USA > Ohio > Erie County > History of the Fire lands, comprising Huron and Erie Counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers > Part 1
USA > Ohio > Huron County > History of the Fire lands, comprising Huron and Erie Counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122
977.101 194w .128820
M.L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02410 7382
-1808 .-
HISTORY
OF
THE FIRE LANDS,
COMPRISING
HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES,
OHIO,
WITH
ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF
SOME OF THE PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS,
977.101 H94 w W. W. WILLIAMS
-1879 .-
PRESS OF LEADER PRINTING COMPANY, CLEVELAND, O.
1123820
PREFATORY NOTE.
P ERIIAPS there is no other district in Ohio, of equal extent, that has given so much attention to pioneer history as that which embraces the Fire-lands. An historical society has been in active being since 1857, assembling, for the most part, four or five times each year; and thus the interest in local history has not been permitted to grow dormant. This society has issued thirteen volumes, containing for the most part matter pertinent to pioneer history. This matter is set forth in print in the form in which it was first prepared-some of it in township histories-much of the highly valuable in published addresses. Had the publications referred to contained full and accurate histories of all the townships on the Fire-lands there would still have existed one defect which a volume such as the author now places in the hands of its readers is in- tended to supply, viz: a lack of careful revision and editing. However, the township histories, as published in The Pioneer, though excellent in some respects, are greatly lacking in other essentials. Many of them fail to treat of subjects that are entitled to weighty consideration; many of them contain irrelevant matter; some of them were prepared by writers who are unaccustomed to work of this nature-additional points that show the desirableness of a carefully compiled history. However, the author of this volume has not relied upon The Pioneer as his chief source of information. The facts have been gathered anew. Original documents and records have been consulted; old settlers and their descendants personally interviewed and the history of the various townships made as complete as practicable. The first one hundred pages or more, are devoted to topics of a general interest in connection with the history of the Fire-lands, while the remainder of the book treats of matter pertaining to the history of the various townships included in the Fire-lands' district; while at the close of the volume is appended a brief account of the islands of Sandusky Bay. The book embraces at least one hundred pages more of reading matter than any previous similar publication with which the publisher has been identified. His hope is that the book, which he is conscious is not wholly free from faults, may nevertheless meet reasonable expectation.
His thanks are in a special manner due to Mr. P. N. SCHUYLER, President of the Fire-lands Historical So- ciety for valued suggestions, and for valuable information npon various topics. That gentleman's Centennial Address published in Volume XIII of the Pioneer, the publisher found of great value and made liberal use of facts therein set forth.
The chapter on the Pre-historic Fire-lands is from the able pen of S. A. WILDMAN, Esq., of Norwalk, who has made this subject a special study. Through some inadvertence the proper credit in the proper place was not given.
In the preparation of the history of Lyme, the anthor had access to the valuable manuscript of Mr. JOHN SEYMOUR, which treats quite fully of the early settlement of the township; to him the publisher is therefore indebted, as also to Mr. GEORGE W. SHEFFIELD, and Mrs. RICHARD L. MCCURDY, whom he found it neces- sary frequently to consult.
BELLEVUE, OHIO, June 26, 1879.
CONTENTS.
HISTORICAL.
HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES.
CHAPTER
PAGE
I .- The Connecticut Western Reserve . 9
II .- The Suffering Towns of Connecticut 11
III .- The Fire-Lands-A. List of the Sufferers and their Losses .
14
IV .- Indian Title-Copy of the Original Treaty
20
V .- The Survey and Partition 23
VI .- Physical Features of Huron County-Geography and Topography . 25
VII .- Geology of Erie County-Surface, Features, and De- posit 30
VIII .- The Pre-historic Fire-Lands
34
IX .- The Moravian Missions 39
X .- Early Settlement
40
XI .- Pioneer Times
.
42
XII .- Civil History
.
44
XIII .- Erie County-Its Erection and Organization 47
XIV .- Civil List . 48
XV .- Political History
50
XVI .- Statistics .
52
XVII .- The Press 55
XVIII .- The Fire-Lands Historical Society 61
XIX .- Military History of the Fire-Lands . 67
XX .- Roster of Soldiers 81
HISTORY OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF HURON COUNTY.
