance for disposing of the western

lands" was reported, it required the townships to be ten miles

square, each mile to be 6086 feet in length, thus dividing the

township into one hundred lots of 850 acres each. This ordi-

nance was not agreed to, and the next report, made April 26,

1785, proposed townships seven miles square, with sections of

640 acres each, forty-nine in a township. In this ordinance, one

section, 16, was set aside for school purposes, and one, 29, for

the support of religion. This latter provision was stricken out

by seventeen votes against, to six for, the measure; the vote

Vol. III-8

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being by states. The question was argued further in Congress

until May 20th, when the ordinance previously outlined was

agreed upon and adopted. Under this act titles could be ob-

tained only by entry in a government office of a tract surveyed

and entered for sale. This method is substantially the New

England idea, and for a system of distribution and ownership of

lands, has no equal. It is now the system of the National Gov-

ernment in all public land surveys.

Western lands being now open to entry and settlement, the

soldiers began again to press their claims on the attention of

Congress. A petition signed by two hundred and twenty-eight

officers in the Continental army was presented to that body.

This petition set forth:

"That, by an solution of the Honorable Congress passed

September 20th, 1776, and other subsequent resolves, the officers

and soldiers engaged for the war * * * * * are entitled

to receive certain grants of lands, according to their respective

grades, to be procured for them at the expense of the United

States.

"That your petitioners are informed that that tract of coun-

try bounded north on Lake Erie, east on Pennsylvania, south on

the river Ohio, west on a line beginning at that part of the Ohio

which lies twenty-four miles west of the river Scioto, thence

running north on a meridian line till it intersects with the river

Miami (Maumee) which falls into Lake Erie, thence down the

middle of that river to the lake, is a tract of country not claimed

as the property of, or in the jurisdiction of, any particular state

in the Union.

"That this country is of sufficient extent, the land of such

quality and situation, as may induce Congress to assign and

mark it out as a tract of territory suitable to form a distinct gov-

ernment (or colony of the United States) in time to be admitted

one of the Confederated States of the Union."

Shortly after this, General Rufus Putnam, in a letter to

General Washington, dated June 16th, 1783, emphasizes the

claims of the soldiers and urges upon the Commander-in-Chief

the importance of their petition. The General forcibly points

out the wisdom of planting such a colony in the western coun-

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The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.       115

 

try. He adduces many weighty reasons for such a step, and

solicits the aid of his superior officers and companions in arms.

This aid is freely and earnestly given, "but at this time," writes

General Washington in reply, " little can be expected until the

conflicting claims of the states to the territory be quieted."

This was done through the cessions by the states already men-

tioned and by the land ordinance of May 20th, 1785; they were,

as fast as surveyed, thrown open to settlement. The claim of

Connecticut comprised a large part of the tract of country in

the boundaries outlined in the officers' petition to Congress, and,

when the cession of that state was made, an extensive tract of

country known as the "Connecticut Western Reserve" was set

aside and the claims of the soldiers were satisfied elsewhere.

By the failure of Congress to satisfy the petition of the

soldiers the idea of settlement in a colony in the western

country was delayed, but not abandoned. A company, well

known in history as the "Ohio Company of Associates, was or-

ganized March 3rd, 1786, to buy of Congress land in the "Ohio

country," as it was commonly called. Payment was to be made

in Continental specie certificates, worth then less one-fifth their

face value. This company was organized by, and composed

mainly of, the officers who had before petitioned Congress for

lands to satisfy their claims. Gen. Rufus Putnam was the chief

promoter of the enterprise. Generals Samuel Parsons and Ben-

jamin Tupper, Rev. Manasseh Cutler, Winthrop Sargent, John

Mills and others, were among those who subscribed to the shares

of this company and became residents of the then western

country.

Gen. Parsons was sent to New York to secure from Con-

gress a tract of lands on the Ohio. He did not succeed, and Dr.

Cutler was appointed by the directors of the company to nego-

tiate for the proposed purchase. He reached New York early in

July, 1787, and at once began negotiations for a purchase. The

scheme was not entirely new and many members were opposed

to any such measure. The State that had sent them owned

large tracts of land which they were placing on the market, and

any plan of such magnitude as proposed by the Ohio Company

was, in the opinion of many delegates, detrimental to the pros-

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pects of those States disposing of their lands. Still the scheme

presented a solution to the serious problem of raising money,

not only to redeem the country's promises to its defenders, but

also a revenue for future needs.  This idea of a National

revenue from the sale of National lands had long engaged the

attention of Congress, and, when Dr. Cutler presented the plan

of the associates, though it met with some neglect and opposi-

tion, yet the time was opportune, and many friends came to its

support.

The intention of the Company was to purchase as much

land as one million dollars in continental certificates would buy.

Dr. Cutler on July 21st informed the members of the Congress

that if his offer was accepted he would extend the purchase to

the tenth township of the seventh range from the Ohio and to

the Scioto river inclusively, by which purchase some four mil-

lion dollars of the public debt could be extinguished. This, and

the prospect of a compact organized settlement, able to defend

itself and containing within itself the germs of a new State,

gave impetus to the plan.

The offer of Dr. Cutler had a marked effect on the tardy

members in Congress. Two days after, July 23d, a resolution

was adopted which authorized the Board of Treasury [see

Appendix No. 2] to contract with any person or persons for a

grant of a tract of land bounded east by the seven ranges; south

by the Ohio; and north by a line drawn from the northwest cor-

ner of the tenth township in the seventh range due west to the

Scioto river; the same tract which Dr. Cutler proposed to pur-

chase. In all, it contains about six million acres-more than

four times as much as the Ohio Company of Associates had pro-

posed to purchase.

