First Ownership of Ohio Lands
The memorials were presented and read
in Congress on the 14th of September. George Morgan, petitioning for the Indiana
Company, contends
"that the tract of country claimed by the Indiana Company was separated by
the King of Great Britain, before independence was declared, from the dominion,
which, in the right of the crown, Virginia claimed over it, and cannot remain
subject to the jurisdiction of Virginia, or any particular state, but of the
whole United States in Congress, assembled."
Morgan prays for an order to stay Virginia in the sale of the land in question
till the case can be heard in Congress, and "the whole rights of the owners
of the tract of land called Vandalia, of which Indiana is a part, shall be
ascertained in such a manner as may tend to support the sovereignty of the
United States and the just rights of the individual therein." The same
point was raised by William Trent in a second memorial in regard to the larger
tract called Vandalia, and there were other appeals of minor importance.
27
The delegates of Virginia made instant objection to the consideration of these
Papers in Congress, raising for the first time in American polities an issue of
state rights. The matter of Virginia's protest does not appear in the records,
but from subsequent proceedings in Congress its purport may be known. The
objections were based on the doctrine that Congress had no jurisdiction over the
subject-matter of the Morgan memorial since it was related to the internal
affairs of a sovereign state. The question was put to vote and the reference was
ordered. The committee of five delegates elected by vote of states was directed
by order of Congress
??to enquire into the foundation of the objection formerly made by the Virginia
delegates, upon the reading of the petition and the memorial, to the
jurisdiction of Congress on the subject matter of the said papers, and first
report the facts relating to that point.
28
The committee took quick action on the protest, with results detrimental to
Virginia, declaring
. . . that they have read over and considered the state of facts given in by the
delegates of Virginia, and cannot find any such distinction between the question
of jurisdiction of Congress, and the merits of the cause, as to recommend any
decision upon the first separately from the last.
And in addition to this, they offer a preamble and a resolution reprobating the
action of the commonwealth in opening a land office.
The delegates were in conflict in Congress for two days over this report. There
was apparently no trouble in the decision on the point of jurisdiction, for the
members seemed to agree with the committee; but on the wording of the preamble,
and the substance of the resolution, there were several divisions. Maryland
delegates offered a substitute of more drastic criticism of Virginia's land
office programme. On this there was a sharp conflict.
29 The Maryland form carried at
first, but on reconsideration a more reasonable resolution was adopted, in these
words:
Whereas the appropriation of vacant lands by the several states during the
continuance of the war, will, in the opinion of Congress, be attended with great
mischiefs; therefore,
Resolved, that it be earnestly
recommended to the state of Virginia, to reconsider their late act of assembly
for opening their land office; and that it be recommended to the said state, and
all other states similarly circumstanced, to forbear settling or issuing
warrants for unappropriated lands, or granting the same during the continuance
of the present war.
Report of this action first reached the Virginia assembly in a letter from the
delegates of the commonwealth. The letter and proceedings were read in the house
of delegates on the 13th of November and referred to a committee of the whole
house on the state of the commonwealth. The committee took up the matter the
same day and soon came to resolutions which were at once reported; and, all
formalities being suspended in view of the importance of the subject, the
resolutions were unanimously agreed to by both house and senate.
Resolved, nemine contra dicente, That a remonstrance be drawn up to the Hon. the
American Congress, firmly asserting the right of this commonwealth to its own
territory, complaining of their having received petitions from certain persons,
styling themselves the Indiana and Vandalia companies, upon claims which not
only interfere with the laws and internal policy, but tend to subvert the
government of this commonwealth, and introduce general confusion; and expressly
excepting and protesting against the jurisdiction of Congress therein as
unwarranted by the fundamental principles of the confederation.
Resolved, nemine contra dicente, That the Governor, with the advice of the
council, be empowered and required to use the most effectual means for
apprehending and securing any person or persons within this commonwealth, who
shall attempt to subvert the government thereof, or set up any separate
government within the same, that such person or persons may be brought to trial,
according to due course of law.
A remonstrance to Congress was issued by Virginia in pursuance of this action,
but not in the belligerent tones of the resolutions. The remonstrance bears date
of its adoption in the assembly thirty days after the passage of the
resolutions. It doubtless found its way directly to the congressional committee,
which was still at work on the memorials. The remonstrance assures Congress
that, "Although the general assembly of Virginia would make great
sacrifices to the common interests of America . . . . and be ready to listen to
any just and reasonable propositions for removing the ostensible causes of the
delay to the complete ratification of the confederation, they . . . . expressly
protest against any jurisdiction or right of adjudication in Congress, upon . .
