The History of Warren County, Ohio, Part 24

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1081

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An act of Congress passed March 3, 1801, provided that the lands between the Miami Rivers which Symmes had failed to pay for, and which lie between the northern boundary of his patent and the seventh range, should be divided into sections by the Surveyor General, and both northwardly and southwardly, and eastwardly and westwardly lines should be run, but, in so doing, the mag- netic meridians run under the direction of Symmes, and the corners established in his survey, were to be recognized.

LAND TRACTS.

Explanations of the terms used to designate the various kinds of tracts of land in Warren Connty, with reference to the difference in the origin of their titles or the mode of transfer to the occupying owners, are here given:

Virginia Military Lands .- These lands lie between the Little Miami and Scioto Rivers, and are bounded by the Ohio on the south. The State of Vir- ginia, under the charter granted by King James I, in 1609, claimed all the lands extending 200 miles north and 200 miles south from Point Comfort along the coast, and "up into the land throughout from sea to sea, west and northwest." In 1784, the State of Virginia ceded to the United States the right of soil and jurisdiction of the territory northwest of the Ohio, reserving the lands between the Little Miami and Scioto for the purpose of satisfying the land warrants of the Virginia troops on continental establishment in the Revolution. The land bounties promised by Virginia in her statutes of 1779 and 1780 to her Revolu- tionary troops who should serve until the close of the war, were liberal, espe cially to the officers of the higher grades. A private was to receive 200 acres: a non-commissioned officer, 400 acres; a subaltern, 2,000 acres; a Captain, 3,- 000 acres; a Major, 4,000 acres; a Lieutenant Colonel, 4,500 acres; a Colonel, 5,000 acres; a Brigadier General, 10,000 acres; a Major General, 15,000 acres. The lands south of the Ohio granted for these bounties having been exhausted, on the 1st day of Angust, 1787, the books were opened for the location of war-

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rants between the Little Miami and Scioto. A large number of locations were entered on the first day the books were opened, and on that day, one entry was made of land within the present limits of Warren County, viz .: Clement Read's entry of 1,333 acres (No. 399). So rapidly were locations made that 55,000 acres within the present limits of Warren were located before the expiration of the month of August, 1787. The regular surveys of these entries were not made until several years later. The patents for the lands were signed by the Presi- dent of the United States. CI

Symmes' Patent .- A brief history of the Miami Purchase has already been given. As finally patented to Symmes and his associates, the tract contained only 311,682 acres, bounded on the south by the Ohio, on the east by the Little Miami, on the west by the Great Miami, and on the north by a parallel of lati- tude, so run as to comprehend the quantity of land named. The north bound- ary passes about one mile north of Lebanon. Symmes and his associates had paid the Government for only 248,540 acres, but the township of land for a col- lege, the lands for the support of schools and religion, and other reservations, were included in his patent. The patentee, John Cleves Symmes, was born at Riverhead, on Long Island, in the State of New York, July 21, 1742, and died at Cincinnati January 26, 1814. Having removed to New Jersey, he became a member of Congress and Chief Justice of the State. He was one of the three Judges of the Northwest Territory in whose hands, in connection with the Gov- ernor, was vested the government of the Territory. His name should not be con- founded with that of John Cleves Symmes, author of the theory that " the earth is hollow, hahitable within, and widely open about the poles." The author of this theory, which has been ridiculed in the expression, "Symmes' Hole," was a nephew of the land speculator.

Ministerial Lands .- In both the purchases of the Ohio Company and Symmes, Section 29 in every township of six miles square was reserved for the support of religion. The purchasers of these tracts came from parts of the Union in which it was customary to have a settled support, for a clergyman in each town, and they stipulated with Congress for a reservation of land to be set apart for this purpose. In no other parts of Ohio than these two tracts are any such reservations made, nor has the United States Government devoted any por- tion of the public lands for the support of religion since the adoption of the constitution of the United States. Judge Symmes, in publishing his pamphlet giving the terms of sale and settlement of his purchase, seems to have had the notion that ministers of the Gospel would be permitted to occupy Section 29, and schoolmasters Section 16. There are but three ministerial sections in Warren County. Two of these have been sold under State laws, and the inter- est on the proceeds of the sale is applied for the benefit of all the religious so- cieties in the townships in which the sections are located. The third section is still leased, and the rent is applied to the support of religious societies in the township in which it is situated.