Norwalk 111
Wakeman . IS2
Hartland
195
Peru .
202
Greenfield .
214
PAGE
Bronson 226
Townsend .
242
Ridgefield . 253
Clarksfield .
274
Sherman .
Richmond . 290
New Haven 295
Ripley
319
Fitchville . 328
Greenwich .
337
Fairfield 351
New London 362
Lyme .
377
Norwich
417
HISTORY OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF ERIE COUNTY.
Sandusky City
431
Vermillion .
440
Florence
Groton
453
Perkins
455
Milan .
458
Oxford
466
Huron
470
Berlin .
475
Margaretta .
490
Kelley's Island .
510
MISCELLANEOUS.
Ruggles, Ashland County . 501
Danbury, Ottawa
506
Put-in-Bay, "
519
ILLUSTRATIONS.
IIARTLAND.
PAGE
Portrait of Benjamin F. McCormick .
facing
196
PERU.
Residence of Richardson Eaton
facing 205
Portraits of Richardson Eaton and Wife
205
Portrait of Richard Hindley
.. 206
William N. Mitchell
4. 208
Portraits of Ransom B. Ellsworth and Wife
213
GREENFIELD.
Portrait of Samuel McCammon, M.D.
facing 216
Residence of Hiram Smith (double page) . between 224, 225
BRONSON.
Portraits of A. J. Thomas and Wife
between 228, 229
Residence of A. J. Thomas 228, 229
Portrait of Thomas Lawrence
facing 230
Alvin Brightman
233
Residence of Leister Smith (with portraits)
235
= N. S. Ilakes
236
John Laylin
.€ 178
179
Portraits of N. S. Hakes and Wife
236
66 Caleb II. Gallup
PAGE
Outline Maps of Huron and Erie Counties
between 8,9
Bellevue Local News Building .
60
NORWALK.
Residenco of John Gardiner
facing 111
Portrait of Ashbel G. Post.
between 122, 123
Residence
I22, 123
Portrait of Judge Chas. B. Stickney .
facing 126
Col. Franklin Sawyer 135
141
.. Ansel Baker
147
..
Eri Mesnard
153
158
.. John Gardiner (steel)
171
.. Platt Benedict .
173
Hon. Timothy Baker (steel)
I75
Residence and Factory of B. Cortrito
176
Portrait of David Ilarlow Peasc
..
177
George Butt
.. IIon. John A. Williamson
Dr. John Tifft . 144
5
445
284
6
CONTENTS.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Residence of David Satliff .
between 346, 347
Jobn Ellis (with portraits) . 348, 349
William B. Ellls ( with portraits) . 348, 349
FAIRFIELD.
Residence of Clinton MeKellogg facing 352
Isaac DeWitt (with portraits)
44 355
Portraits of William Baker and Wife = 360
NEW LONDON.
Portrait of Holsy Hubbard . 365
Portraits of Zelotas Barrett and Wife between 366, 367
Residence of the late Zelotus Barrett 366, 367
Jesse Perkins ( with portraits) facing 368
Portrait of Dr. A. D. Skellenger 372
Lyman Dunks. 374
Tracy Case 375
E. H. Curtiss
376
LYME.
Residence of E. L. Dole (with portraits) Portrait of David Williams
facing 379
Thomas G. Amsden
.. Frederick A. Chapman (steel)
405
.. Gurdon Woodward
between 406, 407
.. Mary S. Woodward
.. 406, 407
.. Bourdett Wood
412, 413
. Mrs. Bourdett Wood
412, 413
Dr. L. G. Harkness 414, 415
Mrs. L. G. llarkness
414, 415
.. D. M. Harkness facing 416
NORWICH.
Residence of W. Robinson (with portraits)
facing 419
Portraits of John H. Niles and Wife . . 421
Residence of Harvey J. Doulittle facing 422
Portraits of Ilarvey J. Doolittle and Wife. John S. Hester and Wife 425 422
Residence of John S. Hester
425
Portrait of Charles T. Hester
-125
Residence of Ebenezer Lawrence (with portraits) Portraits of James H. Dailey and Wife.
between 428, 429
Residence of James H. Dailey .
