USA > Ohio > Ohio in the time of the Confederation > Part 8
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If any township, or fractional part of a township, or lot, remains unsold for 18 months after the plat shall have been received, by the commissioners of the loan-office, the same shall be returned to the board of treasury, and shall be sold in such manner as Congress may hereafter direct.
And whereas Congress, by their resolutions of September 16th and 18th, in the year 1776, and the 12th of August, 1780, stipulated grants of lands to certain officers and soldiers of the late continental army, and by the resolution of the 22d September, 1780, stipulated grants of land to certain officers in
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the hospital department of the late continental army ; for complying therefore with such engagements, Be it ordained, That the secretary at war, from the re- turns in his office, or such other sufficient evidence as the nature of the case may admit, determine who are the objects of the above resolutions and engage- ments, and the quantity of land to which such per- sons or their representatives are respectively en- titled, and cause the townships, or fractional parts of townships, hereinbefore reserved for the use of the late continental army, to be drawn for in such manner as he shall deem expedient, to answer the purpose of an impartial distribution. He shall, from time to time, transmit certificates to the commis- sioners of the loan offices of the different states, to the lines of which the military claimants have re- spectively belonged, specifying the name and rank of the party, the terms of his engagement and time of his service, and the division, brigade regiment or company to which he belonged, the quantity of land he is entitled to, and the township, or fractional part of a township, and range out of which his portion is to be taken.
The commissioners of the loan-offices shall exe- cute deeds for such undivided proportions in manner and form herein before-mentioned, varying only in such a degree as to make the same conformable to the certificate from the secretary at war.
Where any military claimants of bounty in lands shall not have belonged to the line of any particular state, similar certificates shall be sent to the board of treasury, who shall execute deeds to the parties for the same.
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The secretary at war, from the proper returns, shall transmit to the board of treasury, a certifi- cate, specifying the name and rank of the several claimants of the hospital department of the late con- tinental army, together with the quantity of land each claimant is entitled to, and the township, or fractional part of a township, and range out of which his portion is to be taken; and thereupon the board of treasury shall proceed to execute deeds to such claimants.
The board of treasury, and the commissioners of the loan-offices in the states, shall, within 18 months, return receipts to the secretary at war, for all deeds which have been delivered, as also all the original deeds which remain in their hands for want of ap- plicants, having been first recorded; which deeds so returned, shall be preserved in the office, until the parties or their representatives require the same.
And be it further ordained, That three townships adjacent to lake Erie be reserved, to be hereafter disposed of by Congress, for the use of the officers, men, and others, refugees from Canada, and the refugees from Nova-Scotia, who are or may be en- titled to grants of land under resolutions of Con- gress now existing, or which may hereafter be made respecting them, and for such other purposes as Congress may hereafter direct.
And be it further ordained, That the towns of Gnadenhuten, Schoenbrun and Salem, on the Mus- kingum, and so much of the land adjoining to the said towns, with the buildings and improvements thereon, shall be reserved for the sole use of the Christian Indians, who were formerly settled there,
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or the remains of that society, as may, in the judg- ment of the geographer, be sufficient for them to cultivate.
Saving and reserving always, to all officers and soldiers entitled to lands on the northwest side of the Ohio, by donation or bounty from the common- wealth of Virginia, and to all persons claiming under them, all rights to which they are so entitled, under the deed of cession executed by the delegates for the state of Virginia, on the first day of March, 1784, and the act of Congress accepting the same: and to the end, that the said rights may be fully and effectually secured, according to the true intent and meaning of the said deed of cession and act aforesaid, Be it ordained, that no part of the land included between the rivers called Little Miami and Sciota, on the northwest of the river Ohio, be sold, or in any man- ner alienated, until there shall first have been laid off and appropriated for the said officers and sol- diers, and persons claiming under them, the lands they are entitled to, agreeably to the said deed of cession and act of Congress accepting the same.
Done by the United States in Congress assembled, the 20th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1785, and of our sovereignty and independenec the ninth.
Charles Thompson, Secretary.
RICHARD H. LEE, President
PART TWO Ohio in the Papers of the Continental Congress 47
XVIII
COLLES' PETITION TO IMPROVE OHIO RIVER NAVI- GATION (1783) 48
To the Honourable the Delagates of the United States of America in Congress assembled.
