Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 7

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others
Publication date: 1905
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1149

USA > Ohio > Butler County > Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio > Part 7

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"The subscriber intends going out him-

That by such transfer to your petitioner and his associates, on their complying with the terms of sale, the fee may pass of all the lands lying within the following limits, to-wit: Beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river; thence running up the Ohio to the mouth of the Little Miami river; thence up the main stream of the Little Miami river to the place where a due west line to be continued from the western termination of. the northern boundary line of the grant to

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Messrs. Sargent, Cutler & Company shall intersect said Little Miami river; thence due west, continu- ing the said western line to the place where the said line shall intersect the main branch or stream of the Great Miami river; thence down the Great Miami to the place of beginning.

(Signed)

JOHN C. SYMMES. New York, 29th August, 1787.

Ordered, That the above petition be referred to the board of treasury, to take order. .

The conditions are, that the tract shall be surveyed, and its contents ascertained by the geog- rapher or some other officer of the United States, who shall plainly mark the said east and west line, and shall render one complete plat thereof to the board of treasury, and another to the pur- chaser or purchasers. The purchaser or pur- chasers, within seven years from the completion of this work (unless the frequency of Indian ir- ruptions may render the same in a measure im- practicable), shall lay off the whole tract at their own expense into townships, and fractional parts. of townships, and divide the same into lots, ac- cording to the land ordinance of the 20th of May, 1785; complete returns whereof shall be made to the treasury board. The lot number 16 in each township, or fractional part of a township, to be given perpetually for the purposes contained in the said ordinance. The lot number 29 in each township to be given perpetually for the purposes of religion. The lots number 8, 11 and 26, in each township or fractional part of a township, to be reserved for the future disposition of congress. One complete township to be given perpetually for the purposes of an academy or college, to be laid off by the purchaser or purchasers, as nearly opposite to the mouth of Licking river as an entire township may be found eligible in point of soil and situation, to be applied to the intended object by the legislature of the state.

The price to be one dollar per acre for the .contents of the said tract, excepting the reserva- tions and gifts aforesaid, payable in specie, loan office certificates reduced to specie value, or certifi- cates of liquidated debts of the United States, sub- ject to a reduction by an allowance for bad lands, and all incidental charges and circumstances whatsoever, one-third of a dollar per acre; and in making payment, the principal only of the said certificates shall be admitted. And the board of

treasury, for such interest as may be due on the certificates rendered in payment as aforesaid, prior to the 1st of January, 1786, shall issue in- dents for interest to the possessors, which shall be receivable in payment as other indents for in- terest of the existing requisitions of congress; and for such interest as may be due on the said certifi- cates, between that period and the period of pay- ment, the said board shall issue indents, the pay- ment of which to be provided for in future requisi- tions, or otherwise.

Such of the purchasers as may possess rights for bounties of land to the late continental army, to be permitted to render the same in discharge of the contract, acre for acre, provided that the aggregate of such rights shall not exceed one-sev- enth part of the land to be paid for; and provided also, that there shall be no future claim against the United States on account of the said rights.

Two hundred thousand dollars of the purchase money to be paid down upon closing the contract, and two hundred thousand dollars more within one month after the delivery of the return or sur- vey of the tract, to be made by the geographer or other officer as aforesaid. The residue of the money to be paid by the purchaser or purchasers, in six equal half-yearly payments, to be computed from the time when the second payment becomes due, together with the interest thereon from the date of the second payment.

When the second payment is made, the pur- chaser shall receive a deed for six hundred thou- sand acres, exclusive of the reserved and given lands, the survey whereof to begin at the mouth of the Great Miami at one end, and at the inter- section of the northern boundary line with the Great Miami at the other end, and extending east- wardly from the Great Miami on a meridian line to be drawn from north to south lengthways of the tract, until six hundred thousand acres exclu- sive of the given and reserved lots are included between the Great Miami and such north and south line. Further proportional grants shall be made to the purchasers, from time to time, as the subse- quent payments are discharged, always drawing a line from north to south parallel with the first line, from end to end of the tract, until the whole of the land purchased be granted by deed to the purchasers, their heirs and assigns forever.

