(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 38 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. CHAPTER VII. The Soil and Civil Jurisdiction of Ohio—The Connecticut Lands—The Western Reserve —Connecticut Sufferers' or Firelands — Detailed Record of Their Organization — Laws —Acts and Explanations — Surveys Dissolution of the Firelands Company — Records Transferred to Huron County. THERE is unquestionably no subject of greater interest to the average resident of Erie county than the history of the soil and civil jurisdiction of that locality already named. And inasmuch as this county is embraced within the limits of what has been variously termed the " Connecticut Lands," the " Western Reserve," the " Connecticut Sufferers' Lands " or " Firelands," the subject becomes doubly important to those whose ancestors may have been identified with the events that led to the donation of these lands for the purposes of compensating losses suffered at the hands of British soldiery. And it is believed, too, there is no theme that has been more thoroughly discussed in pioneer assemblages, no subject upon which more has been written, and yet one that is as little understood as that — the leading subject of this chapter. In order to make a clear and intelligent explanation of this important and interesting subject, there must be laid a proper foundation, which necessitates reference to the events of years much earlier than those in which the losses were suffered that gave rise to the names by which this region is designated. In the following pages liberal quotations are made from such standard authorities as are extant upon the subject, and as much of the history bearing upon it as is a matter of established law, those laws will be copied fully and freely whenever necessary, whether specially referred to at the time or not. The first claimant to the soil of Ohio, and not only that but of America, as well, was the kingdom of France. This was a claim by right of discovery and exploration made by the adventurous M. de La Salle, who traversed the country far and wide, taking possession of each region in the name of his king. England set up a like claim and finally the two became involved in the French and English War, and by it France was deprived of all title and thereafter our country was under absolute British rule for something over twenty years. The result of the Revolutionary War overthrew and ended the rule of Great Britain and vested in the United States, as conqueror, this vast domain. But during the rule of the aforementioned sovereign powers, charters, grants and patents of immense tracts were made, either as a reward of fealty or for consideration ; and after the United States had become the acknowledged owner conflicting claims of title in many localities arose, but happily most of them EARLY LAND CLAIMANTS - 39 were settled without recourse to arms. Some of these so far as they relate to the territory of Ohio, it is proposed to mention. " Virginia acquired title to the great Northwest by its several charters, granted by James I, bearing dates respectively, April io, 1606, May 23, 1609, and March 12, 1611. The colony of Virginia first attempted to exercise authority in and jurisdiction over that portion of its extensive domains that was organized by the ordinance of into ‘87 into `the territory northwest of the River Ohio,' when in 1769, the House of Burgess of that colony passed an act establishing the county of Botetourt, with the Mississippi River as its western boundary." Again in 1778 the Legislature of Virginia subdivided this great territory by the erection of the county of Illinois, which included within its boundaries all the lands of Virginia lying west of the Ohio River. But in 1783, in compliance with the desire of the general government, the Legislature of Virginia passed an act authorizing and directing her representatives in Congress to execute a deed of cession to the United States, of all her territory northwest of the Ohio. Having thus acquired the title to the territory northwest of the Ohio River, so far, at least, as the claim of Virginia was concerned, Congress immediately proceeded to adopt measures for its civil government, which measures resulted in the somewhat' celebrated " Ordinance of '87," and which has otherwise been known as the " Ordinance of Freedom." This was the fundamental law of the great Northwest, upon which were based all territorial enactments, as well as subsequent State legislation. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts based her claim to the soil of Ohio upon royal charter granted by James I, in 1620, to the council of Plymouth, and embracing all the territory of America between the fortieth and forty-eighth parallels of latitude, extending east and west between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and comprising, in area, over one million square miles of land. In 1785 Massachusetts ceded her claim of title to Ohio soil to the United States, but reserved the portion concerning which she and New York were in dispute. In 1664, Charles II ceded to his brother, the Duke of York, and afterwards King James II of England, the .country from Delaware Bay to the river St. Croix. This constituted New York's claim to the western territory, of which the lands of the Western Reserve were a portion. New York relinquished her claim to this territory in 1780, earlier by some years than any of the other claimants. The Connecticut claim, that which is of more interest to the people of this county than all the others, was rested upon, royal charter granted by the king in 1662 to nineteen patentees, bounded by Massachusetts on the north, the sea on the south, Narragansett Bay on the east, but extending to the Pacific an Ocean on the west. The northern and southern boundaries of this-tract were the same as form the north and south bounds of the Reserve. 