RANGES VIII THROUGH XIV, TOWNSHIPS I THROUGH VII OF THE "BETWEEN THE MIAMIS SURVEY"

Transcription

1 RANGES VIII THROUGH XIV, TOWNSHIPS I THROUGH VII OF THE "BETWEEN THE MIAMIS SURVEY" SURVEYED IN BY ISRAEL LUDLOW, DEPUTY SURVEYOR AND RUFUS PUTNAM, SURVEYOR GENERAL By Denise Kay Mahan Moore

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4 Ranges VIII Through XIV, Townships I Through VII of the "Between The Miamis Survey" LAND CLAIMS The Native Americans occupied the land which is considered the state of Ohio, until the explorations of the Great Lakes area by Sieur de La Salle in 1669 or Under the claims of La Salle the French held the land until a Treaty of Paris on 10 February 1763 when they relinquished all claims in the territory to the English, thus, ending the French and Indian War. On 3 September 1783 another Treaty of Paris was signed which ended the Revolutionary War and Great Britain relinquished the rights to the Northwest Territory. The area officially became known as The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio and was established by Congress 13 July The Ordinance of 1787 forbade slavery in the territory and provided the framework for the local government that would be responsible to Congress. Provision for surveying the territory had already been provided by the Land Ordinance of The Enabling Act, 30 April 1802, defined the boundaries and 1 March 1803 the state of Ohio was established. Some 400 square miles was disputed between Ohio and Michigan, but this was settled after the bloodless "Toledo War" of By 1851 all of the eighty-eight counties of Ohio had been created. EARLY LAND DIVISIONS OR APPORTIONMENTS The first settlers in America measured their lands on the basis of "metes and bounds," the shape of the tracts being determined by natural objects pertaining to the particular tract, such as the shore lines of an ocean, lakes or rivers; ridges of hills or mountains, rocks, trees or the lines claimed by others. Titles to these lands were conflicting and uncertain. The metes and bounds system prevails generally in that portion of the country settled prior In the colonies feelings were widespread that these lands should be surrendered to the central government. By the resolution of 10 October 1780, Congress indicated the policy, which it would follow toward any lands ceded to it by the States. This resolution stated that any lands ceded or relinquished to the United States would be disposed of for the common benefit of the United States, settled and formed into distinct republican states, which would become members of the federal union. VIRGINIA MILITARY DISTRICT For the most part, Virginia claimed the vast uncharted lands lying from it's eastern borders stretching to the Pacific Ocean. Here, early settlers such as Simon Kenton and Daniel Boone were notching trees and carving their initials to mark their land border claims, using the "metes and bounds" system. These claims were unrecorded and therefore the lands were lost when the Land Ordinance of 1785 was ratified. Virginia ceded it's western lands on 20 December One of the clauses in the cession reserved military bounty lands, which extended about 141 miles north of the Ohio River. This claim was for land promised by the state to military officers and soldiers for their service. The Virginia Military District tracts were to be laid off on the northwest side and the southeast side of the Ohio River. The lands on the northwest side were to be divided from the acreage between the Scioto and the Little Miami rivers and were surveyed in the method of "metes and bounds." - 1 -

5 Ranges VIII Through XIV, Townships I Through VII of the "Between The Miamis Survey" Virginia issued land warrants to the soldiers or heirs, according to the military rank and length of service. The warrants could be surrendered for land, assigned, transferred, or by Acts of Congress of 30 May 1830 and 31 August 1852, exchanged for land scrip applicable to any public lands that were open for private sale. Applications for Virginia Bounty Land Warrants are on file at the Virginia State Library, 11th Street at Capitol Square, Richmond, VA and on microfilm through the Family History Library Centers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When an application was approved, the Virginia Land Office issued a certificate, which could be exchanged for a warrant. The holder of the warrant would go, or send a representative, to Ohio and locate a desired site to fulfill the acreage and have the site surveyed. The warrant and survey were exchanged for a land patent from the General Land Office in Washington, D.C. One may obtain from the Ohio Archives Records original Virginia Military District entries or withdrawals, survey records and plats of sixteen of the twenty-three counties which were involved in the area. LAND ORDINANCE OF 1785 The Land Ordinance of 20 May 1785 laid the foundations for the public land system and the guidelines of this document were followed in other ordinances until The ordinance was issued to dispose of lands which had been ceded by the states and purchased form the Indians. A surveyor was to be appointed for each state and he was to divide the territory into townships of six miles square. The townships or fractional parts thereof, were to be numbered progressively from south to north, beginning each range with number one. The first range was to extend from the Ohio River to Lake Erie. The lines were to be measured with a chain and marks left plainly on chaps of trees. The exact description was to be noted on a plat, along with "all mines, salt-springs; salt-licks and mill-seats," also "water-courses, mountains" and quality of the lands. The plats were to be marked by subdivisions of 640 acres or one square mile. The subdivisions were to be numbered from 1 to 36 "always beginning the succeeding range of the lots with the number next to that with which the preceding one concluded..." Oneseventh of the land surveyed was to be reserved for military bounty lands. After the survey was made a copy of the original plats, noting the townships and fractional parts of the townships (sections) were to be sent to the commissioners at the loan-office of the states. Ranges were numbered as follows: XX XIX Townships were numbered as follows XVIII VII VI V IV III II I XVII XVI The sections were numbered as follows: XV XIV XIII XII XI X through I - 2 -