. . any matter or thing subversive of the internal policy, civil government, or
sovereignty of this or any other of the United American States." There are
other interesting features of the remonstrance not anticipated in the
resolutions: a warning against establishing dangerous precedents in seizing
lands of states; a reminder of the effect of congressional interposition, upon
the pending negotiations for peace, in which the charters of the states were to
be urged as the basis of definition of the United States boundaries;
30 and a reference to the safety
clause in the ninth article of the confederation by which "the rights of
sovereignty and jurisdiction within her own territory were reserved and secured
to Virginia when she acceded to the articles of confederation." There is
information, also, of the offer of the general assembly of bounty lands
"out of their territory on the northwest side of the Ohio river," and
Congress is assured that "the offer when accepted will be most cheerfully
made good." No word appears respecting reconsideration of the land office
act, nor of a suspension of the distribution of the vacant lands; but in the
first paragraph of the document it is announced that "the general assembly
have enacted a law to prevent present settlement on the northwest side of the
Ohio river."
The law to prevent present settlements on the northwest side of the Ohio River,
referred to in the Virginia remonstrance, is easily identified as a paragraph
inserted by the Virginia House as an amendment to a bill relating to the
location of warrants on the military reservation, then in its final passage in
the assembly. The circumstances of this enactment are interesting. Information
was received in the House on the 8th of November, in a communication from the
Governor, respecting "intrusions on Indian lands upon the Ohio." From
reports
31 received the same day in
Congress it is learned that these intruders are
. . . some of the inhabitants from Yoghiagania and Ohio counties, Virginia, who
had crossed the Ohio River and made small improvements on the Indian's lands,
from the river Muskingum to Fort McIntosh, and 30 miles up the branches of the
Ohio River.
The trespassers had been apprehended and their huts destroyed by the
Continentals under Col. Broadhead. In consequence of this news from the
frontiers the assembly made haste to enlarge the scope of the pending bill,
adding the paragraph prohibiting settlements on the northwest side of the Ohio,
and
. . . desiring the Governor to issue a proclamation, requiring all persons
settled on the said land immediately to remove therefrom, and for??idding others
to settle in future, and moreover, with the advice of the council from time to
time, to order such armed force as shall be thought necessary to remove from the
said lands, such person or persons as shall remain on or settle contrary to the
said proclamation.
32
New York, moved by this display of national spirit in Congress, made an
immediate surrender of all claims upon the western country. The firm stand of
Congress against Virginia, proudest of the claimants, inspired the legislature
to relinquish the long standing rights of the state to the Iroquois lands. New
York gave up this great property freely, with no thought of reservation, and
without suggestion of personal indemnity for the expenses of a century of
support of the historic contract with the Six United Nations, from whom the
state derived title. The New York cession of territory is in the form of
"an act to facilitate the completion of the articles of confederation and
perpetual union among the American States," passed by the legislature on
the 19th of February, 1780. The act confers full power and authority upon their
delegates in Congress, . . . to limit and restrict the boundaries of the state
in the western parts thereof, either with respect to the jurisdiction or right
of pre-emption of soil, or both, and to relinquish the territory to the north
and westward of these boundaries, "to be and enure for the use and benefit
of such of the United States as shall become members of the federal union."
The New York act of cession was read in Congress on the 7th of March following
its passage, and was referred to a committee of three delegates chosen by a vote
of the states to consider the matter The New York act and the unfinished
business of the former committee of five, the Maryland and Virginia papers, and
the memorials of the Indian claimants, were reported upon six months later, and
the famous recommendations of September 6, calling upon the claimant states to
surrender a portion of their claims for the general good, is the report of this
committee.
33
Congress took the report into consideration on that date, and it was agreed to
as reported. This document is often printed in full in accounts of the land
cessions. The committee conceived it to be unnecessary to take up the matters
raised in the papers of Maryland and Virginia. They declared?? That it appears
more advisable to press upon those states which can remove the embarrassments
respecting the western country, a liberal surrender of a portion of their
territorial claims since they cannot be preserved entire without endangering the
stability of the general confederacy.
