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-
475
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
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
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-
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:
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
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
Vol. II-31
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
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
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,"
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-
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
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.