40 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. Connecticut last of all deeded her claim to Ohio soil, with reservations, to the United States in September, 1786; which deed of cession duly authorized by the Legislature of the State, was as follows: CESSION FROM THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT. " To all who shall see these presents, we, William Samuel Johnson and Jonathan Sturges, the underwritten delegates for the State of Connecticut in the Congress of the United States, send greeting: Whereas, the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, on the second Thursday of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, passed an act in the following words, viz. : Be it enacted by the governor, council, and representatives in general court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the delegates of this State, or any two of them, who shall be attending the Congress of the United States, be and they are hereby directed, authorized, and fully empowered, in the name and behalf of this State, to make, execute, and deliver, under their hands and seals, art ample deed of release and cession of all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction and claim, of the State of Connecticut, to certain western lands, beginning at the completion of the forty-first degree of north latitude, one hundred and twenty miles west of the western boundary line of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as now claimed by said Commonwealth, and from thence by a line drawn north parallel to, and one hundred and twenty miles west of the said west line of Pennsylvania, and to continue north until it comes to forty-two degrees and two minutes north latitude. Whereby all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction, and claim of the said State of Connecticut to the lands lying west of said line to be drawn as aforementioned, one hundred and twenty miles west of the western boundary line of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as now claimed by said Commonwealth, shall be included, released and ceded to the United States in Congress assembled, for the common use and benefit of the said States, Connecticut inclusive.' Now, therefore, know ye, that ire, the said William Samuel Johnson and Jonathan Sturges, by virtue of the power and authority to us committed by the said act of the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, etc., do, by these presents, assign, transfer, quit-claim, cede, and convey to the United States of America, for their benefit, Connecticut inclusive, all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction, and claim, which the said State of Connecticut bath, in and to the before mentioned and described territory or tract of country, as the same is bounded and described in the said act of Assembly, for the uses in the said recited act of Assembly declared. " In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals this thirteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred EARLY LAND CLAIMANTS - 41 and eighty-six, and of the sovereignty and independence of the United States of America the eleventh. " WILL. SAM. JOHNSON, [L.S.] " JONATHAN STURGES, [L.S.] "Signed, sealed and.delivered in the presence of " CHA. THOMPSON, " ROGER ALDEN, " JAMES MATHERS." It will be observed that this deed of cession, executed and delivered by the proper officers of the State of Connecticut to the United States, released and conveyed all lands claimed by the State except that commonly known as the :Reserve; and while it was intended that the reservation should be made, no provision of the deed vests any right or civil jurisdiction over the lands of the Reserve in the United States, but absolute control, not only of the title, but of jurisdiction over the same remains in the State. By virtue of an act of Congress passed April 28, 1800, the president was authorized to issue letters patent to the governor of Connecticut for the lands. of the Reserve, but upon condition that the State renounce all jurisdictional claims over the same ; and further, that the State execute a deed by its agents of the same ; also expressly providing that the United States should not in any manner be pledged for the extinguishment of the Indian titles to the lands of the Reserve. This, the reader will understand, was done on the authority and at the expense of the State at Fort Industry, on the 4th of July, 1805, to which full reference is made in a preceding chapter. On the 30th day of May, 1800, the additional deed was executed by Governor Trumbull, as follows : "To all who shall see these presents, I, Jonathan Trumbull, governor of the State of Connecticut, send greeting : " Whereas, the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, at their session holden in Hartford, on the second Thursday of May, one thousand eight hundred, passed an act entitled, 'An act renouncing the claims of this State to certain lands therein mentioned,' in the words following, to-wit: " Whereas, the Congress of the United States, at their session, begun and holden in the city of Philadelphia, on the first Monday of December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, made