The humble Petition of Christopher Colles Sheweth,
That your petitioner from a consideration of the vast extent of the interior parts of this rising Em- pire is of opinion that a source of wealth & greatness must speedily be open'd to this fertile country, if the natural defects were removed by art, & the water carriage improved by Inland Navigations.
That by a careful examination of Cap" Hutchins's
47 The following miscellaneous documents from the Papers of the Continental Congress in the Library of Congress throw light on various phases of Ohio Valley history in the years 1783-1787, par- ticularly on the activities of Thomas Hutchins and his assistants who were surveying the Seven Ranges and on the people south and west of the Ohio who desired land in what are now Ohio and Indiana. Under this general title were filed all communications, petitions and reports made to Congress; they are to be distinguished from the Journals of Congress which comprise the reports of proceedings and have been published.
48 From the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 42, ii, 168. Christopher Colles (1738-1816), eminent Irish-American engineer, was publicly advocating canal lock-navigation as early as 1772; was prominent in urging New York State to improve the Mohawk route to Lake Erie by showing in 1784 the commercial advantages to be derived, using the same argument as he here uses with Congress con- cerning western trade.
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new Map of the River Ohio, the Book which he has published,49 & from other information which your petitioner has receiv'd it appears, that that great river is now navigable for large flat bottom boats from Fort Pitt to the Ocean, except a small distance (not more than half a mile) where the Navigation is obstructed with such rapids as render it very danger- ous for any vessels to pass down, except at the time of the floods which last but a very inconsiderable part of the year.50
That your Petitioner is of opinion that the expence of improving the Navigation of these rapids (in the manner practiced in England & other parts of Eu- rope) is perfectly inconsiderable when compared with the vast advantage which would result from putting such a design in Execution; & it appears to him that nothing can contribute to populate all the upper part of that great & extensive country so much, as the prosecution of this business.
That your Petitioner begs leave to observe that the Kentuck river falls into the Ohio Seventy miles above these Rapids, & he is therefore clearly of opin- ion that the numerous settlers in these parts would have their property much advanced by this under- taking. -
Your petitioner also apprehend that many other advantages may be directly & speedily obtain'd by the prosecution of this design, a design which for the
49 "A map of the country on the Ohio & Muskingum rivers shew- ing the situation of the Indian towns with respect to the army under the command of Colonel Bouquet." In An Historical Account of the Expedition against the Ohio Indians in the Year 1764. Phila., 1765.
50 "The Falls" at Louisville, Ky.
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facility of its execution may be only considered as an essay, but for the extent of its consequences high- ly beneficial, as it would improve an extent of coun- try full 700 Miles in Diameter, -by a further prose- cution may extend its influence to Lake Erie, & will most certainly spread the luxurious branches of com- merce to an amazing distance on all points of the compass. -
Your Petitioner begs leave to observe that it is highly probable many useful communications may be made hereafter between the head branches of the Monongahela & Allegany, & some of the upper waters of the Potomack & Susquehanna, whereby a great trade may be drawn from these parts to the settled parts of this country: But the execution of these design when duly consider'd will be found to cost more than the design before mentioned, or the country can now afford. -
Your Petitioner therefore prays that your honours will take the premisses into consideration & make him a Grant of Lands on the Rapids of Ohio, for which he will make such payment as are usually al- lowed for other crown lands, & he will engage to for- ward the proposed improvement with all possible speed, & will make application to proper authority for a Law to establish a Company, & to regulate the Tolls, for the passage of vessels thro these works.
And your Petitioner will Pray.
Christopher Colles.