School Sections .- Section 16 in each township, or the one-thirty-sixth part of Symmes' Purchase, was reserved for the use of schools in the original con- tract for this purchase. For the Virginia Military District, which was not laid out into sections, Congress, in 1807, enacted that a quantity of land equal to the one-thirty-sixth part should be selected from the lands then lately purchased from the Indians, and lying between the Western Reserve and the United States Military District, for the use of schools. The first reservation of Section 16 for the use of schools was made by the Colonial Congress in an ordinance passed May 20, 1785, for the survey and sale of the lands comprehended in the Ohio Company's Purchase. The policy has been continued to the present time, and, in the newer States and Territories, the reservations for schools have been in-

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creased to two sections, or 1,280 acres, in each township of six miles square. In Ohio, where the school sections have been sold, the deeds have been made under authority of the Legislature by the Governor of the State, and the pro- ceeds form a part of the irreducible State school fund.

Military Range .- The third range of townships in Symmes' Purchase, six miles wide and extending from the Great to the Little Miami River, is called the Military Range. In this range are Lebanon, South Lebanon and Union Village in Warren County, and Hamilton, Monroe and Bethany in Butler County. The whole range is probably not excelled in fertility and excellence of soil by any tract of equal extent in the State of Ohio. The fertility of the lands of this range was noticed by Symmes in a letter of an early date written to Gen. Dayton. It is called the Military Range because it was paid for by military land warrants issued by the United States to officers and soldiers for services in the Revolution. In the contract of Symmes with Congress, it was stipulated that United States military land warrants would be taken in payment, acre for acre, provided the aggregate of such payments did not exceed one-seventh of the whole tract purchased. These warrants were at that time of little value. In publishing the terms of sale and settlement of the Miami Purchase, Symmes directed the officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary army who desired to have their land warrants located in his purchase to send their names, rank, regiment and line to Gen. Dayton, at Elizabethtown, N. J., who was appointed to receive applications of this nature. A sufficient quantity of warrants was obtained to cover an entire range, and the third range was selected, and, after Symmes received his patent, he conveyed to Jonathan Dayton this range in trust for the owners of the warrants. The military warrants on which the title to this range rests, paid into the United States Treasury by Gen. Dayton and placed to the credit of Symmes, amounted to $42,897. The titles to all the lands in this range are derived from Gen. Jonathan Dayton, except the school sections, the minis- terial sections, and Sections 8, 11 and 26, reserved by Congress for such pur- poses as should be afterward directed. The larger part of the lands in Warren County comprehended within Symmes' patent lie in the Military Range, and a larger number of deeds from Dayton are to be found in the county land records than from Symmes.

Forfeitures .- In Symmes' plan of sale and settlement of his purchase, it was provided that, in order to avoid the detrimental effects of large tracts whereon no families are settled, every locator of land should, within two years from the time of entering his location, place himself or some other person or persons on the land, or in some station of defense, and begin an improvement on the land located, and continue the improvement for seven years-provided they are not. disturbed by the Indians for that period-and failing to do so, he should forfeit the one-sixth part of his land, to be taken off in a square at the northeast cor- ner. The forfeited part was to revert to the Register, who was authorized to grant it to any volunteer settler who should first apply for the same and per- form what was required of the original locator. The terms on which titles to these forfeitures could be obtained were stated in Symmes' pamphlet in con- fused and indefinite phraseology, and a large number of suits of ejectment were brought against the occupants of the forfeitures. Judge Burnet says that for the first ten years of his practice at Cincinnati, one-half of the ejectment cases in which he was employed arose on forfeiture titles. Popular feeling was in favor of the volunteer settler who made the improvement, and, if he could make out a plausible case, he was most likely to succeed.