and passed an act in the words following, to-wit : [Act of Congress of April 28, 1800, hereinbefore mentioned] ; therefore, in consideration of the terms, and in compliance with the provisions and conditions of the said act, Be it enacted by the Governor and Council, and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, That the State of Connecticut doth hereby renounce forever, for the use and benefit of the United States, and of the several individual States, who may be therein concerned, respectively, and of all those deriving claims or titles from them or 42 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. any of them, all territorial and jurisdictional claims whatever, under any grant, charter or charters whatever, to the soil and jurisdiction of any and all lands whatever lying westward, northwestward, and southwestward, of those counties in the State of Connecticut, which are bounded westwardly by the eastern line of the State of New York, as ascertained by agreement between Connecticut and New York, in the year one thousand seven hundred and thirty-three ; excepting only from this renunciation, the claim of the said State of Connecticut, and of those claiming from and under the said State of Connecticut, to the soil of said tract of land, in said act of Congress described under the name of the Western Reserve of Connecticut. And be it further enacted, That the governor of this State for the time being, be, and hereby is, empowered, in the name and behalf of this State, to execute and deliver to the acceptance of the president of the United States, a deed of the form and tenor directed by the said act of Congress, expressly releasing to the United States the jurisdictional claims of the State of Connecticut, to all that territory called the Western Reserve of Connecticut, according to the descriptidn thereof in said act of Congress, and in as full and ample manner asAtherein is required.' " Therefore, know ye, that I, Jonathan Trumbull, governor of the State of Connecticut, by virtue of the powers vested in me, as aforesaid, do, by these presents, in the name and for and on behalf of the said State, remise, release, and forever quit claim to the United States, the jurisdictional claim of the State of Connecticut, to all that tract of land called, in the aforesaid act of Congress, the Western Reserve of Connecticut, and as the same therein under that name is particularly and fully described. " In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, and affixed my seal in the Council Chamber at Hartford, in the State of Connecticut, this thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred, and in the twenty-fourth year of the independence of the United States. " JONATHAN TRUMBULL, (L. S.)" Many readers and not a few writers have taken the position that the State of Connecticut, through her officers, unduly and unwarrantably delayed complying with the desire of Congress, and the United States, in the matter of -ceding her western territory to the general government ; and that she (Connecticut) thought that by retaining possession under her claim that it might be held for her own absolute use and control. In this impression there has been a serious error. Connecticut occupied a position in this matter which was certainly peculiar, if not embarrassing ; her pledge by deed was given and she was by law and equity bound to protect those persons to whom conveyances had been made. The State, also, had encouraged the purchase and settlement of the lands of the reserve by her own people, and it was that their individual rights might be upheld and sustained that she delayed her deeds of cession ; and this delay was occasioned by the deliberation and counsel necessary to ascertain the best means of accomplishing the end sought. EARLY LAND CLAIMANTS - 43 This position of Connecticut was, so far as we have any established record, unlike that of any other State claiming these lands, and the others had only to execute the deeds of cession and were not obliged to protect the rights and interests of their immediate grantees, having none. This state of affairs led to the reservation made by the State and gave existence to that which for all subsequent years was known as the " Western Reserve of Connecticut." This vast tract of land lies north of the forty-first parallel and south of parallel forty-two two minutes; therefore a large portion of Lake Erie comes within the boundaries. Its eastern limit is the Pennsylvania line, and from that line it extends west one hundred and twenty miles. In area it covers an extent of about four million acres of land. The entire Western Reserve embraces the present counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Trumbull ; also a major portion of Mahoning and Summit, and smaller parts of Ashland and Ottawa. Danbury township represents the portion of Ottawa county that lies within the reserve, and was formerly a part of Erie, but set off to the former upon the erection thereof in 1840., Trumbull county, the oldest formed of the reserve territory, was erected in and 1800, included all the lands thereof. Having now sufficiently described the lands of the Connecticut Western Reserve, and furnished in detail the reasons of its creation, the next step brings the reader to a large subdivision of the reserve territory set apart by the State of Connecticut for purposes therein fully described ; and which subdivision is properly known as the " Sufferers' Land," but more commonly designated as the “Firelands." Within this tract