44 428, 429
Portraits of John Bowen and Wife 428, 429
Residence of John Bowen .
= 428. 429
Residence of A. B. Gilson (with portraits)
facing 130
SANDUSKY CITY.
Portrait of F. D. Parish
439
BERLIN.
Portraits of Benjamin Summers and Wife .
facing 479
Milton MeLaughlin and Wife. 482 ..
Hadson Tuttle and Wife. 486
Portrait of Hon. Almon Ruggles
.
488
Portraits of P. B. Barber and Wife . facing 488
RUGGLES.
Portrait of Philetus Ferris
502
KELLEY'S ISLAND.
Portraits of Datus Kelley and Wife . facing 513
Charles Carpenter and Wife
..
515
517
PUT-IN-BAY.
Portrait of Lorenz Müller .
between 520, 521
Simon Fox
520, 521
Portraits of David Satliff and Wife
PAGE
Portraits of Samuel S. Newcomb and Wife . 238
Residence of Elward Conger (with portraits)
facing 238
Portraits of Timothy Lawrence and Wife .
240
Residence of W. G. Mead facing 241 Portraits of Joseph Sutton and Wife facing 350
Portrait of W. G. Mead
44
241
George Lawrenco
241
TOWNSEND.
Portraits of Martin Denman and Wife facing 244
Portrait of Dudley S. Ilumphrey
between 240, 247
William Humphrey .
Dr. Edgar Martin . 252
RIDGEFIELD.
Portrait of Isaac Underhill facing 255
= Orrin W. Head
262
John S. Davis (steel) = 269
Portraits of Wilham A. Bishop and Wife .
270
Portrait of lIenry P. Stentz (steel)
hetween 270, 271
Robert G. Martin “ 270, 271
64 Thomas Diekey
facing 272
Portraits of Salmon Drake and Wife .
272
CLARKSFIELD.
Portraits of Sherman Smith and Wife
280
Residence of Andrew J. Blackman .
facing 280
Portraits of 46
and Wife
= 280
Portrait of Edwin W. Cunningham .
282
SHERMAN.
Portrait uf Lucien Jones facing 286
Residence of William S. Purdy .
between 288, 289
Portraits of William S. Purdy and Wife 288, 289
Ransom Purdy and Wife .. 288, 289
Major Pardy and Wife .
facing 289
Residence of Major Pardy
289
RICHMOND.
Portrait of Dr. William Robinson
facing 293
Portraits of Iluriah Rubinson and Wife
293
Residence of lluriah Robinson .
293
Residence of Daniel Sweetland .
.. 295
NEW HAVEN.
Residence of William Mutson . facing 295
Portraits of Thomas T. Mulford and Wife
299
Residence of Thomas T. Mulford
209
Portraits of R. G. Richards and Wife 310
Residence of R. G. Richards 310
John Loveland (with portraits)
313
Juhn Skinner
317
RIPLEY.
Residence of A. D. Stotts (with portraits), double
page .
between 322, 323
F. C. l'aine (with portraits) .
facing 325
FITCHVILLE.
Portraits of Philip JIawxburst and Wife .
facing 335
Residence of Philip llawxburst
335
GREENWICH.
Residenco of IIenry G. Washburn (double page), with
portraits between 338, 339
Chas. A. Sutton (with portraits) facing 342
William Sutton
345
Portraits of John M. Carl and Wife .
between 340, 347
Residence of John M. Carl 346, 347
346, 347
Portraits of Charles DeKny Townsend and Wife
523
Portrait of ticorge W. Wires
facing 427
385
390
246, 247
CONTENTS.
7
BIOGRAPHICAL.
PAGE
PAGE
Ashbel G. Post
between 122, 123
Thomas T. Mulford . 316
Judge Chas. B. Stickney
facing 126
John Skinner
317
Col. Franklin Sawyer
135
Richard G. Richards .
317
Hon. John A. Williamson .
141
John Lovoland .
318
Doctor John Tifft
144
William Motson .