Coupled with the Ohio Company's offer was the require-

ment that a law should be passed for the government of the

territory. Certain principles were presented which the associates

desired incorporated and without which they did not care to

purchase. The act, which was secured largely through the

efforts of Dr. Cutler, is known in history as the "Ordinance of

1787." It became the fundamental law of the territory. Its

cardinal principles were, lst.-The exclusion of slavery from

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Map showing the proposed purchase of Manassah Cutler and Associ- ates. The east boundary is the seven ranges, the south, the Ohio River; the west, the Scioto; the north, the north line of the tenth township from the Ohio River in the seven ranges.   (117)

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the territory forever; 2nd.--Provision for universal education;

3rd.-Freedom  in religious worship and opinion; 4th.-The

equal distribution of estates; and, 5th.-Protection in civil

liberty. These points were made in the form of a compact,

irrevocable save by consent of both Congress and the States

that might be formed in the territory. This phase of the

negotiation should be borne in mind; without the ordinance, the

associates would not have purchased the land; without the pur-

chase, the ordinance could not have been passed. With it,

settlers were assured of a stable government under which they

could live in security, and which, in itself, would be an induce-

ment for others to come. Three days after the resolution author-

izing the sale of land in the Ohio country, the Ohio Company

of Associates addressed a letter to the Board of Treasury offer-

ing to buy the entire tract. [See Appendix No. 3.]

During Dr. Cutler's negotiations with the Continental Con-

gress, he made the acquaintance of Colonel William Duer, a

wealthy citizen of New York, (secretary of the Board of Treas-

ury), a man much interested in the proposed settlement.

While matters were in doubt and when the Doctor had

about concluded to abandon negotiations with Congress and buy

of some one of the States, several of which offered lands on

generous conditions, "Colonel Duer," Dr. Cutler writes in his

journal, "came to me with proposals from a number of the

principal characters in the city to extend our contract and take

in another company, but that it should be kept a profound

secret. He explained the plan they had concerted, and offered

me generous conditions if I would accomplish the business for

them. The plan struck me agreeably. Sargent insisted on my

undertaking it, and both urged me not to think of giving the

matter up so soon. I was convinced it was best for me to hold

up the idea of giving up a contract with Congress and making a

contract with some of the States, which I did in the strongest

terms, and represented to the committee and to Duer and Sar-

gent, the difficulties in the way and the improbability of closing

a bargain when we were so far apart; and told them I conceived

it not worth while to say anything further on the subject. This

appeared to have the effect I wished. The committee were mor-

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The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.      119

 

tified and did not seem to know what to say, but still urged an-

other attempt. I left them in this state, but afterward explained

my views to Duer and Sargent, who fully approved my plan.

Promised Duer to consider his proposals."

After noting incidents of an excursion in which many prom-

inent actors in these affairs took part, the Doctor narrates further

in his diary that " * * * I spent the evening closeted with

Colonel Duer, and agreed to purchase more land if terms can be

obtained for another company, which will probably forward the

negotiations."

Several members of Congress called on the Doctor early the

next day and expressed much anxiety about the contract, and

assured him that Congress was more favorably inclined. Dr.

Cutler was indifferent, and intimated he intended to abandon his

efforts and leave. "At length," he says, " I told them that if

Congress would accede to the terms I had proposed I would ex-

tend the purchase to the tenth township from the Ohio, and to

the Scioto inclusively, by which Congress could pay near four

millions of the national debt."

After further work on the part of Dr. Cutler and his

associates, Congress passed an ordinance acceptable to the

associates. The Doctor, under date of Friday, July 27th,

writes, "  *  *  *  At half past three I was informed that

Congress had passed an ordinance on the terms stated in our

letter (of Tuesday, the 24th) without the least variation, and

that the Board of Treasury was directed to close the contract.

*   *  *   By this ordinance we obtained the grant of near five

million acres of land, amounting to three million and a half of

dollars, one million and a half of acres for the Ohio Company,

and the remainder for a private speculation, in which many of

the prominet characters in America are concerned; without con-

necting this speculation, similar terms and advantages could not

have been obtained for the Ohio company."

By the terms of this purchase, the Ohio Company's boundary

was fixed by the seven ranges on the east, the Ohio river on the

south, the west line of the seventeenth range (when surveyed)

on the west, and on the north by a line drawn from that range

to the seventh range, so as to include the required number of

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acres, allowances being made for the reservations (the sixteenth

section in every township for schools, two townships for a Uni-

versity, salt springs, etc., and bad lands, estimated to be per-

haps one-third of the whole). Had this been actually carried

out, the north line of the Ohio Company's purchase would have

been from near the north boundary of the fourth township in

the seventh range westward to the Scioto river. Surrounding

this on the west and north was the " private speculation" referred

to in Dr. Cutler's journal. He states that some five million

acres were obtained. In fact it was nearer six million. The

"private speculation" lay between the north and west lines of

the Ohio Company's purchase, and the north line of the tenth

township of the seventh range, and the west line of the seven-

teenth range and the Scioto river,--in all about four million

five hundred thousand acres.

The same day that Dr. Cutler and Winthrop Sargent con-

tracted with the Board of Treasury for the Ohio Company's

lands, they conveyed to Col. Duer one-half interest in this pur-

chase, and also gave him full power to negotiate a loan or sale in

Europe of the lands. Col. Duer advanced to the Ohio Company

$143,000 in public securities to apply on its contracts in its first

payments to Congress. The payments on the associates' pur-

chase were to be half a million dollars when the contracts were

executed, the remainder one month after the exterior line of the

contracts had been surveyed by the Geographer or other proper

officer of the United States.  The payments in the "private

speculation "- the remainder of the tract--were to be two-

thirds of a dollar per acre in public securities in four semi-annual

installments, the first falling due six months after the exterior

line of the tract had been surveyed by the government.