The purchaser, or purchasers, on the payment of the first two hundred thousand dollars, shall have a right to enter and occupy a portion of the land not exceeding three hundred thousand acres,

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BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO.

exclusive of the given and reserved township and lots, which privilege shall be enlarged from time to time, as future payments may be made by the purchasers. Thus far the agreement.

The public, by the foregoing being made ac- quainted with the nature of the contract entered into between the honorable the commissioners of the treasury board, and the subscriber, for him- self and associates, the subscriber begs leave to communicate to such gentlemen as are desirous of becoming his associates, the scheme adopted for sale and settlement, which shall be considered as fundamental thereto, by every purchaser and set- tler.

The first necessary measure is to raise two hundred thousand dollars in liquidated certifi- cates in order to discharge the first payment, which must be made previous to any entry or settlement on the land.

For this purpose, land warrants will be issued by the subscriber, or other person appointed, for any number of acres not less than one hundred and sixty, or a quarter part of a section, and al- ways making the warrant for a township, section, or quarter part of a section, authorizing the per- son purchasing the same, his heirs or assigns to elect and choose, in his own person or by his or their agents, such township or lot, or quarter of a lot, as may be most agreeable to the holder of the warrant; provided the same township or lot, or quarter of a lot be not previously located and en- tered on record by a prior applicant.

A map, as accurate as can be drawn before an actual survey is made, may be seen with the subscriber, on which any person may make their election of a township, lot, or quarter of a lot which shall be attended to as far as may be possi- ble, after the tract is surveyed into township and sections, and the elected townships, lots or quar- ter of lots, shall be noted in the true map of the premises as soon as the same can be made. When the survey thereof is accomplished, a plat or map of the land paid for at the treasury board will lie before the register at his office, to be kept on the ground, in which every township or fractional part of a township will be fairly laid down and numbered; and every township, lot, or quarter of a lot, when applied for at the register's office, and nowhere else after actual survey, shall be immediately recorded, as sold to the person or persons to whom the warrant belongs, which shall be produced to cover the sale. And the township, lot, or quarter of a lot, so elected, shall be marked

on the map to prevent any mistake in subsequent "location; provided always that no section be di- vided when the warrant contains a sufficient num- ber of acres to cover the whole section.

Two-thirds of a dollar per acre, in liquidated certificates, exclusive of the interest due on such certificates, to be paid by the purchaser on the receipt of a land warrant; and for the interest due on all certificates, indents are to issue at the treas- ury board, which shall be returned by the subscrib- er to the right owners of such certificates; regular accounts thereof shall be kept. But the subscriber recommends, as the better way, that each holder of certificate should apply to the loan officer of the state in which he lives, and first draw up his interest fully, in indents of facilities before he presents them in payment for the land warrant; yet, if this be inconvenient, the subscriber will see that justice is done touching the interest.

After the 1st day of May next, the price of the land will be one dollar per acre, and after the 1st day of November next the price will rise still higher, if the country is settled as fast as is expected. The certificates raised by the augmenta- tion in the price shall be applied towards the mak- ing of roads and bridges in the Purchase.

One penny proclamation, or the ninetieth of a dollar, per acre, in specie of bills of credit of the state of New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania must be paid by the purchaser at the time of pur- chasing the land warrant. This fee of one penny per acre is to defray the expense of surveying the country into townships and lots, agreeably to the land ordinance. And one farthing proclamation, or the one hundred and sixtieth part of a dollar per acre, in specie or paper money aforesaid, to be paid by the purchaser to defray the expense of printing the land warrants, purchasing proper books for record, accommodating and paying the register for his services in attending to the record- ing of entries, and other incidental charges which will necessarily accrue.