318
Ansel Baker
147
F. C. Paine
325
Eri Mesnard
153
A. D. Stotts
326
George Butt
158
Samson and Philip Ilawxhurst
336
Henry G. Washburn .
348
Platt Benedict
William Benson Ellis .
349
Hon. Timothy Baker .
175 John Ellis .
349
Gideon T. Stewart
176
Joseph Sutton
350
Barnard Cortrite
176
William Baker
360
David Harlow Peasc .
177
Isaac De Witt
360
John Laylin
178
Clinton M. Kellogg
361
Caleb 11. Gallup
179 .
Zelotus Barrett .
between 366, 367
Benjamin F. McCormick
facing 196
Dr. A. D. Skellenger .
facing 372
Richard Hindley
206
Isaac P. and Tracy Case
374
William N. Mitchell .
208
Jesse Perkins
375
Dean Clapp
212
E. H. Curtiss
375
Ransom B. Ellsworth
213
David Williams
facing
385
Samuel McCammon, M.D. .
facing 216
Thomas G. Amsden
390
Erastus Smith
Frederick A. Chapman
405
Hiram Smith
225
Gurdon Woodward
407
A. J. Thomas
between 228, 229
The Rev. Moses Hamilton .
409
Thumas Lawrence
facing 230
Amos Woodward
409
Alvin Brightman
233
Richard Lord McCurdy
410
The Newcombs of Bronson
238
Bourdett Wood .
412
David Conger
239
Dr. L. G. Harkness
414
Leister Smith
239
Orrin Dole .
415
Norman S. Hakes
240
D. M. Ilarkness .
416
Timothy Lawrence
240
John II. Niles
421
George Lawrence
241
Charles T. Hester
425
John Buffington .
241
John S. Hester .
426
W. G. Mead
241
Ebenezer Lawrence
427
Martin Denman .
facing 244
James II. Dailey
428
Dudley S. Humphrey .
between 246, 247
A. B. Gilson
428
William Humphrey
246,247 251
Harvey J. Doolittlo
430
Isaac Underhill .
facing 255
Wesley Robinson F. D. Parish
439
John S. Davis .
269
Percival B. Salisbury
469
William A. Bishop
270
Benjamin Summers
facing
479
Henry P. Stentz
271
Milton MeLaughlin
482
Robert G. Martin
271
Hudson Tuttle .
486
Thomas Dickey .
Hon. Almon Ruggles .
487
Salmon Drake
273
488
Reuben Parker .
274
489
Sherman Smith and Wife
Datus Kelley
facing 513
Andrew J. Blackman
Charles Carpenter
46
515
Edwin W. Cunningham
George W. Wires
517
Lucien Jones
facing 286
Roswell Nichols .
518
The Purdy Family
288
Lorenz Müller
between 520, 521
Major Purdy
289
Simon Fox .
520, 521
Huriah Robinson
294
Chas. DeKay Townsend
524
.
John Bowen
429
Dr. Edgar Martin
430
Orrin W. Head .
262
272
Rev. Phineas B. Barber Roxana S. Barber
280
281
282
.
. 225
.
171
Juhn Gardiner ·
173
MAP OF HURON
COUNTY. 0
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F PREPARED EXPRESSLY FOR W. W. WILLIAMS HISTORY OF THE IRE LANDS
JOHNSON'S
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MAP OF
OTTAWA COUNTY
MARGARET
HISTORY
OF
HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES.
BY W. W. WILLIAMS.
CHAPTER I. THE CONNECTICUT WESTERN RESERVE.
THE Western Reserve of Connecticut lies between the parallels of 41° and 42° 2' of north latitude, com- mencing with the western boundary of Pennsylvania and extending thence westward one hundred and twenty miles. The entire tract embraces an area of seven thousand four hundred and forty square miles, nearly one-third of which is covered by the waters of Lake Erie. Within its limits are contained, in whole or in part, thirteen counties, as follows: Ten counties, Ashtabula, Trumbull, Lake, Geauga, Portage, Cuya- hoga, Lorain, Medina, Huron and Erie lie wholly in the Reserve; two others, Summit and Mahoning, are mostly within its limits, the former containing six- teen original townships, only two of which, Franklin and Green, are south of the line, the latter having ten townships north of the Reserve line and five south of it. Ashland county is represented on the Reserve by Sullivan, Troy and Ruggles townships, and Ottawa county by the township of Danbury.