Erie county is wholly situate. It appears that during the War of the Revolution many of the recruits of to the State of Connecticut suffered severe losses of property at the hands of the British soldiers ; and in order to compensate these people the State set apart of its Western Reserve, a large tract of land, embracing half a million acres, to be divided pro rata among them as their respective losses might appear. The impression had gone abroad among many people that the losses referred to were suffered by people who were, during the Revolutionary War, residents of the reserve, and one writer has asserted in his work that such was the case, as the following extract will show : " During the Revolutionary War the inhabitants through this region," etc. Of course this is a wrong impression, and it is safe to say that during that war there was not a single permanent resident from Connecticut or elsewhere upon the soil of the reserve, at least a thorough search fails, to disclose such an one. Soon after the close of the war these sufferers presented a petition to the State of Connecticut asking that compensation be awarded them for their losses, which petition was referred to a committee appointed by the Assembly. The action of the Legislature of the State will be fully and clearly shown by their resolution, passed May 10, 1792, as follows : 44 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. " Upon the memorial of the inhabitants of the towns of Fairfield and Mohawk showing to this Assembly that many of the inhabitants of said towns suffered great losses by the devastations of the enemy during the late war, praying a compensation therefor ; and on report of a committee appointed by this Assembly at their sessions held in Hartford in May, 1791, to ascertain from documents in the public offices the amount of the losses of the said memorialists, and others under similar circumstances, which had been estimated conformably to acts of this Legislature, being such as were incurred by incursions of the enemy during the late war, distinguishing the losses of buildings and necessary furniture from those of other articles by said documents, or otherwise ; and also to ascertain the advancements which have been made to the sufferers by abatement of taxes, or otherwise ; and report the same with their opinion relative to the ways and means of affording further relief as per memorial and report on file. "Resolved by this Assembly, That there be, and there hereby is, released and quit-claimed to the sufferers hereafter named, or their legal representatives, when they are dead, and to their heirs and assigns forever, five hundred thousand acres of the lands belonging to this State, lying west of the State of Pennsylvania, and bounding northerly on the shore of Lake Erie, beginning at the west line of said lands, and extending eastward to a line running northerly and southerly, parallel to the east line of said tract of land belonging to this State, and extending the whole width of said lands, and easterly, so far as to make said quantity of five hundred thousand acres of land, exclusive of any lands within said bounds, if any be, which may have been heretofore granted to be divided to and among the said sufferers, and their legal representatives, where they are dead, in proportion to the several sums annexed to their names, as follows, in the annexed list." It is not thought to be of sufficient importance to this chapter that there should be appended the names of individual sufferers to whom lands were awarded. There were many of them, several hundred, and the losses ranged from a few shillings to nearly two thousand pounds. It will be understood by the reader that few, comparatively few, of these people ever became actual residents of the Firelands. There were many who were entitled to but very little land, and in nearly every such case the person sold out his claim or award to another who was entitled to a larger tract, and thus the greater absorbed the less. More than this, speculators and land operators became owners of large tracts for the purpose of gain, and they sold to the person offering the largest price. Again, at that time, the Indian title to the Sufferers' Lands had not been extinguished, nor was this done until thirteen years later. Neither had they been surveyed, nor was provision made therefor until the year 1806. There was very little inducement for people to settle in the region, and those owning tracts held them at such extravagant figures as to EARLY LAND CLAIMANTS - 45 alarm the few pioneers that came to the region from other places, so they passed further west, and to the south, where equally good lands could be purchased and at half the price demanded for those of the Firelands. This proved at a great hindrance to the early growth of Erie county, and even at a much later day Sandusky city's growth was much retarded from like causes. While it is not deemed advisable to give the names of the sufferers, a mention of the Connecticut towns in which the losses were incurred may properly be made. They were: Greenwich, Norwalk, Fairfield, Danbury, New Haven and East Haven, New London, Ridgefield and Groton. These names were given to townships of Erie and Huron counties (this being formerly a part of Huron), upon their organization, respectively : thus preserving and carrying to this region the names of townships of Connecticut in which losses were suffered. An act of the Legislature of Connecticut, passed May, 1795, provided, “That all deeds conveying any of said lands, shall