In addition to the petition of Judge Symmes, heretofore published, there was an agreement made between the "Board of Treasury of the United States" and himself, in the following terms

This indenture of three parts, made the 15th day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thou- sand seven hundred and eighty eight, between

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Samuel Osgood, Walter Livingston, and Arthur Lee, Esquires, commissioners of the board of treasury of the United States of America, acting by and under the authority of the honorable the congress of the said states, of the first part, the honorable Jonathan Dayton, and Daniel Marsh, of the state of New Jersey, Esquires, of the second part, and the honorable John Cleves Symmes, of the same state, Esquire, of the third :- Whereas, the United States in congress assembled, in and by their several resolutions and votes of the 23d and 27th days of July, and the 23d day of October, the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven of the same of them, did author- ize and empower the board of treasury of the aforesaid to contract with any person or persons for grants of any tracts of land in the said resolu- tions mentioned, upon such terms and conditions, under such reservations, and with such excep- tions, as in the said resolutions and the papers therein referred to, are specified and expressed. And whereas, by virtue of the said resolutions and votes, or some of them, the said partie's of the first part have contracted and agreed with the said parties, of the second part, in behalf of the said John Cleves Symmes, and his associates, for the grant of a tract of land, hereinafter mentioned, that is to say: all that certain tract or parcel of land, situate, lying, and being in the western country, adjoining to the river Ohio, beginning on the bank of the same river, at a spot exactly twenty miles distant, along the several courses of the same, from the place where the great river. Miami empties into the said river Ohio; from thence, extending down the said river Ohio, along the several courses thereof, to the Great Miami river; thence up the said river Miami, along the several courses thereof, to a place from whence a line drawn due east will intersect a line drawn from the place of beginning aforesaid, parallel with the general course of the Great Miami river, so as to include one million of acres within those lines and the said rivers; and from that place upon the said great river Miami, extending along such lines to the place of beginning, containing, as aforesaid, one million acres, etc.

The original proposition made by Judge Symmes was to purchase all the lands lying between the Miami rivers; to which he believed the board of treasury had as- sented. The written contract. it is noted,

established the eastern boundary, commenc- ing at a point on the Ohio river twenty miles distant from the mouth of the Great Miami river by the several courses of the Ohio, and from thence running northwardly, parallel with the general course of the Great Miami river for quantity. Mr. Symmes had sold the principal part of the land lying be- tween that boundary and the Little Miami river. In order to obtain relief from these embarrassing difficulties. he repaired to Philadelphia. then the seat of government. in the spring of 1792. and in the first place petitioned congress to alter his contract in such manner that it might extend from the Great Miami river to the Little Miami river .. In pursuance of his application. congress passed a law, dated April 12. 1792, entitled "An act for ascertaining the bounds of a tract of land purchased by John Cleves Sym- mes." which law "authorized the President of the United States, at the request of John Cleves Symmes, to alter the contract made between him and the board of treasury" in such manner that the said tract of land may extend from the mouth of the Great Miami to the mouth of the Little Miami, and be bounded by the river Ohio on the south, by the Great Miami on the west, by the Little Miami on the east, and by a parallel of lati- tude on the north, extending from the Great Miami to the Little Miami, so as to comprehend the proposed quantity of one million acres. However, as a -condition for granting this indulgence, Mr. Symmes was required to relinquish to the United States fifteen acres of land in Cincinnati, contigu- ous to Fort Washington for the accommo- dlation of the garrison at that fort. This was done in the same instrument of writing which ratified the alteration. By this alter-

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BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO.

ation of the contract a large number of meritorious persons, who had purchased of Judge Symmes, were secured in their lands and their improvements.

This objection being secured, Mr. Sym- mes immediately presented another petition to congress, praying for the passage of a law authorizing the President of the United States to convey to him by letters patent as much of the land contained in his contract as he might then be able to pay for. 'A law was passed to that effect on May 5, 1792.