It was advised to urge upon the legislatures the indispensable necessity of
establishing the federal union. The example of the New York act was commended.
The states were to be urged to pass the laws for the desired cessions, and the
legislature of Maryland was to be earnestly requested to authorize its delegates
in Congress to subscribe the articles.
Congress took the necessary measures to carry out the provisions of this
resolution. But in order to reassure the states making land cessions, that the
territory entrusted to Congress would be held only for the common use and
benefit of the United States in the manner contended for from the beginning of
the controversy, a pledge was issued October 10, in this form:
Resolved, That the unappropriated lands that may be ceded or relinquished to the
United States, by any particular state, pursuant to the recommendation of
Congress of the 6th day of September last, shall be disposed of for the common
benefit of the United States, and be settled and formed into distinct republican
states, which shall become members of the federal union, and have the same
rights of sovereignty, freedom and independence as the other states; that each
state which shall be so formed shall contain a suitable extent of territory, not
less than 100 nor more than 150 miles square, or as near thereto as
circumstances will admit; That the necessary and reasonable expenses which any
particular state shall have incurred since the commencement of the present war,
in subduing any British posts, or in maintaining forts or garrisons with??in and
for the defence, or in acquiring any part of the territory that may be ceded or
relinquished to the United States, shall be reimbursed.
That the said lands shall be granted or settled at such times and under such
regulations as shall hereafter be agreed on by the United States in Congress
assembled, or any nine or more of them.
Two days after the adoption of this resolution in Congress, October 12, 1780,
the Connecticut legislature, without knowledge of the programme therein pledged
for territorial disposition, resolved to make a proportionate cession of the
land claims of the state in the western country. The Connecticut resolutions
proposed to surrender a portion of lands westward of the Susquehanna purchase,
in compliance with the earlier recommendation, reserving full jurisdiction of
the lands ceded. This was unsatisfactory as compared with the unreserved cession
authorized by New York, but the resolution was not officially returned to
Congress until the last day of January, by which time the third state had
reported a plan of cession even more objectionable.
The three cessions of New York,
Connecticut, and Virginia, covering practically the same lands and being so
fundamentally different, required careful consideration, and Congress ordered a
committee of seven to be elected to take them in charge.
37
The interest now passes to the struggle of Virginia with the committee of
Congress to whom was re-committed the acts of cession and the unfinished
business of the Trent and Morgan memorials. The Virginia delegation resisted a
notice to appear before the committee and confer with the memorialists on the
subject of their memorials, conceiving that "it derogates from the
sovereignty of a state to be drawn into a contest by an individual or
individuals." They inquire if Congress "intended to authorize this
committee to receive claims and hear evidence in behalf of the Indiana and
Vandalia Companies adverse to the claims or cessions of the states," and
requested the committee to forbear the conference until Congress could advise.
They appealed to Congress a second time for a ruling "on the authority of
the committee to admit council or to hear documents, proofs, or evidence not
among the records, nor on the files of Congress, which have not been
specifically referred to them." Congress supported the committee on these
rulings, and Virginia from this time on found herself deserted by her former
friends in the north. Finally, in the last call of the committee for proofs, the
delegates on the part of Virginia stood on their state's rights, "declining
to make any elucidation of the claim, either to the lands ceded, or to the lands
requested to be guaranteed to the state by Congress." The committee delayed
no longer, and made final report to Congress on the 3d of November, 1781, on all
matters recommitted to them.
The report of the committee of five appears in full in the journals of the
Continental Congress for the first of May, 1782, when, after several
postponements, it was on the order of the day for final discussion. It is an
exhaustive report, covering all points under dispute of the right and title of
the public domain, laying foundations for the land policy of the United States
for all time to come. The report deals primarily with the cessions, but it does
not bring the settlement of this vexatious matter. Many years must pass before
all that was necessary was said and done in Congress on this subject. But while
it seems to fail in securing concessions from the states in the form desired, it
removed the subject from controversy, advanced the sovereignty of the United
States, and fixed a modus operandi in territorial disposition and Indian
control.