Shortly after this transaction, Cutler and Sargent conveyed

a little over three-fourths of their interest in about equal propor-

tions to General Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper, Samuel

H. Parsons, Colonel Richard Platt, Royal.Flint and Joel Barlow.

A company was at once formed for the disposal of these

lands. It was named the Scioto Company; the President was

Col. Duer; Richard Platt was Treasurer. The contract of sale

between Cutler and Sargent for the Ohio Company and Col. Duer

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The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.           121   for the Scioto Company recites that "--     This day," October 29, 1787, "it is agreed between the said Manasseh Cutler and Winthrop Sargent for themselves and others, their associates, William Duer for himself and others, his associates, their heirs

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and assigns, one equal moiety of the tract last described"

(i. e. that part bounded by the Scioto river on the west, the

north line of the tenth township in the seven ranges on the

north, and the Ohio Company's purchase and the Ohio river on

the south). Each party was equally interested in the disposal of

the lands, "either in Europe or America," and each was to share

equally in the profits or losses which "may accrue in attempting

to negotiate the sale or rentage of the same and in paying the

purchase money due to the United States.

"And it is further agreed upon and understood by the parties,

that . . . the tract be divided into thirty (30) equal shares or parts,

of which thirteen (13) shares are the property of William Duer

in which he may admit such associates as he may judge proper,

and (13) shares in like manner the property of the said Manasseh

Cutler and Winthrop Sargent. That the other four shares may

be disposed of in Europe at the discretion of an agent to be sent

there for the purpose of negotiating a sale or loan as above

mentioned, and if not so disposed of, to be equally divided among

the parties to this writing."

The contract further authorizes Col. Duer to negotiate a

loan upon or sell the lands in " Holland or such other parts of

Europe as may be found expedient, with power of appointing an

agent under him."

Looking about for the proper person to send abroad as their

agent, their choice fell upon Joel Barlow, a patriot and poet of

the Revolution. He had just published his famous poem, " The

Vision of Columbus," and was in the height of his literary

career. His capacity and education furnished sufficient passport

for his duties abroad. He had the confidence of his countrymen

at home, and his associates felt that he would be of great

advantage in representing their landed interests in France.

A modern historian has sneered at Barlow and his talents, and

has reflected upon the honesty of purpose of the originators of

the Scioto land purchase. The sneer and reflection are not

warranted by a close investigation of history. In May, 1788,

Barlow set out for France. He was a part owner by an assign-

ment from Colonel Duer of an interest in the Scioto contract,

and held at the same time the power of attorney from his

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The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.      123

 

associates, to make the proper transfer of the title to purchasers.

He was not successful at first. France was agitated by political

dissensions, and it was nearly a year before the results of his

efforts began to assume shape. In the summer of 1789, through

the association and assistance of one William Playfair, an Eng-

lishman, he organized a society in Paris, known as the "Society

of the Scioto," to which Mr. Barlow, acting for his associates

and principals, sold three millions of acres of land lying west of

the well-known Seventeenth Range of townships. This transfer

of three millions of acres was made in November, 1789. It was

provided that the payments were to begin in November, 1790,

and to end April 30, 1794. The purchase price was $1.14 per

acre. Associating with this company, and one of its members,

was M. Jean Antoine Chais De Soisson.

The Society of the Scioto immediately proceeded to business.

Mr. Barlow opened a land office at Paris and offered for sale the

three million acres at a French crown per acre. The tract of

land offered by Barlow fronted on the Ohio river. Its western

boundary was the Scioto; its eastern, a line running North of

the outlet of the Kanawha. On the plan of the tract a town was

laid out and called Gallipolis, nearly opposite the mouth of the

Kanawha. Maps of the surrounding country and of the Ohio

were prepared and made ready for the inspection of the pur-

chasers. The maps representing the country North of the Ohio

river, the Ohio country, were highly colored and gave in outline

the boundary of the Ohio company as well as the boundaries of

the Scioto company and a plat of three million acres sold to

Playfair and his associates in the Society of the Scioto.

The principal members of the Society or Company of the

Scioto were M. Gouy de Arsy, M. Barond, St. Didier, Maheas,

Guibert, Conquelon, Playfair, Barlow and Soisson. To this

company Barlow contracted to transfer the rights of his princi-

pals to the entire Scioto tract save that part directly north of the

Ohio Company's purchase, save so much of this part of the tract

as might be necessary to complete the three million acres. The

company was to make the deeds. In making this contract Bar-

low exhibited his powers of attorney, etc., thus apprising his

associates in the Scioto Company fully of his authority. They

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The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.      125

 

could not claim ignorance of what authority they could hold

under Barlow. The lands were to be located in equal tracts

west of the seventeenth range, which was then supposed to be

beyond the western boundary of the Ohio Company's purchase,

hence no conflict of location could, it was presumed, occur. An

agreement was drawn and properly signed, thus setting before

all parties a full understanding of the rights and authority of

each.

The Society appointed as attorneys to sell the lands, Play-

fair, Barlow and Soisson, and delegated to them "powers to re-

sell all or part of 3,000,000 acres at the best price, terms or con-

ditions of receiving the price thereof, or to assign it all or in

part, and to discharge the Society with respect to the Suer Bar-

low, to give for this purpose every acquittance, consent, subro-

gation, and to disseize the Society of its rights of property over

the objects of sale in favor of their purchasers, and generally to

do for the ease and accomplishment of the said sale." * * *

Mr. Barlow agreed to put the Society in possession of

the land in tracts less than the value of $500,000 each, there-

by exceeding his authority from his principals in word, but

had the money or securities been paid to the Treasury of

the United States, nothing would have been amiss. As the

French Society had examined fully Barlow's powers, and

knew  his authority, they could not plead ignorance, and

acting with full knowledge, must be held accountable. Mr.