In January, 1795, Judge Symmes gave notice in the Centinel of the North- western Territory, published at Cincinnati, that, as deeds will soon be given to those citizens in the Miami Purchase who have paid for their sections or frac-

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tions of sections of land, it is " incumbent on all who have entered forfeitures below the military or third range of townships, if they wish to save their for- feitures, to begin their improvements thereon as soon as possible. It being now required that every owner of a forfeiture below said military or third range fence and clear, in a proper manner, and plant with corn and duly cultivate two acres of land in the course of the next season, otherwise, it will be considered as a dereliction and relinquishment of the claim."

Congress Lands .- All the lands of Warren County west of the Little Mi- ami and north of Symmes' patent may be called Congress lands; that is, lands sold to purchasers by the officers of the General Government, under laws en- acted by Congress from time to time. It was not until April, 1801, that these lands could be purchased from the United States in quantities as small as a half-section, or 320 acres, and there were no settlers on the lands west of the Great Miami, except a few squatters, and no improvements made until after that date. The price fixed by Congress for the public lands at this time was $2 per acre.

Pre-empted Lands .- Symmes had sold large quantities of land between the Miami Rivers north of the line which marked the northern boundary of his pat- ent. For these lands he was unable to secure a patent from the Government, and consequently could not grant titles to those who had purchased from him. A large number of persons within the present limits of Warren and Butler Counties, and, indeed, as far north as Dayton, were thus left in the unhappy condition of having contracted for lands for which they could not obtain deeds. Some had paid for their lands in full; others in part; many had expended con- siderable time and labor in improving them. The towns of Franklin, Waynes- ville and Dayton had been laid out on lands thus purchased, and all over the tract were many clearings and settlements commenced. The claims of these persons were presented to Congress. An act was promptly passed which secured to all persons who had made written contracts with Symmes for lands which did not lie within his patent a preference over all others at $2 per acre. Other pre-emption acts were passed which enabled a number of worthy persons to complete their payments, and save the titles to their lands with the improve- ments they had made thereon.

THE CHAIN OF LAND TITLES.

Let us look for a moment at the chain of titles to the lands of Warren County, taking one tract as an example, and tracing its title to its origin

The lots on which the court house and jail stand were conveyed to Warren County in trust, for the purposes for which they are devoted, by William Sin- nard, Abraham Wambaugh, Paul Egbert, Daniel Skinner and their wives, by deed of gift dated September 7, 1820.

The above named grantors derived their title from Samuel Manning by deed dated October 2, 1808.

Samuel Manning derived his title from Benjamin Stites, who conveyed to Manning the west half of Section 36, or 320 acres in consideration of $320, by deed dated October 10, 1797.

Maj. Benjamin Stites derived his title from Jonathan Dayton, who con- veyed to Stites about ten thousand acres in the third or military range, includ- ing the sections on which the east half of Lebanon stands, by deed dated May 14, 1795.

. Gen. Jonathan Dayton derived his title from John Cleves Symmes, who conveyed to Dayton the third entire range of townships in his purchase, called the Military Range, in trust, for the benefit of the owners of the United States military warrants with which the range was purchased, by deed dated October 30,1794.

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Judge John Cleves Symmes derived his title to his purchase from the United States by deed signed by George Washington, President, dated Septem- ber 30, 1794.

The United States derived its title from the State of Virginia by deed of ces- sion, signed by Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee and James Monroe, delegates from the commonwealth of Virginia in the Second Colonial Congress, authorized by an act of Virginia passed October 20, 1783, entitled " An Act to authorize the delegates of the State in Congress to convey to the United States in Congress assembled, all right of this commonwealth to the territory northwest of the River Ohio," the deed of cession being dated March 1, 1784.

The State of Virginia derived its title from James I, King of England, by charter dated May 23, 1609.

And Great Britain derived its title by right of discovery of Sebastian Cabot in 1498.

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CHAPTER IV. PIONEER HISTORY.

"Bold forest settlers! they have scared The wild beast from his savage den, Our valleys to the sunshine bared And clothed with beauty, hill and glen.

"The car of steam now thunders by The place where blazed their cabin fires, And where rang out the panther's cry Thoughts speed along electric wires.