On a settlement made with John Cleves Symmes, at the treasury department, it was ascertained that two hundred and forty- eight thousand five hundred and forty acres had been paid for: but. in consequence of the reservation of the college townships, fifteen acres contiguous to Fort Washington, and other reserved sections within the limits of the grant, the boundaries of the whole tract, as required to be conveyed to him, would contain three hundred and eleven thousand six hundred and eighty-two acres. The draft of a patent was made by Alex- ander Hamilton, the secretary of the treas- ury. When it was presented to Judge Sym- mes he objected to it because it conveyed the land to him and his associates and not to himself alone, and insisted on having it altered. The secretary refused to change it, and an appeal was made to the President, who, after a careful examination of the sub- ject, decided that the patent was in strict conformity with the contract of Mr. Sym- mes and his associates, and the act of con- gress on which it issued. He therefore re- fused to interfere, and Judge Symmes was obliged to accept it in the manner it had been drawn. The patent is signed by George Washington, the President, under

the seal of the United States, and dated the 30th day of September, 1794.

The following is an extract from the patent of John C. Symmes and his associ- ates :

It is hereby declared, that one complete town- ship or tract of land, of six miles square, to be located, with the approbation of the governor, for the time being, of the territory northwest of the river Ohio, and in the manner, and within the term of five years aforesaid, as nearly as may be, in the center of the tract of land herein before granted, hath been, and is granted, and shall be holden, in trust; to and for the sole and exclusive intent and purpose, of erecting and establishing therein, an academy and other public schools, and seminaries of learning; and endowing and sup- porting the same, and to and for no other use, intent or purpose whatever.

The northern boundary of the tract was required to be surveyed and marked by Judge Symmes or his associates from cer- tain points on the Great and Little Miami rivers, to be fixed and established by Israel Ludlow, according to a survey made by him of the courses of those rivers. under the direction of the department of the treasury : a certificate of which survey, dated the 24th day of March, 1794, was then on file in the treasury department. This line, com- monly called the patent line, commences on the Great Miami river, a few rods north of the mouth of Dick's creek, below Amanda, in Butler county, and runs east through the first tier of sections in the fourth range, about one-third of a mile north of the northern boundary of the third or mili- tary range.

Judge Symmes, having obtained his .patent, returned to the Miami country and commenced the issuing of deeds to those to whom he had sold land. On the 30th of

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October, 1794, he made a deed to Jonathan generally was within the patent. In the Dayton for the whole of the entire range known as the military range, and containing, according to the calculations of Israel Lud- low, sixty-four thousand three hundred and forty-five acres and a half, exclusive of sec- tions numbered 8, 11, 16, 26 and 29, which had been reserved in each township accord- ing to the contract made with Mr. Sym- mes. The consideration is stated in the dleed to have been $42,897 of military land warrants paid into the treasury of the United States.

When congress passed the law in 1792 relative to Symmes's purchase, it was un- derstood by them that arrangements then made terminated the contract of 1788, but as no formal release was taken from Judge Symmes he considered his contract still in existence, and felt that he could rely on a further fulfillment of it on the part of con- gress. As the northern boundary line of the patent extended only a short distance into the fourth range, a large quantity of land previously sold by Mr. Symmes was not covered by it. In addition to this, on his return from Philadelphia he continued his sales, and disposed of the land within every part of his contract to any person who made application in the same manner that had been done before.

meantime Judge Symmes's right began to be questioned by the settlers. They began to fear for their safety, and insisted that Mr. Symmes should take measures for their security. Finding that he could pacify them no longer, he concluded to make another application to congress, and in the fall of 1796 went to Philadelphia. He took with him about one hundred thousand dollars in money to pay to the government, and induce them to recognize the obligation of his con- tract, and spent the winter there in fruitless attempts to induce them to receive the money. The government held that the ar- rangement of 1792 was a final adjustment of all his claims. Finding that there was not the most distant hope of success, Judge Symmes abandoned his claim in despair, leaving the purchasers whose lands were not covered by his patent to seek the best remedy in their power. In this situation they found themselves completely in the power of the government, and liable to be driven out at any moment. They presented their case to congress, and prayed relief. In 1799 an act was passed in their favor. This law secured to all persons who had made written contract with Judge Symmes prior to April 1, 1799, and whose lands were not comprehended in his patent. a preference over all others at two dollars per acre. In 1801 an amendatory law was passed, ex- tending the right of pre-emption to all who had purchased and made written contracts previous to the first day of January. 1800.