Barlow did not send his principals a copy of the contract

he had made, as he should have done, but he wrote to

Colonel Duer, giving the fact of the sale, the price and

terms and times of payments. He also urged that the west

line of the seventeenth range be ascertained, and that the

consent of the United States be obtained to the sale of

the land in small tracts. Reference to the maps will show

that the idea held by Barlow and his associates, was, that

the west line of the seventeenth range would be at the mouth

of the Kanawha, and on this supposition he made his sales, and

he and his associates laid out a town-Gallipolis-ignorant of

the fact that they were selling the lands of the Ohio Company,

as the surveys, when made, showed their error, the seventeeth

• 17
 

126       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VoL. 3

 

range being further west than their supposition placed it. Sales

were rapidly made, some purchasers paying in full, some pare

tially, securing the rest by mortgage. Some made contracts for

lands, to be paid for at a future time. The deeds were usually

signed by William Playfair and Jean Antoine Chais, "agents

and attorneys for the Society of the Scioto." To some, Barlow

added his approval. One of these deeds is yet preserved in Gal-

lipolis, and, as the last connecting link in the chain from the

government to the emigrant, is herewith given in full, the trans-

lation being made by Judge S. N. Owen, lately of the Ohio

Supreme Court.

This deed is from "William Playfair, engineer, Englishman,

and M. de Soissons, an attorney, Member of Parliament," to one

of the purchasers of an hundred acre tract of the land of the

Scioto Company:

" Before the undersigned, the King's Counsellors, notaries

of the 'Chatelet de Paris,' appeared M. William Playfair, engi-

neer, Englishman,  *  *  *   and M. Jean Antoise Chais de

Soissons, attorney, Member of Parliament, * * * both cov-

enanting by these presents by virtue of the authority of the

Society organized under the name of the Scioto Company,

according to a title deed executed before M. Rameau and his

colleague, Notaries of Paris, August 3, 1789, for the purchase

made and evidenced by that deed by the said Society, of three

millions of English acres of land situated in North America be-

tween the Ohio and Scioto Rivers and more particularly desig-

nated by their boundaries, indicated in blue colors, by an en-

graved plat of the said three million acre tract of land, and

which was annexed to a memorandum of their purchase, re-

ceived by M. Farmain, one of the undersigned Notaries, and his

colleague, November 3, 1789, containing the powers aforesaid;

who by virtue of the said powers have by these presents sold,

and promised to guaranty from every kind of eviction and

molestation, to M. Jean Baptiste Parmantier, citizen of Paris,

residing at number 359 St. Martin Street, Parish of St. Laurent,

purchaser, the entire depth and surface of one hundred contigu-

ous English acres of land, to be taken in a square form and by

straight lines from the above mentioned three million acres, in

the fourth municipality of the eighteenth rank of the said

municipalities or (at the choice of said purchaser) in the fifth

municipality of the same rank of the said municipalities; the

survey of which one hundred acre tract shall be made at the ex-

• 18
 

The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.       127

 

pense of the said Scioto Company, and along whichsoever shore

it shall please the said purchaser to select the said one hundred

acres, saving, however, such portions as may have been taken

by virtue of anterior sales by said Scioto Company, and also sav-

ing such portions as may be destined by the American Congress

for public buildings or public highways.

"Comprised in the present sale are the trees of every species

growing upon the tract of land by these presents sold.

" Wherefore the said Sirs Playfair and Chais hereby confer

upon the said purchaser, and subrogate to him, all the rights of

ownership, titles, claims, and rights of action of the said Soci-

ety in and to the tract of land by these presents sold, yielding it

unto the profit of the said purchaser with all the rights therein

of said Society to the extent of the said quantity sold, and con-

senting that he place himself in full and peaceable possession

thereof when and as it shall seem to him good.

"The said purchaser and his successors to the ownership of

the land-the subject of this contract-shall enjoy the right to

transport each year to Europe or to the Islands of America, all

the big timber and the crops produced from the said land, pay-

ing only the freight and 'general average' according to the cus-

tom of, and as it shall be regulated by, the Captain 'bearer of

orders'--(le Capitaine porteur d'orders)-of the Scioto Com-

pany. The price of this sale and grant of right is agreed and

fixted at sixty pence per acre, which makes for the whole num-

ber of acres hereby sold a sum total of six thousand pence, upon

and in deduction of which sum the said purchaser has paid,

cash down, in legal tender, to M. Playfair, one of the said grant-

ors, who acknowledges it, three thousand pence for which this is

his receipt; and as to the residue of said purchase price, the

said purchaser binds himself to pay it to the said Scioto Com-

pany in two years from this day without interest, in guaranty of

which sum the land hereby sold shall remain, at the privilege of

said Company, expressly reserved, appropriated, obligated and

mortgaged, and without any appropriation derogatory thereto,

the said purchaser hereby thereunto appropriates, obligates and

mortgages all his property present and future.

" And in order the better to facilitate and secure the pay-

ment of the said sum of three thousand pence, the said pur-

chaser has signed for the benefit of the said Scioto Company,

delivered the same to M. Playfair, who acknowledges the same,

his promissory note for said last named sum, payable also in two

years from this day, which promissory note once discharged

shall consequently acquit and discharge what remains due upon

the present contract; which said note shall be the only requisite

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128       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

evidence of such payment by the said purchaser, who hereby

acknowledges that the said Playfair and Chaise have communi-

cated and remitted to him the substance of the deeds and powers

which vested in them the right to make the present sale, for the

execution of which the parties hereto have chosen their domicile

in the establishment wherein are the offices of the said Scioto

Company, Ninth Street of Petits champs, No. 162, which place,

however, we have chosen for the purpose of promising, contract-

ing, obligating, relinquishing, etc.