6 Ranges VIII Through XIV, Townships I Through VII of the "Between The Miamis Survey" THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE, 1787 The Northwest Ordinance, 13 July 1787, was a document that changed the course of history for the new states. Previous to this time the first-born son automatically inherited the family coffers. With this document estates, both of residents and non-resident proprietors dying intestate, could be distributed equally to all heirs, both whole and half-blood. The widow's portion was established: 1/3 of the real estate for life and 1/3 of the personal estate. Estates could be devised by wills in writing by a testate of full age and signed by him or her and attested by three witnesses. A person of full age could convey by lease or release, real estate, if signed, sealed and delivered by the owner and witnesses by two persons, as long as the document was recorded within one year. Personal property could be transferred by delivery. Congress would appoint a governor, who would reside within the district upon 1,000 acres of land while he was in office for the term of three years. A Congress appointed secretary, would reside within the district upon 500 acres of land during the term of four years. There was a provision made for a court of common law (Court of Common Pleas), which would consist of three judges, any two of whom would form the committee for hearing cases, and the men would each reside upon 500 acres of land within the district while they exercised good behavior while in office. The governor and the judges would adopt and publish the laws, which were in force in the original states, for the new district, both criminal and civil. The appointments would continue until the district would organize it's own General Assembly (become a separate state). The governor would also be the commander-in-chief of the local militia and commission officers below the rank of general. The governor was given the authority to appoint judges and civil officers of the township and county level. As soon as there would be five thousand free male inhabitants of full age in the district they could elect a representative for them in the General Assembly. Representatives would serve a term of two years and the requirements for the position were stipulated. A General Assembly or legislative body would consist of a governor, a legislative council and a house of representatives. Personal freedom and rights were stipulated, both for the white settlers and the Indians and slavery was abolished. The document established the boundaries of the territory: the Mississippi River to the west, Pennsylvania to the east, Canada to the north and the Ohio River to the south. The rectangular survey system was maintained by the document, but the order of the numbering system was altered. The surveys of the Ohio Company and Between the Miamis are the only acreage in America that has been surveyed with the sections numbered from the south to the north. Ranges were numbered as follows: XV Townships were numbered as follows: XIV I II III IV V VI XIII XII The sections were numbered as follows: XI X IX VIII VII VI V through 6 square miles I - 3 -