[Indorsed:] Petition of Christ. Colles for facilitating the naviga- tion of Ohio. - Read July 4. 1783 .-
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XIX
PETITION TO SETTLE OHIO LANDS (1784) 51 To the Honourable Congress of the United States of America now sitting at Trenton -
The humble petition of the Inhabitants residing near the Ohio River and frontiers of the States of Pennsylvania and Virginia, having flattered our- selves with the pleasing hopes that when the Lands were disposed of on the other side of the Ohio River, that we should meet with every Indulgence in par- ticular that of Locating of Lands and time allowed us for the payment of the monies for Sª Lands, but to our surprise we have seen a late ordinance of Con- gress published for consideration wherein no man can take out a warrant for less than Eight hundred and fifty acres, which we apprehend is more than many of the people on our frontiers are able to pur- chase who would be glad to become Adventurers, whose time has been taken up during the late war, Not in heaping up of Treasure but in stoping the inrodes of the savages. we humbly beg leave to in- form your Hors:, that we pray that each one may be
51 From the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 42, vi, 106. In our introduction to vol. i of these Collections (xxi-xxiv) we noted the arrival, as early as 1779, of the first white men (not counting French and Moravian missionaries and traders) to build homes in what is now Ohio. The virile democracy both of those who came and those who petitioned Congress to be allowed to come is voiced in the petitions herein printed. Before January 21, 1785, these "squat- ters" violated Indian sovereignty; after that date they violated the deeree of Congress which had ordered that region to be surveyed be- fore sales were made. In these petitions we have a new expression from what Howell called the "Gods of the Mountains" in relation to the "tyrants" of the East who were placing wise limitations on the expansion movement into the unoccupied West.
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indulged with taking out Warrants according to his abilities, and locating the same in what manner they shall see fit-and your petitioners in duty bound will ever Pray. -
The 30th october 1784
Benjn Davis
John McDonnell
Jos Ogle
W Scott
Henry Nellson
Derick Hogland
J. P. Gillespie
Absolem Sparkes
Morgan Vandewater
Andrew Ramsey
Andrew Fowts
James Mas-
George McCoy
John Huff
William foster
Stepn Jn Francis
andrew Zane
John Ramsey
James Andrews
Conrad Troup
John Rigdon
Fredk Lamb
Chas Beebe
Jacob Paul
Aaron Delong
Charles Wells
William Mcintire
John Green
Wm Briggs
Samuel fulton
Bennet Truly
Wm Lamb
William Walker
Silas Hedges
Francis Huff
Joseph Farr
John Vanmater
Peter Cox
Daniel Cannon
Patrick McGahan
Joseph Cox
Harmon Greathouse
Zakries Sprigs
John Cox
Harmon Greathouse
John Vanbuskirk
John Sweet
Junr
Louis Vanbuskirk
Vincin Calvin
James Cunningham
Joseph Wells
Joseph Forman
William Cunningham
William Sloane
Thomas Forman
Jonathan Greathouse
Benjm Doolittle
Johannes Veller
Isaac Greathouse
David Hannah
William Wood
David Cox
Roger Curragan
Andrew Wood
John Williams
thomas Strait Back
Hezekiah Wood
Ralph Cherry
William McMahan
Luther Calvin
Mathias Kern
Tell Soloman
Charles Stinson
Peter Kern
Jno McCormick
William Sparks
James Wells
Jas Miller
Richard Wood
John Wilkin
Moses Chapline
John Wood
James Black
Rich :d Poslethwait
John Lemon
Thomas Buell
William West
John Smart
John McMichel
George Cox
Abraham Leforge
Abraham faith
Abraham Cuppy
Abraham Leforge Junr
Thomas Faith Jas Benford
John McCoy
Abraham Wood
John Tilton
Joseph Wood
Andrew memichael
James parks
David Wood
John Lucky
Absalam Wells
David Ritchey
John Faith
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Jonathan Cox
Joshua Harbin
William Anderson
James Parks Jur
John Crow
John Bonnet
Nathaniel West
Edward Gibbs
Wm Paterson
Benjamin Martin
Ignatius Jones
John Wilson
John Means
William West
Samuel Biggart
William hana
William Williams
John Ramsey Gerford Caius
William Ross
Hugh Chain
James Fleming Alexr Robinsen
Walter Cain
George White
James Cuningham
John Winand
Moses Curry
Henry Down
John Cochran
Jams White
Isreal Cox
eilliam Carson
Joseph Winley
XX
HUTCHINS TO CONGRESS (1785) 52
Sir
I have the honor to inform Congress of my return from ascertaining the Boundary Line between Vir- ginia and Pennsylvania, for which purpose the As- sent of Congress was signified to me by his Excel- lency the late president. -
The Information I have acquired on this Service
52 From the Papers of the Continental Congress, no. 60, 177. Thomas Hutchins (1730-1788), a native of New Jersey, was the first "geographer of the United States." He went west in boyhood and became ensign, paymaster-general, and deputy-engineer in the British army. He laid out Fort Pitt, under General Bouquet, whose expedi- tion he described and mapped (see Note 49). Later he lived in Louisiana and published a map and description of Louisiana and West Florida. At the outbreak of the Revolution, being in London,. he resigned his commission, was imprisoned, and penniless, reached. France and finally the United States. Congress appointed him Geo- grapher in 1781, and he directed all surveys, especially those under· the Ordinance of 1785, though he died before their completion. - See. "A Topographical Description of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland,. and North Carolina" edited by Frederick Charles Hicks. Cleveland, 1904.