Done and executed at Paris at the residence of M. W. Play-

fair, the 19th of January, 1790, P. M., and have signed this

memorandum of contract.

Farmain, one of the undersigned Notaries,

(Not Legible.)                FARMAIN. [SEAL]"

[SEAL]

(Waxen Notarial Seal not Legible.)

These deeds were accepted without question by many. The

desire for a change, the unsettled condition of France, the

brilliant prospects held out to the emigrant, all combined to

make the sales, once begun, an easy matter, and with little

thought of the future, many prepared to go.

On the 8th of December, 1789, Mr. Barlow wrote Col. Duer

that "everything was progressing well." On the 29th, that he

expected to make the first payment, so that Col. Duer could pay

Congress $500,000 when the first payment came due, and also

that 500,000 acres would be concluded in January. The same

date he authorized a draft on himself of 200,000 livres, "to be

used in defraying the expenses of the first settlers." January

25th, 1790, he authorized another draft of 100,000 livres. "Don't

fail," he wrote, " to put the people in possession of their lands.

I pledge the faith of an honest man for the payment. If neces-

sary, draw on me for a second 100,000 livres, at sight." By the

middle of February, 1790, over 100,000 acres had been sold, and

several hundred emigrants had sailed. Their first landing place,

Alexandria, on the Potomac.

An examination of Barlow's letters discloses no reason for

the failure to make the payment promised December 31, 1789,

and the authority to draw for additional sums was evidence to

Col. Duer, that if Barlow had not the money he had the

securities.

• 20
 

The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.       129

 

Mr. Barlow's letter to Col. Duer showed that he had ex-

ceeded his authority by permitting the Society to give deeds,

and that he erred in his calculations made from Thomas Hutchin's

map in locating the western boundary of the seventeenth range

as intersecting the Ohio River, opposite the mouth of the Big

Kanawha. The survey, when made, located the line farther

west, and hence the lands sold by Barlow and his associates were

in the Ohio Company's purchase. This defect might have been

remedied had Barlow met the drafts he authorized, as the Ohio

Company was anxious not only to settle its own lands, but it

was interested in the success of the Society of the Scioto, and

was willing to do all it could to advance its interests. The con-

nection between the Ohio Company and Col. Duer's control of

the Scioto Company, caused some criticisms; but the prompt

return of Dr. Cutler and his associates, and their concise state-

ments regarding all the transaction, gave general satisfaction.

To meet the unexpected condition of affairs, Col. Duer,

Royal Flint and Andrew Cragie united as "Trustees for the

Scioto Associates."  It was still supposed that Barlow held

securities for all his sales, and as Dr. Cutler, neither for himself

or for any of the Ohio Associates, was able to advance any

money, they surrendered part of their interest, for which a

power of attorney was given Col. Duer; the remainder to be

exempt from assessments and to be indemnified from loss.

The Secretary of the United States Treasury had, in Jan-

uary, 1790, recommended to Congress a reduction in the price

per acre of public lands, payable in certificates of indebtedness

or in lawful money of a coin value. It became evident, how-

ever, that no action would be taken then. "On the 23d of

April, Gen. Rufus Putnam and Manasseh Cutler, as directors of

the Ohio Company and with its approval, made a contract of

sale to Duer, Flint and Cragie, trustees for the proprietors

of the Scioto lands, of the lands represented by the 148 for-

feited shares to the Ohio Company for the non-payment, and

located in a compact body, 196,544 acres fronting on the Ohio

River between a point opposite the mouth of the Big Kanawha

and the true line of the seventeenth range, the western boundary

of the Ohio Company's purchase. The Scioto Associates also

Vol. III-9

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130        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

released to the Ohio Company the right of pre-emption or pur-

chase of that part of their lands lying immediately north of its

purchase. The contract was of great value to both companies.

It gave the Scioto Company control of every acre sold in France,

and enabled it to proceed upon a basis that, at that time, gave

assurance of solving the difficulties about its transactions.

Under instructions from Col. Duer, Gen. Putnam employed

Maj. John Burnham to enlist in New England a company of

men to build huts for the French emigrants, now ready to cross

the mountains. It is necessary to touch upon this part of the

history. It is fully told elsewhere, and gives in detail the work

of Maj. Burnham and his men. Neither is it necessary to re-

count here the history of these emigrants, nor to detail how

they found on reaching Alexandria that the deeds they held were

valueless, the country filled with Indians, and that there were

lands in plenty in Virginia. All these facts are told by Col.

Vance in his address and repetition is not necessary here. The

result of all this was that Col. Duer and his associates learned

through the misguided and wronged emigrants, more fully of the

methods of the French Society in Paris and of their loose

methods of business. On the third of March, Mr. Barlow

wrote to Col. Duer that he had surrendered his contract with the

French Society, and was making the sales himself, though

under its name. M, Bourogne, Count De Barth's son, one of

the principal men in the colony of emigrants, and who had been

instrumental in securing a settlement with Col. Duer and asso-

ciates satisfactory to the emigrants, and who had learned, when

in New York, of the efforts to secure a reduction in the price of

public lands, sailed for France in July, and there made a con-

tract with Barlow, on behalf of himself, his father, M. Coquet,

Playfair and General Duvalette. This association was to assume

all obligations of the former French Company. It was to make

no payments until three month's after the sale of each 300,000

acres; no limitations were to be made in location of lands. It

agreed to pay Barlow 50,000 livres for the American proprietors,

and authorized him to borrow on its credit 100,000 livres, also to

be advanced to the American proprietors. The whole trans-

action was a sharp move on the part of the new Company,

• 22
 

The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.        131

 

assuring itself a handsome profit, at the same time free from

any risk. Mr. Barlow again appears to have implicitly trusted

those with whom he dealt, despite the fact he had not been able

to fulfill any of his promises to Col. Duer, made "upon the

promise of an honest man." Thus his final transaction only

complicated matters more, and emphasized the fact that as a

business man he was no success, and no match for the sharp and

unscrupulous Englishman and his French associates. Had he

followed his instructions, secured into his own hands the pro-

ceeds of all sales, and promptly remitted them to the Scioto

associates in America, all would have been well, and this melan-

choly chapter in Ohio's early annals would have never been

written.