The report takes up the several cessions and claims on the basis of vouchers
examined,
38 and information obtained as to
the status of the lands mentioned in each; and gives the results of the findings
in the form of recommendations, with reasons itemized. The findings are entirely
adverse to Virginia on all points in controversy, and, according to the
recommendations of the report the act of cession of the state of New York is to
be accepted as based on claims of jurisdiction authentically derived from the
Six United Nations of Indians. The claims of Massachusetts and Connecticut are
disregarded entirely in the report, and these states are earnestly recommended
"that they do without delay release all claims and pretensions of claim to
the western country, without any conditions or restrictions whatever." As
to Virginia, it is resolved that "Congress cannot accept of the cession
proposed to be made, or guarantee the tract of country claimed by
Virginia," for the reason that the lands are within the claims of other
states and outside the bounds of the late colony of Virginia as it stood at the
beginning of the war. It is proposed as a resolution,
That it be earnestly recommended to the state of Virginia, as they value the
peace, welfare and increase of the United States, that they reconsider their
said act of cession, and by a proper act for that purpose, cede to the United
States all claims and pretensions of claim to the lands and country beyond a
reasonable western boundary, consistent with their former acts while a colony
under the power of Great Britain, and agreeable to their just rights of soil and
jurisdiction at the commencement of the present war, and that free from any
conditions and restrictions whatever.
Certain of the claims of the memorialists are sustained by the committee and
confirmation of their purchases recommended, while others are condemned. The
outline of a national Indian policy will be referred to later, as also the
pledge of suitable method of opening up the territory for settlement by a new
system of quadrilateral surveying based perhaps on the suggestion contained in
the Connecticut resolution of cession, adopted at Hartford on the 12th of
October, 1780,
Always provided that the said lands to be granted be laid out and surveyed in
Townships in regular form to a suitable number of settlers, in such manner as
will best promote the settlement and cultivation of the same according to the
true spirit and principles of a republican state.
The settlement offered by the report on cessions and claims afforded the means
to Congress, as the natural possessor of all the crown lands within the confines
of the United States, to dispose of the same according to the pledges of the
resolution of October 10, 1780. Provisions needful for such a course were
contained in the report, and no determined opposition remained in Congress, save
only the Virginians. In addition to the references to cessions and claims the
report advises indemnification for the expenses of the Clark campaigns,
recommends a policy of paternal handling of the Indians, and outlines a plan of
extension of the settlements and expansion of government over the western
territory. All that remained to be done, had this report endured, was for
Congress, as the executive head of the United States in the exercise of right
descending logically from the British crown, to proceed as convenient to carry
out its provisions, to settle matters with the Indian tribes, and to dispose of
all the lands from the greater mountains of the Alleghanies to Louisiana, and
from Florida to Quebec, for the joint use and benefit of the United States. But
Congress deliberately gave up this great advantage. The report was laid aside.
No action was taken on it as a whole, and no separate part of it was ever
submitted to vote. The end of the war approaching brought other mighty problems:
the shifting of Congress from a martial to a civil base, and the "forming
arrangements for the United States in time of peace." Examination of the
minutes of Congress of this period seems to show that much of this business
moved along on the theory that the land controversy was finally settled by this
report.
But the Virginia delegation had never relaxed opposition to that portion of the
report pertaining to their own cause. They demanded a rule requiring pledge of
personal disinterest in the claims from each delegate voting, they moved for
postponement whenever opportunity arose, and they constantly pressed the
acceptance of the Virginia cession as a ready remedy for all the financial woes
which developed in the stress of debate. For more than a year the fight kept up,
and in the end the Virginians won. They secured the recommitment of that portion
of the report and a final reconsideration of the question of accepting the
conditional cession of the commonwealth. The New Jersey delegates filed a
protest of the legislature against re-opening the question, and the Maryland
delegation proposed a declaration
39 for the immediate disposition of
the lands. Congress disregarded these apparently just complaints and, choosing
to hold a portion only of the disputed territory, and that on a federal and not
a national basis, voted on the 13th of September, 1783, to accept the Virginia
cession, with all conditions approved, except the guaranty of reserved lands
41 Meanwhile preparations to enter
and occupy the hostile region across the Ohio were in active progress in
Congress, and little attention was spared for further details of the cessions.
Acts of cession followed in time from all the claimant states, but not without
renewed pressure
42 on the legislatures and
considerable anxiety as to the form of the cessions. But the extent and
conditions of the various cessions are well known matters of history, and the
dates and circumstances of each act are easy matters of reference. Weightier
business was now pressing for attention in Congress. Enough had been done
already respecting the title to justify immediate perfection of the programme of
expansion of the government upon that part of the crown lands which had been
relinquished to the United States by the cessions of New York and Virginia.