7 Ranges VIII Through XIV, Townships I Through VII of the "Between The Miamis Survey" THE SYMMES PURCHASE John Cleves Symmes was born 21 July 1742 in Southold, Long Island and died 26 February 1814 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was elected a member of the Continental Congress from New Jersey in 1785 and re-elected in Influenced by Benjamin Stites, a trader along the Ohio and Miami Rivers, Symmes applied for 1,000 acres between the Miami River and the Little Miami River. The area was bounded in the south by the Ohio River and would later have the Greenville Treaty Line as it's northern border. The land was located in the modern counties of Hamilton, Clermont, Butler, Warren, Montgomery Greene, Clark, Miami, Champaign, Shelby and Logan. On 3 October 1787 Congress authorized a formal contract for this land, to be sold under the terms of the 1785 Land Ordinance, but the price would be at 2/3s of $1.00 an acre (an allowance of 1/3 of $1.00 was given for bad land or incidentals), making the total of $.66 2/3 an acre. The surveys conducted for the Ordinance of 1785 had not been completed. The external lines of the township were surveyed but the interiors of the townships were determined by calculations. On 19 February 1788 Congress appointed Symmes as Judge of the Northwest Territory and after making the first payment on his land he left in July of that year for the territory. On 15 October 1788 Congress gave him a definite contract for a calculated 1,000,000 acres of which he hoped to speculate and finally receive a patent. Symmes began selling warrants for land in all portions contained within his contract. He sold the property at the same price for which he was paying the Government, at 2/3s of $1.00 (or 66 2/3 cents an acre), and that did not leave any margin for profit. As the majority of the land was yet unsold when his payment was due he naturally did not have the funds to complete the contract. By the due date of his contract Symmes had raised enough money from land sales to pay for only 311,682 acres, therefore, Congress issued him a patent for this amount of acreage on 30 September The patent covered land laying in Ranges I through IV (Hamilton, Clermont, Butler and Warren Counties). By a stroke of a pen, the purchasers who had contracted with Symmes of his associates for land lying north of Symmes' existing patent of 1794 (Ranges V through XV) were left without any hope of title to the land. TREATY OF GREENVILLE The Treaty of Greenville, signed 3 August 1795, was the results of Anthony Wayne's defeat of the Indians at the battle of Fallen Timbers, 20 August The chiefs of the Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pattawatimas, Pattawatimas of Huron, Miamis, Miamis and Eel Rivers, Eel River Tribe, Weas, Piankeshaws, Kickapoos, Kaskaskias, Delawares of Sandusky and Wayne established a boundary between the land of the Indians and those open to settlement by the white man

8 Ranges VIII Through XIV, Townships I Through VII of the "Between The Miamis Survey" THE LAND ACT OF 1796 The Land Act of 1796 re-enacted the rectangular system of survey, but altered the order of numeration from north to south. Under this ordinance, land sold at public auction could not be released for less than $2.00 an acre. Full payment was required within a year, but a 10% discount was given to purchasers who paid in advance of one year THE LAND ACT OF 1800 (HARRISON LAND ACT) The Land Act of 10 May 1800, like previous acts, encouraged speculators and made collections difficult. The price of $2.00 an acre had to be fulfilled. A $6.00 survey charge was added to each full section sold and $3.00 was added to each half section. The price of the survey plus a deposit of 1/20 of the purchase price had to be paid upon the actual purchase. Onefourth of the purchase price must be paid within 40 days or the entire contract was forfeited. One-fourth of the purchase price was due within two years of the date; one-fourth due within three years and the last one-fourth was due within four years of the purchase date. Any person, who had, prior to the act, erected a grist-mill or saw-mill upon the land was entitled to a pre-emption of the section, but still had to pay the $2.00 per acre. This act also established the four land offices where land could be purchased: Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Marietta and Steubenville. PRE-EMPTION FOR LAND The remainder of the 1,000,000 acres that John Cleves Symmes had proposed to purchase (Between the Miamis) had not been sold by Congress, however, there were many people living on the land who had contracted with Symmes. Therefore, on 3 March 1801 Congress passed "An Act giving a right of pre-emption to certain persons who have contracted with John C. Symmes or his associates, for lands lying between the Miami Rivers, in the Territory of the United States North West of the Ohio." Resolutions resulting from reviewing the laws of public lands produced the Amendment of 26 March 1804: (1) The payment at the time of the sale must be 1/20 of the whole price and the first payment was to be made within 60 days. If the first payment was not made the sale was void unless the second payment was made within the time limit; (2) The land was to be sold at $2.00 an acre for a whole (640 acres) or half (320 acres) section or for a quarter section (160 acres). The Congress Lands of the northern ranges of Between the Miamis was accurately surveyed and the land was available for sale as each portion of the survey was completed. As the area had been initially surveyed under the direction of the Land Ordinance of 1785 only the outside measurements for the sections had been delineated and the interior lines were calculated. When the accurate survey was completed it was discovered that individual sections did not all contain the required 640 acres. Due to the lay of the land, containing hills and valleys, some individual sections contained more or less than 640 acres. When this happened the section was divided equally into four parts and the acreage in each quarter was adjusted