"They vanish from us one by one, In death's unlighted realm to sleep; And Oh! degenerate is the son Who would not some memorial keep."

Nº O permanent settlements were attempted within the limits of Warren County for more than six years after the first adventurers had established themselves at Columbia, Cincinnati and North Bend. Yet extensive purchases of land had been made in this region long before its first settlement. Before three years had elapsed after the establishment of the first colony at Columbia, Symmes had sold sections, half-sections and quarter-sections in every range and township of his purchase. Why this long delay in occupying the healthy and fertile lands of Warren County? The explanation is easy: The Indians had manifested their hostility as soon as the white settlements had been com- menced, and parties of savages were constantly lurking in the woods awaiting opportunities to kill and plunder. Even at the stations, as they were called, near each other and near Fort Washington, and protected by block-houses and pickets, the inhabitants were kept constantly on the alert, and went to church with their guns. To have attempted the occupancy of any lands within the limits of this county prior to Wayne's victory would have been extreme temerity.

STATIONS FOR DEFENSE AGAINST THE INDIANS.

Many of the first settlers of Warren and Butler Counties remained at Co- lumbia, Cincinnati, or some of the " stations " within the present limits of Ham- ilton County for several years after they had purchased the lands which became their permanent homes. The unhappy condition of many of these adventurers who were prevented from occupying their lands, and the methods adopted of building stations of defense, are described by Judge Burnet in the following extract from his Notes:

"A large number of the original adventurers to the Miami Purchase had ex- hausted their means by paying for their land and removing their families to the country. Others were wholly destitute of property, and came out as vol- unteers, under the expectation of obtaining, gratuitously, such small tracts of land as might be forfeited by the purchasers, under Judge Symmes, for not making the improvements required by the conditions stipulated in the terms of sale and settlement of Miami lands, published by the Judge in 1787. The class of adventurers first named was comparatively numerous, and had come out under an expectation of taking immediate possession of their lands, and of commencing the cultivation of them for subsistence. Their situation, there- fore, was distressing. To go out into the wilderness to till the soil appeared

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to be certain death; to remain in the settlements threatened them with starva- tion. The best provided of the pioneers found it difficult to obtain subsistence; and, of course, the class now spoken of were not far from total destitution. They depended on game, fish, and such products of the earth as could be raised on small patches of ground in the immediate vicinity of the settlements.

" Occasionally, small lots of provisions were brought down the river by emigrants, and sometimes were transported on pack-horses from Lexington, at a heavy expense, and not without danger. But supplies thus procured were beyond the reach of those destitute persons now referred to.

" Having endured these privations as long as they could be borne, the more resolute of them determined to brave the consequences of moving on to their lands. To accomplish the object with the least exposure, those whose lands were in the same neighborhood united as one family; and on that principle, a number of associations were formed, amounting to a dozen or more, who went out resolved to maintain their positions.

" Each party erected a strong block-house, near to which their cabins were put up, and the whole was inclosed by strong log pickets. This being done, they commenced clearing their lands and preparing for planting their crops. During the day, while they were at work, one person was placed as a sentinel to warn them of approaching danger. At sunset, they retired to the block- house and their cabins, taking everything of value within the pickets. In this manner they proceeded from day to day and week to week, till their improve- ments were sufficiently extensive to support their families. During this time, they depended for subsistence on wild game, obtained at some hazard, more than on the scanty supplies they were able to procure from the settlements on the river.

" In a short time, these stations gave protection and food to a large num- ber of destitute families. After they were established, the Indians became less annoying to the settlements on the Ohio, as part of their time was employed in watching the stations. The former, however, did not escape, but endured their share of the fruits of savage hostility. In fact, no place or situation was exempt from danger. The safety of the pioneer depended on his means of defense, and on perpetual vigilance.

"The Indians viewed those stations with great jealousy, as they had the ap- pearance of permanent military establishments, intended to retain possession of their country. In that view they were correct; and it was fortunate for the settlers that the Indians wanted either the skill or the means of demolishing them.