be recorded in the town clerk's office in the town or towns where the loss or damage of the original grantee or grantees, mentioned in said grant, was sustained, by the town clerk of such town, in a book to be by him kept for that purpose only." ' This act, however, was revised by the act of 1808. By virtue of an act of the Connecticut Legislature, passed in 1799, and revised 1808, it was provided : "That the proprietors of said lands be a body rate corporate and politic, and they are hereby ordained, constituted and declared to be a body corporate and politic, for the purposes herein mentioned, in fact and in name, and shall be known and called by the name of The of Proprietors of the Half Million Acres of Land lying south of Lake Erie, they and by that name and their heirs and assigns may, and shall, have succession, and shall be persons known in law, capable of suing and being sued, of pleading and being impleaded." In May, 1797, the same Legislature passed an additional and amendatory act which also was revised in 1808, but containing no provisions of importance bearing on these lands that needs a mention here. To digress briefly from these events and look to the progress of Ohio toward a State formation, it may be stated that in 1798 the territory reached the second grade of territorial government, having been found to contain " five thousand free male inhabitants, of full age." Upon this fact being made to appear to the satisfaction of the governor, on the 29th of October, of that year, his proclamation, directing the holding of an election for territorial representatives, was issued, and, on the third Monday of December thereafter, officers were chosen " to constitute the popular branch of the Territorial Legislature for the ensuing two years." The third session of the Territorial Legislature continued from the 24th of November, 1801, until the 23d day of January, 1802, when it adjourned to meet at Cincinnati on the fourth Monday of November following, " but that 46 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. fourth session was never held, for reasons made obvious by subsequent events." By an act of Congress, passed April 30, 1802, entitled "An act to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form a constitution and State government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and for other purposes." In pursuance of this enactment an election was held, and members of a constitutional convention chosen, the first meeting of which convention was held at Chillicothe, in November, 1802. The Territorial government of Ohio was ended by the organization of the State government, March 3, 1803, pursuant to the provisions of the constitution framed the year before. Therefore, when the Ohio Legislature passed an act (which she soon did), relative to the Sufferers' Lands, that was the first measure adopted by the State of Ohio bearing upon the subject under consideration. The first official action by the Legislature of Ohio after her admission into the Union, that had any bearing upon the Firelands, was the passage of an act on the 15th of April, 1803, entitled, "An act to incorporate the owners and proprietors of (the) half million acres of land, lying south of Lake Erie, in the county of Trumbull." Section 1 of the act provides, " That the owners and proprietors of said half million acres of land be, and they hereby are, ordained and constituted a body politic and corporate, in fact and in name, by the name of The Proprietors of the half million acres of land, lying south of Lake Erie, called Sufferers' Land,' and by that name they, their heirs and assigns, may and shall have succession, capable of suing and being sued, of pleading and being impleaded." Section 2 provides for a board of directors, consisting of nine persons, one to represent each of the suffering towns of Connecticut, except the town of New London, which shall have two votes, besides other provisions. Section 3, " That Jabez Fitch of Greenwich, Taylor Sherwood of Norwalk, Walter Bradley of Fairfield, Philip B. Bradley, of Ridgefield, James Clark of Danbury, Isaac Mills of New Haven and East Haven, Elias Perkins and Guy Richards of New London, and Star Chester of Groton, be and they are hereby constituted and appointed the first directors for said company, and may hold their first meeting, after passing of this act, at such time and place as any five or more of said directors shall appoint," etc. Very soon after the conclusion of the treaty with the several Indian tribes, and even before the same had been confirmed and ratified by the United States, the proprietors of the Sufferers' Land took steps to have the same surveyed into townships, and for that purpose authorized Taylor Sherman, one of their body, to negotiate for and make the necessary arrangements. An agreement was made by Mr. Sherman, for and on behalf of the proprietors, with John EARLY LAND CLAIMANTS - 47 McLean and James Clark, both of Danbury, Conn., and they employed Almon Ruggles to superintend the work. According to the terms of their agreement McLean and Clark were to receive the sum of two dollars for each mile surveyed, and an additional fifty tents per mile should the work be found to be performed satisfactorily, and, less the treaty be not confirmed, the survey was to be completed within one year. But, as frequently occurs where separate parties are interested, and one depends upon the other, the government surveyors failed to run the south line of the reserve in time, therefore an extension of one year was