9 Ranges VIII Through XIV, Townships I Through VII of the "Between The Miamis Survey" The Congress lands of the Between the Miamis Survey was sold at public auctions in Cincinnati, except for lands which were held under the preemption act of Under the Land Act of 1800 and the 1804 pre-emption amendment (which was in effect until 1820) the price paid for the land was $2.00 an acre and the credit system was in effect. The dates of the public auction sales and the names of the initial purchasers should be the items located in: Early Ohio Settlers, Purchasers of Land in Southwestern Ohio, , by Ellen T. & David A. Berry, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD, The 1804 pre-emption amendment further adjusted the requirements under the pre-emption act of The people who had contracted with Symmes felt that they had already completely paid for the land, but the Government had not received any money for the sale of the specified land. Therefore, in the 1804 amendment, the Government stated that they would accept the 66 2/3 cents per acre that Symmes had contracted with the landholders; however, the people must pay that amount to the Government. Therefore, all persons who took advantage of the pre-emption act found that they paid twice for the land: 66 2/3 cents an acre to Symmes and 66 2/3 cents an acre to the United States Government. Paying a total $1.32 1/3 cents per acre for the land was still a bargain since the current price under the Land Act of 1800 was $2.00 an acre. SMALL TRACTS OF LAND PRIOR 1800 All of the land acts prior to the Land Act of 1800 had required that large tracts of land be sold in-tact (at least 640 acres); suitable only for the purposes of land speculation and not for the family. It was John Cleves Symmes who had foreseen that the small farmer could not afford to purchase land. Therefore, under his proposed purchase he made land available to the common man by allowing them to purchase quarter sections (160 acres) or halfquarter sections (80 acres) of land. The Amendment of 1804 still required that no purchase be less than 160 acres. However, as the people who had contracted with Symmes were able to prove that their contracts were for the amount of 80 acres, further amendments enabled the sale of 80 acres under the pre-emption act. A communication to the House of Representatives, dated 22 March 1806, concerning the application of purchasers of public lands, Between the Miamis and other parts of the State of Ohio and territory of Indiana, for an extension of credit, determined that no further extension should be granted. Therefore, pre-emption land sales must meet the payment system set under the 1804 amendment. LAND ACT OF 1820 The Land Act of 24 April 1820 reduced the price to $1.25 an acre and ended the credit system by requiring complete payment upon purchase. The land was sold in the following tract: an entire section (640 acres), one-half of a section (320 acres) or one-fourth of a section (80 acres)

10 Ranges VIII Through XIV, Townships I Through VII of the "Between The Miamis Survey" DIVISION OF LAND SECTIONS Working within sections of land is not complicated as long as you remember the simple rule: Divide by four. An entire section consists of four sections (from north to south and west to east): the northwest quarter, the northeast quarter, the southwest quarter and the southeast quarter. In deeds written as "NE ¼ of Section..." Divided by four, divisions of a quarter are the same (from north to south and west to east): the northwest quarter, the northeast quarter, the southwest quarter and the southeast quarter, all of the mentioned quarter. In deeds written as "SW ¼ of the SE ¼." Divided by four, divisions of a quarter section are the same (from north to south and west to east): the northwest quarter of the quarter section, the northeast quarter of the quarter section, the southwest quarter section and the southeast quarter section, all of the mentioned quarter section. In deeds written as "NW ¼ of the NE ¼ of the SE 1/4"." West East NW ¼, 160 acres Half Half of of NE ¼ NE ¼ 80 acres 80 acres NW ¼ of NE ¼ of North Half of SW ¼ SE ¼ SE ¼ 80 acres 40 acres 40 acres SW ¼ of SE ¼ of South Half of SW ¼ SE ¼ SE ¼ 80 acres 40 acres 40 acres ,640' ,320' ,280' AN ENTIRE SECTION CONTAINS 640 ACRES AND COVERS ONE SQUARE MILE A HALF SECTION CONTAINS 320 ACRES A QUARTER SECTION CONTAINS 160 ACRES - 7 -

11 Ranges VIII Through XIV, Townships I Through VII of the "Between The Miamis Survey" COUNTIES At the time that the land sales began for the "Between the Miami's Survey" the acreage lay within the jurisdiction of only two counties; Hamilton, formed in 1790 and Ross, formed in By the time the State of Ohio was formed in 1803 the acreage lay within the jurisdiction of Greene County formed in 1803 from Hamilton and Ross Counties, and Montgomery County formed in 1803 from Hamilton (Ohio) and Wayne County (Michigan). Franklin County, Ohio was formed in 1803 from Ross County (Ohio) and Wayne County (Michigan). Champaign County was formed in 1805 from Greene and Franklin Counties. Clark County was formed in 1818 from Champaign, Madison and Greene Counties. Logan County was formed in 1818 from Champaign County. Miami County was formed in 1807 from Montgomery County. Shelby County was formed in 1819 from Miami County. The following pages reflect the Ranges of VIII through XIV and Townships I through VII illustrated within the modern counties of today. The political townships, such as Adams, Johnson, Jackson, etc. have also been illustrated

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