There have been numerous claimants to the soil of the Reserve. In addition to the red man's title, France, England, the United States, Virginia, Massa- chusetts, New York and Connecticut have, at one time or another, asserted ownership.
The claim of France arose by reason of its being a portion of the territory which she possessed by right of discovery.
England laid claim to all territory adjoining those districts lying along the Atlantic seaboard, whose soil she possessed by right of occupancy, asserting owner- ship from sea to sea. The greatest ignorance, how- ever, prevailed in early times as to the inland extent of the American continent. During the reign of James I., Sir Francis Drake reported that from the top of the mountains on the Isthmus of Panama, he had seen both oceans. This led to the belief that the continent from èast to west was of no considerable ex- tent, and that the South Sea, by which appellation the Pacific then was known, did not lie very far
removed from the Atlantic. As late as 1740. the Duke of Newcastle addressed his letters to the "Island of New England." This ignorance of the inland ex- tent of America gave rise, as we shall see, to con- flicting claims of western territory. England's valid title to the great west was obtained through conquest, compelling France, in 1713 and 1763, to surrender nearly the whole of her American possessions.
The United States succeeded Great Britain in her right of ownership in American soil, and thus came to have a claim on the lands of the Reserve. The claims of Virginia, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut were obtained by virtue of charters granted to English subjects by English sovereigns. The tract of country embraced in the London Com- pany's charter, granted by James I. in 1609, whence arose Virginia's claim, commenced its boundaries at old Point Comfort, on the Atlantic, and extended two hundred miles south and two hundred north from this point. From the southernmost point, a line drawn due west to the Pacific formed the south- ern boundary; from the northernmost point, a line running diagonally northwesterly through Pennsyl- vania and western New York, across the eastern portion of Lake Erie, and terminating finally in the Arctic Ocean, formed the northwestern boundary; and the Pacific Ocean, or what was then called the South Sea, the western boundary. The vast empire lying within these four lines included over one half of the North American continent, and embraced all of what was afterwards known as the Northwestern Ter- ritory, including, of course, the lands of the Reserve.
The claim of Massachusetts rested for its validity upon the charter of 1620, granted by James I. to the council of Plymouth, and embraced all the territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific lying between the fortieth and forty-eighth parallels of latitude. This grant comprised an area of more than a million of square miles, and included all of the present inhabited British possessions to the north of the United States, all of what is now New England, New York, one half of New Jersey, very nearly all of Pennsylvania, more
2
(9)
10
HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO.
than the northern half of Ohio, and all the country to the west of those States.
In 1630, the Earl of Warwick obtained a grant to a part of the same territory, and, in the following year, assigned a portion of his grant to Lord Brooke, and Viscounts Say and Seal.
In 1664. Charles II. ceded to his brother, the Duke of York, and afterwards King James II. of England. the country from Delaware bay to the river St. Croix. and afterwards it was insisted that the granted terri- tory extended westward to the Pacific. This consti- tuted New York's claim to western territory. of which the lands of the Reserve were a portion.
In 1662. the same monarch granted to nineteen patentees an ample charter, from which Connecticut derived her claim to a territory bounded by Massa- chusetts on the north, the sea on the south, Narra- gansett bay on the east, but extending to the Pacific on the west. This grant embraced a strip sixty-two miles wide, extending from Narragansett bay on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west, and the north- ern and southern boundaries of this tract were the same as those, in part, which now form the boundaries at the north and south of the Reserve.
Thus arose conflicting claims. The extent of terri- tory to which Virginia insisted she was the rightful owner, was the largest, and included all the other claims. That of Massachusetts was next in size, and included the whole region claimed for Connecticut, as did the territory embraced in New York's claim.