As soon as Col. Duer learned of this new contract, he sent

Col. Benjamin Walker to France with "full powers of attorney

to displace Barlow or to act as joint agent with him; directed

him to refuse ratification of this last contract; examine fully

into the accounts; obtain proceeds of sales; take entire charge

of affairs if he deemed advisable, and endeavor to sell the con-

tract as originally designed. Col. Duer wrote to Barlow that he,

alone, was responsible to the French people to whom he had

given or permitted to be given deals for the lands, and to the

Scioto Associates, whose interests he had so shamefully mis-

managed; upbraiding him in the severest terms for the manner

in which he had conducted this business; for failure to give his

principals definite information; and for permitting bills drawn

on him that he had authorized, to be dishonored. Col. Duer

was in a most embarrassing position by the non-payment of these

drafts. He reminded Barlow of the pledges he had made on

the faith of an honest man' for their payment, and urged him to

make good the amount and save him (Duer) from ruin."*

When Colonel Walker reached France he found, as he sus-

pected, that Playfair held the proceeds of all sales, and from him

nothing, save a long letter of explanation; could be obtained.

Finding nothing could be gained by persuasion, he placed the

affairs of the Society in the hands of Colonel Rochefontaine,

* Life of Manasseh Cutler, page 516.

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132       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VoL 3

 

gave public notice that no sales from Playfair would be valid,

and returned to America in April, 1791.

In the meantime, in October, 1790, one hundred years ago

the first attachment of emigrants reached the new settlement

prepared for them on the banks of the Ohio, and began their

untried life on an American frontier. Colonel Duer, who now

had the contract to supply the troops in the territory, opened a

store in Gallipolis, placed Mr. John Matthews in charge, accept-

ing in payment for the necessities of life whatever the colonists

could give, even to deeds for their lots. By the next spring,

however, they began to cultivate crops, chiefly the grape, and

ere long Mr. Matthews was able to write Colonel Duer that a

brighter prospect appeared.

But in April a financial panic came in New York. Colonel

Duer failed, and was imprisoned for debt. Flint and Cragie also

failed, and the notes given for the 148 forfeited shares of the

Ohio Company were surrendered; the contract of sale conceded,

and with it the only title the French emigrant could have. Col.

Platt, Treasurer of the Ohio Company, went down in the general

ruin, heavily indebted to the Company. On the 21st of April,

1792, Congress passed an act confirming the "Ohio Company's

title to 750,000 acres extending along the Ohio River from the

west line of the seventh range to the west boundary of the fif-

teenth, including therein the site of Gallipolis. An additional

grant of 214,285 acres was made to be paid for in bounty rights,

and 100,000 acres were granted on the north to be held in trust

to be deeded in tracts of 100 acres each to actual settlers. Both

these grants were to adjoin the original 750,000 acre tract. The

bill, as passed, made it impossible to give to the French settlers

tracts of land at or near Gallipolis.

The failure of Colonel Duer and his associates threw the

French settlers wholly upon their own resources. Mr. Peter S.

Duponceau, a lawyer and Frenchman of eminence residing in

Philadelphia, and who came to America in 1777, became inter-

ested in the fate of his countrymen, prepared a petition and pre-

sented it to Congress in 1794, asking the relief of the settlers.

Some attempts were made to settle the matter, but nothing was,

• 24
 

The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.        133

 

at that time, accomplished. In January, 1795, the donation

tract of the Ohio Company was thrown open to settlers, and the

French emigrants were invited to participate in its benefits. Not

many did so; the majority who remained seeming to prefer to

cling to the original settlement at Gallipolis in the hope that

their titles would yet be perfected to them. Mr. Duponceau

again pressed his petition to the attention of Congress, and in

March, 1795, that body made a grant of 24,000 acres of land on

the bank of the Ohio River, not far from the outlet of the

Scioto, and each settler in Gallipolis, on November 1st, of that

year, and over eighteen years of age, was entitled to a share in

the distribution. Four thousand acres were given to M. Ger-

vais, who had been instrumental in securing the services of Mr.

Duponceau, and to whom much credit is due for the settlement

of the problem. The remainder, 20,000 acres, was divided by

General Rufus Putnam, appointed by the Secretary of the

Treasury for that purpose, among ninety-two persons, each re-

ceiving 217 2-5 acres, settlement to be made on the land within

five years. The tract was then and is still known as the " French

Grant."

The directors of the Ohio Company met in December, 1795,

to make a final disposition of their lands. The status of the

French settlers in and about Gallipolis, and their condition, was

fully and carefully considered. A committee of the Gallipolis

settlers appeared before the meeting with a request that the

French settlers be given the town site of Gallipolis. This the

Ohio Company felt it could not do, but signified that an applica-

tion to purchase at a nominal price would be acceptable, and

after full consideration, agreed to sell to these settlers the two

fractional sections on which Gallipolis was situated, containing

900 acres, with the improved land surrounding the town at the

price of government land--one dollar and twenty-five cents per

acre. This was donating all the improvements made by Major

Burnham and his men, each received his land and a log cabin in

which to live. This was all they could do, and was, all in all,

a just solution of the long, difficult and unfortunate problem.