In this way the largest portion of the tract originally purchased had passed from Mr. Symmes, and was claimed by others, many of whom were residing on and improv- ing the land. The towns of Middletown. Franklin and Dayton had been laid out and Outside of the land patents granted to John Cleves Symmes and his associates, the first record there is of lands transferred in territory now embraced in Butler county is settled; mills had been erected, homes built and orchards planted. In fact, for miles north of the patent line the country was as thickly settled and as well improved as it found in a record of Hamilton county, of

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BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO.

which Butler was then a part. We beg the and forty acres in Fairfield township, section pardon of the reader if these musty docu- ments are jejune, but it is necessary that some of them be quoted, to lay a foundation, as the lawyers would say, for what is to fol- low.

In October, 1795, transfers of lands were made by John Cleves Symmes to S. Johnson, G. Sutton, I. N. Cummings and Benjamin Ludlow. Those transactions all took place on the 23d and 24th days of that month. They bear the signatures of the grantors, John Cleves Symmes and Susan his wife, and of Aaron Caldwell, one of the common pleas judges of the territory, and the deeds were acknowledged before Rich- ard Young and John O. Cannon, justices of the peace in Woodford county, Kentucky. In November of the same year further trans- fers of property were made, wherein Jona- than Dayton and Daniel Marsh acted in be- half of John Cleves Symmes, and it appears from the frequency of transfers on the rec- ord that the fall of 1795 was the time when active settlement of the Miami began.

It was natural that such should be the fact. Settlers had been fearful of life and property up to 1793. While the Indians had never made a fighting ground of this val- ley, through fear of Boone, Kenton, and the Indian figliters of Kentucky, yet the strip between the two Miamis was debatable ter- ritory which few cared to occupy. Little Turtle's defeat of St. Clair made this section still more insecure, and after Wayne's vic- tory in 1793 it took fully two years to assure the pioneers that that victory had secured the fair land they desired beyond all molesta- tion.

The first transfer was to Samuel John- son, and comprised a tract of six hundred

18, town 2, range 2. This property will be better located if the late owners are named as having been in succession Philip Hughes, F. R. Vinnedge, Jonathan Combs and James Beatty. This tract was sold at that time for, as the deed runs, "four hundred and twenty-six dollars, in certificates of debts due from the limited states to him in' hand well and truly paid by the said Samuel Johnson, the receipt whereof the said John Cleves Symmes doth hereby acknowledge, and thereof and thereupon doth clearly acquit, exonerate and discharge the said Samuel Johnson," etc. It would seem from the careful drawing of the deed that United States certificates of debts did not stand high in the market.

The second transfer to G. Sutton and others of the north half of section 15, town 3. range 2, being lands in Union township. and portions of which have been lately owned by Daniel Jones, Alonzo McGrew, Perry Snider and J. P. P. Peck.

The fourth sale was to Richard Runyan, and comprised section 24. town 2, range 2, being lands lately or now owned by J. B. Gilmore, James Beatty, Wilson J. McGree- vey and others.

The fifth transfer, to J. N. Cummings, is for the fourth, the tenth, and the seven- teenth sections, in town 2, range 2, and is for the consideration of "eighteen hundred . liquidated certificate dollars." This indi- cates clearly a difference between the money in which the other lands were paid for as compared with that tendered for these lands. It is evident that there was a class of pre- ferred securities, for one is mentioned as a "certificate of debts," and the other a "liqui- dated certificate dollars." Part of this prop-

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Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio, Part 7

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1149

Author: Bert S. Bartlow, W. H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, Frederick Schneider, and others
Publication date: 1905
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1149