The United States did not appear as a contestant until the time of the revolutionary war, when she, with good reason, insisted that these disputed lands belonged of right to Great Britain's conquerer; that a vacant territory, wrested from a common enemy by the united arms and at the joint expense and sacrifice of all the States, should be considered as the property of the conquering nation, to be held in trust for the common benefit of all the people of all the States. To show how groundless were the claims of these contesting States, it was pointed out that the charters upon which they were founded had in some instances been abrogated by judicial decisions, and the com- panies to which they had been given dissolved; that the charters were given at a time when much of the territory to which ownership was claimed under them was in the actual occupancy of another power; that all the various grants were made in the grossest igno- rance of the inland extent of the American continent; and that George III. had either repudiated the charters of his royal predecessors or denied to them the right of sovereignty over territory of so vast extent by issuing a proclamation forbidding all persons from intruding upon lands in the valley of the Ohio.
Popular feeling ran high. Contentions between conflicting claimants frequently resulted in bloodshed. The prospects of the American Union were darkened; the difficulties and embarrassments in prosecuting the war for independence were greatly augmented. Mary- land would not become a member of the Union unless
the States claiming western territory would relin- quish their title. In the midst of these gloomy and foreboding events, in which disaster to the common canse was more to be feared at the hands of its friends than its enemies, congress made a strong appeal to the claiming States to avert the approaching ‹langer by a cessation of contentious discord among themselves, and by making liberal cessions of western territory for the common benefit.
New York was the first to respond, and, in 1780, ceded to the United States the lands she claimed lying west of a line running sonth from the western bend of Lake Ontario, reserving an area of nineteen thousand square miles. Virginia, in 1784, relin- quished to congress her title to lands lying northwest of the Ohio, reserving a district of land in Ohio lying between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers, which came to be known as the Virginia Military District, which reservation was made in order to enable Vir- ginia to fulfill pledges to her soldiers in the revolu- tionary war of bounties payable in western lands. In 1485, Massachusetts ceded the western territory to which she had been a claimant, reserving the same nineteen thousand square miles reserved by New York, which disputed territory was afterwards divided equally between those two States. Connecticut was the most reluctant and tardy of all the contesting States in sacrificing State pretensions for the common benefit. However, on the 14th day of September, 1786, her authorized delegates in congress relin- quished all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction and claim that she possessed to land within her chartered limits lying west of a line one hundred and twenty miles west of and parallel to the western boundary of Pennsylvania. This one hundred and twenty mile tract was not conveyed, but reserved, by Connecticut, and hence the name of Connecticut Western Reserve.
As Connecticut's claim included nearly the whole of the northern half of the present State of Pennsyl- vania, it infringed upon the rights of the people of that State, who alleged ownership by virtue of a charter to William Penn granted by James II. of England, in 1681. Both States strove for the occu- pancy of the disputed soil, and Connecticut sold to certain individuals seventeen townships, situated on or near the Susquehanna river, organized the tract into a civil township, and attached it to the probate district and county of Litchfield, in Connecticut. Westmoreland representatives occupied seats in the Connecticut legislature. [Pennslyvania protested and, when the revolutionary contest closed, sent an armed force to drive the intruders from the lands. The shedding of blood resulted. The controversy was finally submitted to a court of commissioners ap- pointed by congress, on the petition of Pennsylvania, as provided in the ninth article of the Confederation, which gave to congress the power to establish a court. for the settlement of disputed boundaries. This court sat at Trenton, New Jersey, in 1287, when the case was tried and decided against Connecticut. The
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HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO.
title to lands lying west of Pennsylvania was not in- volved in this adjudication, and Connecticut still insisted upon the validity of her claim to lands not ceded by her to the United States.
At a session of the Connecticut legislature held at New Haven, in 1786 and 1787, it was resolved to offer for sale that part of the Reserve lying east of the Cnyahoga, the Portage path and the Tuscarawas, and a committee of three persons was appointed to cause a survey to be made and to negotiate a sale. Nothing, however, was immediately done. On the 10th of February, 1788, however, certain lands lying within the limits of the Reserve were sold to General Samuel H. Parsons, then of Middletown, Connecticut. This was afterwards known as the salt spring tract, General Parsons having explored the country and had found the location of a salt spring near the Mahoning. He selected a tract including the spring and containing abont twenty-five thousand acres.
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