The principal actors soon disappeared from view, lost in the ab-

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134       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

sorbing events connected with the early settlements, the Indian

wars, and the unsettled condition of the country at large.

DANIEL J. RYAN.

Note.--I am indebted largely to Maj. E. C. Dawes, of Cin-

cinnati, who, in the life of Mannasseh Cutler, and in the Maga-

zine of American History, has given exhaustive studies of this

question. He generously placed his material at my disposal.

I have also examined many private works, letters, documents,

etc., and have aimed to give only a concise and simple narrative.

D. J. R.

 

Appendix No. I.--(Ordinance of May 20th, 1785, I. v.

L. U. S. p. 563.)

" The surveyors, as they are respectively qualified, shall pro-

ceed to divide the said territory into townships of six miles

square, by lines running due north and south, and others cross-

ing these at right angles, as near as may be, unless where the

boundaries of the late Indian purchases may render the same

impracticable, and then they shall depart from this rule no far-

ther than such particular circumstances may require. And each

surveyor shall be allowed and paid at the rate of two dollars for

every mile in length he shall run, including the wages of chain

carriers, markers, and every other expense attending the same.

"The first line running north and south as aforesaid, shall

begin on the river Ohio, at a point that shall be found to be due

north from the western termination of a line which has been run

as the southern boundary of the State of Pennsylvania, and the

first line running east and west shall begin at the same point,

and shall extend throughout the whole territory: Provided, That

nothing herein shall be construed as fixing the western boundary

of the State of Pennsylvania. The Geographer shall designate

the townships or fractional parts of townships by numbers, pro-

gressively, from south to north; always beginning each range

with No. 1; and the ranges shall be distinguished by their pro-

gressive numbers to the westward. The first range, extending

from the Ohio to the Lake Erie, being marked No. 1. The

geographer shall personally attend to the running of the first

• 26
 

The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.        135

 

east and west line; and shall take the latitude of the extremes

of the first north and south line, and of the mouths of the prin-

cipal rivers.

" the lines shall be measured with a chain; shall be plainly

marked by chops on the trees, and exactly described on a plat;

whereon shall be noted by the surveyor, at their proper distances,

all mines, salt springs, salt licks, and mill seats that shall come

to his knowledge; and all water courses, mountains, and other

remarkable and permanent things, over or near which such lines

shall pass, and also the quality of the lands.

" The plats of the townships, respectively, shall be marked,

by subdivisions, into lots of one mile square, or 640 acres, in the

same direction as the external lines, and numbered from one to

thirty-six; always beginning the succeeding range of the lots

with the number next to that with which the preceding one con-

cluded. And where, from the causes before mentioned, only a

fractional part of a township shall be surveyed, the lots pro-

tracted thereon shall bear the same numbers as if the township

had been entire. And the surveyors, in running the external

lines of the townships, shall, at the internal of every mile, mark

corners for the lots which are adjacent, always designating the

same in a different manner from those of the townships.

"The board of treasury shall transmit a copy of the original

plats, previously rioting thereon the townships and fractional

parts of townships, which shall have fallen to the several States,

by the distribution aforesaid, to the commissioners of the loan

office of the several states, who, after giving notice of not less

than two nor more than six months, by causing advertisements

to be posted up at the court houses or other noted places in

every county, and to be inserted in one newspaper published in

the States of their residenee, respectively, shall proceed to sell

the townships or fractional parts of townships at public vendue,

in the following manner, viz: The township or fractional part of

a township No. 1, in the first range, shall be sold entire; and

No. 2 in the same range, by lots; and thus in alternate order

through the whole of the first range. The township or fractional

part of a township No. 1, in the second range, shall be sold by

lots; and No. 2 in the same range, entire; and so, in alternate

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136       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

order, through the whole of the second range; and the third

range shall be sold in the same manner as the first, and the

fourth in the same manner as the second; and thus, alternately,

throughout all the ranges: Provided, That none of the lands

within the said territory to be sold under the price of one dollar

per acre, to be paid in specie or loan office certificates, reduced

to specie value by the scale of depreciation, or certificates of

liquidated debts of the United States, including interest, besides

the expense of the survey and other charges thereon, which are

hereby rated at thirty-six dollars the township, in specie or cer-

tificates as aforesaid, and so, in the same proportion, for a frac-

tional part of a township or of a lot, to be paid at the time of

sales, on failure of which payment the said lands shall again be

offered for sale.

"There shall be reserved for the United States out of every

township, the four lots, being numbered 8, 11, 26, 29, and out

of every fractional part of a township, so many lots of the same

numbers as shall be found thereon, for future sale. There shall

be reserved the lot No. 16, of every township, for the main-

tenance of public schools within the said township; also, one-

third part of all gold, silver, lead, and copper mines, to be sold,

or otherwise disposed of, as Congress shall hereafter direct."

 

 

 

Appendix No. 2.-(In Congress, July 23rd, 1787, I. v. L. U.

S. 573.)

The report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Carrington,

Mr. King, Mr. Dane, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Benson amended to

read as follows, viz:

"That the board of treasury be authorized and empowered

to contract with any person or persons for a grant of a tract of

land which shall be bounded by the Ohio, from the mouth of

Scioto to the intersection of the western boundary of the seventh

range of townships now surveying; thence, by the said boundary

to the northern boundary of the tenth township from the Ohio;

thence, by a due west line to Scioto; thence, by the Scioto to the

beginning, upon the following terms, viz: The tract to be sur-



• 28
 

The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.        137

 

veyed, and its contests ascertained, by the geographer or some

other officer of the United States, who shall plainly mark the

said east and west line, and shall render one complete plat to the

board of treasury, and another to the purchaser or purchasers.