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will I hope be of considerable Benefit to the United States-I now wait on them for their Commands. Intreating that the Report of the Committee on my Memorial and Petition to Congress of the 8th of Sept 1783 may be previously acted upon.53
I have the Honor to be with the greatest Respect Your Excellency's most obedient hble Servant
New York 7th March 1785- Tho : Hutchins
His Excellency the President of Congress. -
[Indorsed:] Letter 7 March 1785 Thos Hutchins Referred to
Mr Houstiwn
Mr Beatty Mr Howell
with report May 25, 1785
XXI
CALL FOR ELECTION OF DELEGATES TO FORM A STATE CONVENTION WEST OF THE OHIO RIVER (1785) 54
March 12, 1785.
ADVERTISEMENT
Notice is hereby given to the inhabitants of the west side of the Ohio River that there is to be an
53 The Memorial of Thomas Hutchins, Papers of the Continental Congress, no. 41, iv, p. 107.
54 Reprinted from W. H. Smith, The St. Clair Papers, ii, 5. This well-known but remarkable document containing the very essence of western democracy assured the national authorities that something
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election for the choosing of members of the conven- tion for the framing of a constitution for the govern- ing of the inhabitants, the election to be held on the 10th day of April next ensuing, viz: one election to be held at the mouth of the Miami River, and one to be held at the mouth of the Scioto River, and one on the Muskingum River, and one at the dwelling-house of Jonas Menzons; the members to be chosen to meet at the mouth of the Scioto on the twentieth day of the same month.
I do certify that all mankind agreeable to every constitution formed in America, have an undoubted right to pass into every vacant country, and there to form their constitution, and that from the confed- eration of the whole United States, Congress is not empowered to forbid them, neither is Congress em- powered from that confederation to make any sale of the uninhabited lands to pay the public debts, which is to be by a tax levied and lifted (collected) by authority of the Legislature of each State.
John Emerson [Amberson]
more was necessary to preserve the integrity of the "Seven Ranges" than mild words and lukewarm attention. The author's name is usually given as Emerson but John Armstrong gives it as Amberson in his letter of April 12th (Doc. xxiv). Amberson's Bottom was a well-known point on the Ohio River in the Ohio Company's Pur- chase - cf. vol. i, 122. This "Advertizement" takes on fresh sig- nificance when compared with a petition from the people to whom it was addressed herein printed for the first time (Doc. xxiii). A com- parison shows that while Amberson's coterie were boisterously in- surgent, many others were ready to petition Congress humbly for succor and support. It is not difficult to hazard the opinion that, with the uprooting of the squatter settlements between March 31st and April 12th, described in the following documents, the recalcitrant Amberson refused to cross the Ohio and then made a settlement on the river bottom which bore his name when the Ohio Company settle- ment was made in 1788.
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XXII
WESTERN STATE PROPOSED BY THE DEPUTIES OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA (1785) 55
Washington County April 7th 1785
Sir
They Deputies of the good people of this County being deeply impressed with a sense of the situation of their Constituents; the value of their Civil and Religious Rights; with the advantages of local Con- stitutions, and the American Union: They cannot remain indifferent Spectators of Measures, that must eventually affect their dearest interests. We have maturely considered several Acts of Con- gress, -respecting the Western Country : and have been constant observors of the proceedings of some of the Southern States, claiming jurisdiction over it; and the result of our enquiries and observations are; that the Western Inhabitants, can no longer be safe, or useful in Society, without the protecting Arm of the foederal government, and the privileges of an independent State. The thinking part of the Com- munity, are particularly anxious to part with the ancient Stock the eastern parts of Virginia in friend- ship and good humour, to introduce and maintain a reciprocity of kind offices with her, and in reality be one people in a national view.