At the first signs of the coming of peace with Great Britain, Congress turned to
consider the Indian preliminary to the formal occupation of his hunting grounds.
The Indian policy outlined in the report on cessions and claims was ready at
hand. This was merely a brief expression of the relations long subsisting in the
colonies, and now recommended as a means of more clearly defining and
establishing the jurisdiction of Congress regarding Indian affairs. It declares
That the sole right of superintending, protecting, treating with, and making
purchases of the Indian nations outside the state lines, is necessarily vested
in Congress for the benefit of the United States, that no person in separate
capacity can, or ought to purchase any unappropriated lands belonging to the
Indians, and that Congress has no claim in point of property of soil to lands
belonging to the Indians unless the same has been bona fide purchased of them,
or shall be purchased by Congress, and that at a public treaty to be held for
that purpose.
But before such a policy could be applied to the extensive regions beyond the
western frontiers matters had to be settled with the hostile nations, who,
abandoned by their late allies, were left stranded on the conquered territory.
43
"Letters from the Commander in Chief, and from the Generals" were read
in Congress, while the measures for cessation of hostilities were being drawn,
"informing of the sentiments of the Indians" in camp and on the
British side. Agents were despatched at once to the northern and western
frontiers to gather more news from the British posts. As soon as peace was
announced a resolution was agreed to in Congress ordering
That the Secretary at War take the most effectual measures to inform the several
Indian nations, on the frontiers of the United States, that preliminary articles
of peace have been agreed on, and hostilities have ceased with Great Britain,
and to communicate to them that the forts within the United States, and in
possession of the British troops, will speedily be evacuated; intimating also
that the United States are disposed to enter into friendly treaty with the
different tribes; and to inform the hostile Indian nations that unless they
immediately cease all hostilities against the citizens of these states, and
accept of these friendly proffers of peace, Congress will take the most decided
measures to compel them thereto.
A committee, of which James Duane of New York was chairman, was appointed to
take the Indian situation into consideration and report thereon. Meantime, to
save the territory from invasion of settlers and to shield the Indian from
molestation until negotiations were concluded, an ordinance was passed,
September 22, and a proclamation issued prohibiting the settlement and purchase
of lands inhabited or claimed by the Indians. The Duane report was ready the
following month. It reviews the sentiments of the Indians and considers the
situation from their standpoint, refers to their resentment against their late
allies, and the natural advantage to the Americans which might be made of this
feeling as a protection on the Canadian frontiers. It estimates the effect of
continuing hostilities with the Indians "until all are driven into the
protection of the British posts," and recommends a peaceable settlement by
friendly negotiations with all nations of Indians on the basis of a waiver by
Congress of the rights of conquest of the Indian lands and "atonement made
by the Indians of the enormities which they have perpetrated and a reasonable
compensation for the expenses which the United States have incurred by their
wanton barbarities." It was proposed to ascertain and fix lines of property
for the Indians, by purchase if necessary, in which care ought to be taken
neither to yield nor require too much; to accommodate the Indians as far as the
public will admit and to give some compensation for claims rather than to hazard
a war which will be much more expensive. Conventions for this purpose were
suggested to be held at various posts, and an ordinance to regulate trade, with
many items particularizing how trade should be carried on. The report further
declares
That nothing can avert the complicated and impending mischiefs, or secure to the
United States the just and important advantages which they ought to derive from
those territories, but the speedy establishment of government and the regular
administration of justice in such district thereof as shall be judged most
convenient for immediate settlement and cultivation.
As may well be supposed, this enlightened report met with general acceptance in
Congress. Difference of opinion developed on one point only. A resolution
proposing a committee to report on the expediency of laying out a suitable
district within the territory, and erecting it into a distinct government, etc.,
for settlement, gave way, after some debate, to a substitute offered by Elbridge
Gerry of Massachusetts, recommending prompt action in thus extending the
government over the territory in advance of settlement without intervention of a
committee to investigate its expediency. The main body of the report was agreed
to, and the committee was continued to frame an ordinance to regulate the Indian
trade, and to draw up details of instruction for the treaty conventions.