The purchaser or purchasers, within seven years from the

completion of this work, to lay off the whole tract, at their own

expense, into townships and fractional parts of townships, and

to divide the same into lots, according to the land ordinance of

the 20th of May, 1785; complete returns whereof to be made to

the treasury board. The lot No. 16, in each township or frac-

tional part of a township, to be given perpetually for the pur-

poses contained in the said ordinance. The lot No. 29, in each

township or fractional part of a township, to be given perpetu-

ually for the purposes of religion. The lots Nos. 8, 11, and

26, in each township, or fractional part of a township, to be

reserved for the future disposition of Congress. Not more than

two complete townships to be given perpetually for the purposes

off a University, to be laid of by the purchaser or purchasers, as

near the center as may be, so that the same shall be of good land,

to be applied to the intended object by the legislature of the

State. The price to be not less than one dollar per acre for the

contents of the said tract, excepting the reservations and gifts

aforesaid, payable in specie, loan office certificates reduced to

specie value, or certificates of liquidated debts of the United

States, liable to a reduction by an allowance for bad land, and

all incidental charges and circumstances whatever: Provided,

That such allowance shall not exceed, in the whole, one-third of

a dollar per acre. And in making payment the principal only of

the said certificates shall be admitted, and the board of treasury,

for such interst as may be due on the certificate rendered

in payment as aforesaid, prior to January 1, 1786, shall issue

indents for interest to the possessors, which shall be receiv-

able in payment as other indents for interests of the existing

requisitions of Congress; and for such interest as may be due on

the said certificates between that period and the period of pay-

ment, the said board shall issue indents, the payment of which

to be provided for in future requisitions, or otherwise. Such of

the purchasers as may possess rights for bounties of land to the

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138       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

late army, to be permitted to render the same in discharge of the

contract, acre for acre: Provided, That the aggregate of such

right shall not exceed one-seventh part of the land to be paid

for: And provided also, That there shall be no future claim

against the United States on account of the said rights. Not less

than 500,000 dollars of the purchase money to be paid down upon

closing of the contract, and the remainder upon the completion

of the work to be performed by the geographer or other officer

on the part of the United States. Good and sufficient security

to be given by the purchaser or purchasers for the completion of

the contract on his or their part. The grant to be made upon the

full payment of the consideration money, and a right of entry and

occupancy to be acquired immediately for so much of the tract

as shall be agreed upon between the treasury and the purchasers.

"Ordered, That the above be referred to the board of treas-

ury to take order."

 

 

Appendix No. 3.-The following is the letter referred to,

of Cutler and Sargent, to the board of treasury, dated New

York, July 26, 1787:

"We observe by the act of the 23d instant, that your honor-

able board is authorized to enter into a contract for the sale of a

tract of land therein described, on certain conditions expressed

in the act. As we suppose this measure has been adopted in

consequence of proposals made by us in behalf of ourselves

and associates, to a committee of Congress, we beg leave to in-

form you that we are ready to enter into a contract for the pur-

chase of lands described in the act, provided you conceive your-

self authorized to admit of the following conditions, which, in

some degree, vary from the report of the committee, viz:

"The subordinate surveys shall be completed as mentioned

in the act, unless the frequency of Indian irruptions may render

the same impracticable without a heavy expense to the company.

"The mode of payment we propose is, half a million of

dollars when the contract is executed; another half a million

when the tract, as described, is surveyed by the proper officer of

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The Scioto Company and Its Purchase.        139

 

the United States, and the remainder in six equal payments,

computed from the date of the first payment.

" The lands assigned for the establishment of a University

to be nearly as possible in the center of the first million and a

half of acres we shall pay for; for, to fix it in the center of the

proposed purchase, might too long defer the establishment.

"When the second payment is made, the purchasers shall

receive a deed for as great a quantity of land as a million dollars

will pay for, at the price agreed on; after which we will agree

not to receive any further deeds for any of the lands purchased,

only at such periods, and on such conditions, as may be agreed

on betwixt the board and the purchasers.

"As to the security, which the act says shall be good and

sufficient, we are unable to determine what those terms may

mean, in the contemplation of Congress, or of your honorable

board; we shall, therefore, only observe that our private for-

tunes, and that of most of our associates, being embarked in the

support of the purchase, it is not possible for us to offer any

adequate security but that of the land itself, as is usual in great

land purchases.

"We will agree so to regulate the contract that we shall

never be entitled to a right of entry or occupancy, but on lands

actually paid for, nor receive any deeds till our payments amount

to a million of dollars, and then only in proportion to such pay-

ment. The advance we shall always be under, without any for-

mal deed, together with the improvements made on the lands,

will, we presume, be ample security, even if it was not the in-

terest as well as the disposition of the company to lay the foun-

dation of their establishment on a sacred regard to the rights of

property.

"If these terms are admitted, we shall be ready to conclude

the contract."

By a resolution of 27th of July, 1787, it was "Ordered that

the above letter from Manh. Cutler and Winthrop Sargent, to

the board of treasury, containing proposals for the purchase of

a tract of land described in the act of Congress of the 23d in-

stant, be referred to the board of treasury to take order: Pro-

vided, That after the date of the second payment therein pro-

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140       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VoL. 3   posed to be made, the residue shall be paid in six equal and half yearly installments, until the whole thereof shall be completed, and that the purchasers stipulate to pay interest on the sums due from the completion of the survey to be performed by the geographer."

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