When we turn our eyes to the Acts of your honor- able Body-our prospects are enlarged: The Ar- ticles in that of the Twenty third day of April last,56 will form a basis for a liberal and beneficial Com-
55 From the Papers of the Continental Congress, no. 48, 297.
56 The Ordinance of 1784 (Doc. XV).
PARTIR DU LAC FRIE
PARTIE DES TERRES APPARTENANTES) AUCONNECTICUT
LVANIE
Penisallvause
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DES ACHATS DES COMPAGNIES DE L'OHIO ET DU SCIOTO
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acquis par des untervidur, y
ne ceprés depuis 1- 86'.
NB La pelle varria montrent la manière dont les terrains seront Savoir en municipales de sia miles voirie prendre du congres.
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conceders a l'Armace .
defrich
RIVIERA
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VIRGINIE
Site
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COMTE
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Fremere Ville
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From a plate loaned by the Western Reserve Historical Society
A FRENCH PLAN OF THE LANDS OF THE OHIO AND "SCIOTO" COMPANIES
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Ohio in the Time of the Confederation
pact; we are sorry to object to it, in the smallest tittle, were it not that we know, we were not repre- sented when those Resolves were formed; and we trust, that Congress on an attentive revision of the subject, will conclude that natural boundaries will be most convenient and satisfactory, especially when they nearly coincide with the Meridians, and paral- lels already held out, as boundaries for the new States.
That Meridian that crosses the Ohio at the west Cape of the Kanhawa is a striking instance; for to the South, it will pass over a great number of the most inaccessable and craggy Mountains in Amer- ica; and we have reason to believe, it will intersect the Kanhawa in various places, notwithstanding its being otherwise expressed in some Maps; Whereas, had that river been adopted as a boundary ; expence, trouble, and inconveniency might have been avoided, and both sides reap equal advantages. We will avoid using argument, why the Sioto, and Sandusky, may not be substituted, in place of a Meridian, on the North side of the Ohio.
We beg leave further to represent, - that the par- allel of thirty seven degrees, and the Meridian that passes the Ohio at the Rapids, would be inconvenient in several respects. The Valley adjoining the Kan- hawa, above or South of the Ronceverte, or Green- briar river, lies most convenient to those under lat- itude thirty Six, on the heads of the Cherokee river. That the parallel of thirty seven extended to the Meridian of the Rapids would sever the Kentuckey Settlements, and be too far removed, from those on Holstein.
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Indulge us, Sir to mention what we believe would be the most convenient and equitable limits of two new States. Let that which will include the Ken- tuckey Settlements, be bounded on the East, by the great Kanhawa, as high as the confluence of the Ron- ceverte ; the Ohio on the north; and on the West, and South, by a Meridian line drawn from the mouth of Salt-river, until it intersects the Shawanoe, or Cum- berland river, up that river, to the mouth of that branch of it, called Rock-Castle, up the said River Rock-Castle, to the Ansioto or Brush-Mountain, thence a direct line, to the confluence of the Ron- ceverte
That to the South which will include the Inhabitants on the heads of the Kanhawa and Cherokee-rivers, be bounded by a line extended due South from that part of the Cumberland-river, where the Meridian line drawn from the mouth of Salt-river will touch it, until it reaches Elk-river, down that river to the Tenasee, thence South to the top of the Apalachian Mountain, eastwardly along the same to a point, from whence a north line extended, would meet the Kanhawa at the mouth of Little-river, near Ingles- Ferry; and down that River, to the Ronceverte Westwardly along the boundary, as above described for the Kentuckey Country.
At this day, we find a new Society forming itself back of North-Carolina, which if the requisition [of] Congress of the twenty ninth day of April last, is regarded, we of course will be annexed to; and the natural situation of the Country points out the con- nection; but are yet restrained, from formally join- ing them, by a deference to the opinions of those that bear rule in Virginia, and the want of an orderly
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accession to Independence, under the auspices of Congress; these obstacles we confide, that the Rulers of the federal Government will remove : The interest of America seems urgently to call for it, and the peace and prosperity of the Western Inhabitants will no longer admit of delay.
For further explanation of the subject we take the liberty to enclose for the perusal of Congress, Copies of some papers, containing Sentiments of the people in the western Country.
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