45
Preparations for extending the settlements upon the new land were developing in
Congress while the Indian matter was still under consideration. The
recommendations of the Gerry resolution on this subject were expanded into a
plan for a temporary government to apply to as much of the western territory as
the cessions and Indian purchases would admit. This was in accordance with the
pledge of October 10, 1780, and in conformity with the report on cessions and
claims filed November 3, 1781, which provided for the erection "of a new
state or states not exceeding 150 miles square, to be taken into the federal
union, and the same to be laid out into townships of the quantity of about six
miles square." All reasonable engagements for lands to the military were to
be made good, and bona fide settlers were to be "confirmed in their title
to their reasonable settlements, on the same terms as new settlements."
This plan was taken up in Congress immediately after the Virginia cession, and
recommitted for further consideration. A plan was reported by the committee
April 19, 1784, and passed after four days debate and considerable amendment,
providing for division of the territory into two distinct states by parallels of
latitude and meridians of longitude. A number of forms of this ordinance, found
among the papers of Congress, are of curious interest. No attempt was made to
put the plan into practice. In fact, all these first efforts at providing a
government for a fanciful state in the midst of an unbroken forest were
abandoned as premature. The Indian treaties were not yet settled, and the actual
purchase of soil had not been made. So all plans were dropped for another year,
and when they appeared again the subject matter of the plan was divided, and
there were two separate ordinances--one the land ordinance of 1785, and the
other the famous Ordinance of 1787.
The land ordinance of May 20, 1785, made its preliminary appearance in Congress
early in March and passed through several commitments until reported April 14 by
a grand committee in a form "for ascertaining the mode of disposing of
lands in the western territory." Thereafter the ordinance was the subject
of continuous attention until its final passage in amended condition.
46 This is the act which the states
had long desired, to open the coveted lands of the Ohio. It defines a mode of
subdividing the territory into small parcels for quick sale, and names for the
first offer a most desirable section. The price is low per acre, to insure a
ready market, and the terms easy, to fit the infirmities of the times. The act
thus made favorable was passed to meet a public exigency, and its application
was hastened to satisfy a suppositive demand, which never existed, and to supply
a quick revenue, which never came. The subdivision of the soil into small areas
was made in the wilderness in heroic manner, as ordered, and the lands were
offered at public vendue to save time and trouble for purchasers, but the sales
were so few, and the returns in funds so inconsiderable, that the event itself
is nearly forgotten and its traces in the records are almost entirely lost.
The land ordinance of 1785 inaugurated a system of surveying which was afterward
perfected by practice and experience into that now in use in almost every
civilized country on earth. It replaced the customary method of the ages, of
locating by metes and bounds. The returns of homestead settlement by description
referring to familiar objects of the landscape--so much frontage on a river or
lake, including so many acres, by lines running to a tree or mountain as near as
may be--would not apply in an unknown wilderness. An exact rule was needed of
locating accurately, determinable by rod and chain, projected from an
astronomical point whereby "the homesteader could locate his hut by the
stars of heaven, no longer dependent on the whim or caprice of the
overlord." The parcels were to be "squares" formed by parallels
and meridians, the lines run by the compass and marked by chops on the trees as
numbered towns and ranges, the whole presentable in a checkered plat, from which
the purchaser might select his site. The first suggestion of the original
ordinance made these squares "hundreds," ten miles on a side, with one
hundred interior squares or lots of 640 acres each. The draft of April 26
reduces the township to seven miles, with forty-nine interior lots, and the
final ordinance makes a further reduction to thirty-six lots, as now in use.
Immediate attention to the
enforcement of the land ordinance follows its enactment. On the seventh day
after passage, May 27, 1785, "The Geographer of the United States (Captain
Thomas Hutchins) was continued in his office for a term of three years, at an
allowance of six dollars a day for his services and expenses," and,
according to order, Congress proceeded on the same day to the election of a
surveyor for each state.
48 This action was taken in the
reasonable expectation that the Indian programme settled upon would be carried
out by the commissioners elected, the object being to obtain from the northern
and western nations and tribes consent in writing to the extinguishment of their
rights to the federal lands intended for settlement, and substantial engagements
for the establishment of permanent relations of peace and friendship between the
Indian and the settler.
53 He endeavored also "to find
out the true variation of the needle and the latitude of the point of beginning
the east and west line, and from a mean of a great number of observations
called, the Geographer's Line, westward for a distance of 3 miles, 66 chains and
78 links to the place where he heard the evil news.
60 and a repeal of the clause
requiring them "to pay the utmost attention to the variation of the
magnetic needle and to run and note all lines by the true meridian." The
treaty at the Big Miami, held on the 21st of January, had rendered everything
secure--as Congress supposed.