" The truth of the matter is, their great error consisted in permitting those works to be constructed at all. They might have prevented it with great ease, but they appeared not to be aware of the serious consequences which were to result until it was too late to act with effect. Several attacks were, however, made at different times, with an apparent determination to destroy them; but they failed in every instance. The assault made on the station erected by Capt. Jacob White, a pioneer of much energy and enterprise, at the third crossing of Mill Creek from Cincinnati, on the old Hamilton road, was resolute and daring; but it was gallantly met and successfully repelled. During the attack, which was in the night, Capt. White shot and killed a warrior, who fell so near the block-house that his companions could not remove his body. The next morn- ing it was brought in, and, judging from his stature, as reported by the in- mates, he might have claimed descent from a race of giants. On examining the ground in the vicinity of the block-house, the appearances of blood indicated that the assailants had suffered severely.

" In the winter of 1790-91, an attack was made, with a strong party,

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amounting, probably, to four or five hundred, on Dunlap's Station, at Colerain. Tho block-house at that place was occupied by a small number of United States troops, commanded by Col. Kingsbury, then a subaltern in the army. The fort was furnished with a piece of artillery, which was an object of terror to the Indians; yet that did not deter them from an attempt to effect their pur- pose. The attack was violent, and for some time the station was in imminent danger."

PREMIUMS FOR INDIAN SCALPS.

The long war which was ended with Wayne's treaty at Greenville was a cruel one. The Miami country was known as the " Miami Slaughter-House." The depredations of the savages led the settlers into some measures of defense which it is not pleasant to record. It is perhaps not generally known that men of high standing formed a committee to publish a notice offering premiums for Indian scalps. Warren County was included in the district within which young men were offered inducements to range the woods "to prevent savages from committing depredations on defenseless citizens." Early in the spring of 1794, a subscription paper was in circulation at Columbia to provide pre- miums for scalps of Indians. And in the Centinel of the Northwest Territory of May 17, 1794, a committee, consisting of L. Woodward, Darius C. Orcutt and James Lyons, of Cincinnati, and William Brown, Ignatius Ross and John Reily, of Columbia, publish a notice offering rewards for Indian scalps taken between the 18th of April and the 25th of December, 1794, in a district begin- ning on the Ohio ten miles above the mouth of the Little Miami, extending ten miles west of the Great Miami, and twenty-five back into the country, above where Harmar's trace crosses the Little Miami, and in a direct line west. Rewards were offered as follows:

" That for every scalp having the right ear appendant, for the first ten Indians who shall be killed within the time and limits aforesaid, by those who are subscribers to the said articles, shall, whenever collected, be paid the sum of $136, and for every scalp of the like number of Indians, having the right ear appendant, who shall be killed within the time and limits aforesaid by those who are not subscribers, the Federal troops excepted, shall, whenever col- lected, be paid the sum of $100; and for every scalp having the right ear ap- pendant of the second ten Indians who shall be killed within the time and limits aforesaid, by those who are subscribers to the said articles, shall, whenever col -. lected as aforesaid, be paid the sum of $117; and for every scalp having the right ear appendant of the second ten Indians who shall be killed within the time and limits aforesaid by those who are not subscribers to the said articles shall, whenever collected, be paid the sum of $95."

Wayne's decisive victory over the Indians on the 20th of August, 1794, put a a check to their depredations, but did not at once reduce them to absolute submis- sion. The first settlements in Warren County were begun in 1795. During the winter and spring of this year, six months after Wayne's victory, there were occa- sional reports of murders of white men by the Indians. In February, two white men were killed near the mouth of the Great Miami, and in March, one man was killed and eight horses stolen in the village of North Bend. On the 7th of May, the Indians stole nine horses from Ludlow's Station, only five miles from Cincinnati, and, though pursued, made their escape. The treaty of peace at Greenville, concluded August 3, 1795, put an end to the murder of white men by Indians in the Miami settlements, but horses continued to be stolen by them. Judge Symmes thought that white men who bought horses from the Indians were to blame, as the Indians would steal horses to take the place of those they had sold. The Judge wrote to Gen. Dayton, in 1796, that he wished Con-

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The History of Warren County, Ohio, Part 24

Author: W. H. Beers & Co. Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1081

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1081