61 The geographer set out for the
frontier May 23 and, arriving at Pittsburg June 25, despatched messengers for
the chiefs of the Delawares, Wyandots, and Shawnees who, "agreeable to
their promise to the Commissioners, were to give him protection." He
informed Congress, in a letter dated July 8, that "troops may be
necessary," and he proceeded at once, without waiting for either soldiers
or Indians, to resume the surveys. But when he summoned the men, who had
assembled at the former camp awaiting orders, they positively refused to proceed
until a body of troops was provided to cover their operations.
62
Thus the surveys were resumed. The east and west line was projected westerly to
the ninth range, a distance of over fifty miles. From this line as a base, range
lines six miles apart were run southerly to the river, a distance on the
westerly ranges of ninety-five miles. Cross lines were run every six miles,
working westerly from the river at right angles to the range lines, and every
mile was marked by chops on trees standing on or near the line, as required by
the ordinance. The geographer and his eight surveyors and many more
chainbearers, axe men, and followers, and a battalion of military to escort
them, were thus spread out over the triangular field of the survey, pushing the
work steadily, "even Sundays not excepted," to finish the thirteen
ranges--if possible, altogether making quite a stir in the wilderness east of
the Muskingum and the Tuscarawas. The storm broke upon them in September. At his
camp, "38 miles on the the East and West line," Hutchins received a
message from the chief of the Wyandots, informing him that they could not comply
with the request to assist in the surveying until they had brought the
"back nations"
63 to terms. "I am just now
between two fires," spoke Half King, "for I am afraid of you and
likewise of the back nations." From other sources it was learned that a
large body of Indians was collecting with hostile intentions, determined
"that the Ohio river and the line being cut by Pennsylvania shall remain
forever the boundary between them and the Big Knives." The Shawnees had
five hundred warriors ready to move the "moment they hear Captain Hutchins
is out." On October 1 the danger had become so threatening that the
surveyors held to camp, absolutely refusing to continue.
64 The men were in terror, and the
geographer, "to his great mortification," was obliged to advise
retirement to the back ranges. With great difficulty he kept enough men at work
until four ranges were completed. Still the attacks continued, and in November,
on advice of the military, the surveyors withdrew to a camp on the Virginia
side.
65 Captain Hutchins informed
Congress of the interruption of the survey in a letter dated at the Virginia
camp, December 2, adding: "I shall be detained here until such time as the
townships already surveyed are delineated on paper, which will probably take to
the commencement of the ensuing year, when I shall lose no time in proceeding
with them to New York."
66 Captain Hutchins returned to New
York in February, carrying with him the visible and tangible evidence of his
labors. "I have brought with me," he wrote to the President of
Congress, "the plats and description of four ranges completely surveyed
containing in the whole six hundred and seventy-five thousand four hundred and
eighty acres." These he deposited with the board of treasury, according to
the ordinance; and on the 18th of April he sent his own returns to Congress.
Captain Hutchins's returns were the subject of immediate action in Congress, in
the consideration of "a plan for selling for public securities the
townships surveyed in the western territory" reported by the board of
treasury on the 19th of April. The report condemns the plan of proportional
distribution by states through the Secretary at War and the local loan offices,
fixed in the ordinance to take place "as soon as 7 ranges of townships
shall have been surveyed," as too slow and expensive, and recommends a
direct sale at public auction to the highest bidder regardless of his local
habitation. Congress agreed to this report April 21, and ordered "the sale
to be advertised to commence at the expiration of five months from date, in the
place where Congress shall sit and continue from day to day until the same shall
be sold." The advertisements appeared as directed.
67 Twenty-seven separate townships
or fractional townships are listed in a table by range and township numbers, to
be exposed to sale, either entire or in lots ( now called sections) of one mile
square in alternate order, at not less than one dollar per acre, plus cost of
surveying, payable one third down and the remaining two thirds in three months,
in specie, or certificates, "excepting therefrom and reserving one third
part of all gold, silver, lead and copper mines within the land sold."
68 Proper maps and descriptions of
the lands were to be exhibited at the time and place of sale, and the sales were
to continue from day to day until the whole were sold. "The admirable
quality of these lands, and the favorable climate in which they are
situated," the advertisements declare, "are too well known to need
description."
The sale took place as advertised, in New York, September 21, 1787, continuing
until October 9, when it ceased, with the greater part of the townships
remaining unsold. During the sixteen days of sale 32 persons bought 148 parcels,
aggregating 150,896 acres, 176,090 6/90th dollars, purchase money, of which
87,438 18/90th dollars was paid at the time of sale in public securities.
69 The highest price bid was 22
dollars for a fractional lot of an acre and a half on the river, but most of the
sales were at the minimum rate of a dollar per acre. During the summer of 1787,
the surveyors again returned to the Ohio. Troubles with the Indians had not
abated, but they finished closing in the townships of seven ranges. Hutchins
probably did not attend this survey as he was in New York in October busy with
his accounts. He made final report the following summer and turned in the
finished plan of the Seven Ranges, which he transmitted to the board of treasury
under date of July 26, 1788.
The circumstances of the first survey and sale of the federal lands, from which
so much had long been expected and so little realized, would be interesting and
doubtless important if all were known, but searcely anything remains of this
period in the public prints or official records to tell the story. The sale
itself was a failure and the survey a disappointment. The first returns of four
ranges, after years of waiting, expense, and danger, were so meagre as to
justify criticism in Congress of the mode of survey, and call for immediate
revision of the ordinance, and a move in that direction is noted in the minutes
of Congress at the time the sale was ordered.
70 At this very moment, also,
memorials began to appear, praying Congress for grants of large areas for
private adventure in settlement for which large sums of money were promised for
immediate payments, offering quicker means of revenue than the auction sales.
This document, consisting of six large tabulated sheets, signed by M. Hillegas,
U. S. Treasurer, and Wm. Duer, Secretary of the board of treasury, and dated
September 13, 1788, gives names of each purchaser, township and lot number,
acreage, amount paid etc.
74 There is also in the land office
in Washington the book of patents issued for the sale, in which the names and
dates of the complete purchases are given.
75 In addition are the surveyors
plats, previously mentioned, on which are recorded the names and other data of
sales. Finally there are the lands themselves entered in the several counties in
Ohio, with records of the original purchasers. From all these sources it is
possible to compile a list of the first owners of public lands of the United
States.
It is possible also to give a correct list of the 1000 original proprietors and
settlers of the Muskingum settlement of the Ohio Company from the official
records of draughts and allotments of lands to each proprietor, kept by Col.
John May, secretary of the Ohio Company, and recently found. The draughts took
place at Providence, R. I., on Thursday, the 8th of May, 1787, and on the
Muskingum in July, 1788. (Cf. Cutler's Journal, also the Journal of Col. John
May.)
76
The lists of names of first owners of lands within the limits of the State of
Ohio, as proposed on an earlier page of this writing, here follow. They are
constructed for the purpose of this publication by comparison of the several
documents mentioned.
77
First Owners of Lands in Ohio
The sale of lots or the Four Ranges of Townships at public vendue in the City of
New York, September 21 to October 9, 1787, terminated the period of reservation
or prohibition of "settlement and purchase of the lands inhabited or
claimed by the Indians."
78 Purchasers of lots at this sale
obtained thereby the right of entry and occupancy of the lands that they had
purchased; all others were trespassers, excepting the French and Canadians in
the Illinois Company, who were protected by their oath of fidelity to Virginia.
79 These purchasers received
certificates of payment of purchase money issued by the Treasurer of the United
States,
80 which entitled them to such
right. Certain purchasers, no doubt, moved at once upon their lands, probably
from the vantage camps on the Virginia hills overlooking the forbidden river,
but other purchasers made no actual settlements; facts to be ascertained by
those especially interested.
82 The plats of the surveyors show
the exteriors of the townships as surveyed, on which are lines drawn at right
angles to represent the 36 square lots in each township. The plats are drawn on
the scale of 40 chains to the inch, making each of these lots two inches square,
on which is written the name of purchaser, date, acres, etc. The lots are
numbered, also the townships and ranges as required by the ordinance: Ranges;
westward from I to VII beginning with the Pennsylvania line. Townships,
northward from the river, each range beginning with Township No. 1, and the
lots; northward from the base line of the township, in ranges of six, beginning
with Lot I at the southeast corner.
88 n p (no patents issued)
Cornelius Ray Patent 18 March 12, 1788
III 2 19 385 1/4 acres 385:23 dollars M Ohio Tp.