granted McLean and Clark, thus giving them until June 1, 1807. By an agreement entered into, February, 1806, between the Connecticut d Company and the Proprietors of the Sufferers' Lands, it was agreed that the half million acres should include the territory of Johnson's Island, but not the waters of the bay between that island and the main land. The south or base line of the reserve was surveyed and marked by Seth Pease, he acting under orders from the secretary of the treasury. This, except fifty miles next west of the Pennsylvania State line, was performed in June, 1806. This being done the survey and subdivision of the Sufferers' Lands was resumed in the last named year, 1806, and completed in about one year there after. In some manner in running the base line Mr. Pease made an error and this resulted in some temporary difficulty, which, however, was afterward adjusted, The survey and subdivision of the half million acre tract was made by Almon Ruggles, he using and relying upon the lines and corners established by the government surveyor, but, through the error therein, this work was required to be done a second time. In his centennial address Mr. Schuyler remarks that the southeast corner of the Firelands was fixed on the Ludlow line, “twenty-eight chains and sixty-eight links west from the ninety-fourth mile post from the Pennsylvania line. The line ran from that point north four degrees forty seconds west to the lake, to a point forty-three links east of a black oak tree marked J. Snow,' on the east side, and 'A. R.' on the west side, and standing near the bank of the lake and near the first perpendicular bluff of rocks, east of the Vermillion River. On computation of the survey, afterwards, it was found that the quantity of land so cut off was five hundred thousand and twenty-seven acres." From east to west the breadth of the " Sufferers' Land" was found to be twenty-five miles, fifty-one chains and thirty-two links, and by the apportionment of the overplus, each township was five miles and two-fifteenths east and West measurement. The townships bordering on the bay and lake were, of course, fractional. The survey of the Firelands being completed, the next move made by the proprietors was the partition and division thereof among those entitled to lands thereon according to their several interests, which was in this wise' The whole 48 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. tract contained thirty townships, and there being four sections to each, made an aggregate of one hundred and twenty sections. Upon this basis the whole loss was divided into one hundred and twenty parts, each part representing one thousand three hundred and forty-four pounds and seven shillings; therefore, each separate section represented that amount in value. For the one hundred and twenty sections that number of tickets were prepared, on each of which was written the names of the donees arranged in such manner that each ticket should represent a loss, as near as possible, of one thousand three hundred and fifty-four pounds and seven shillings. These tickets were grouped in fours, each group to represent a township, the value of which, it will be seen, aggregated five thousand three hundred and seven pounds, and eight shillings. These were then deposited in a box from which they were drawn by some person not interested in the proceeding ; and in this manner the lands were apportioned, there being no possible chance for any person to select particular lands, and therefore no charge of favoritism was ever made, and each person was bound to accept lands in whatever locality fortune or luck placed him. In fact, there was but little choice in the lands except that possibly those bordering upon the lake, bay, or the larger streams of the tract were the most desirable. The duties of the proprietors were now nearly ended. With the funds in their hands they caused to be constructed a road leading from the lake south, along the east side of the Huron River to a point "near the center of the north line of the township of Norwalk, and thence southward on a line as near the center of the other townships as the grounds will admit." This work was performed under the direction of William Eldridge, and cost eight hundred dollars or thereabouts. Subsequently other thoroughfares were ordered to be laid and constructed: One near the line between ranges twenty and twenty-one, running north and south, one leading east and west, and a continuation of that marked out to be constructed through lands of the Connecticut Land Company, on the Reserve ; one running west on the south line of Norwalk township, and continuing west on other township lines as near as could be done ; another running west on the south line of Fairfield township. The last two commenced at the north and south road and continued west to the county line, that is, the west line of the Sufferers' Lands. Other roads were also provided for before the final meeting of the board of directors of the proprietors, noticeable among which was one leading from Norwalk to Sandusky Bay, and another in the township of Danbury, on the peninsula, now in Ottawa county. As shown by the report of the treasurer, Joseph Darling, the total receipts of the corporation up to October 10, 1809, was $47,775.77, and that the expenditures had been $44,206.66, leaving an unexpended balance in his hands $3,569.11. This balance was further reduced by appropriations for various purposes until exhausted. EARLY LAND CLAIMANTS - 49 The final meeting of the board was held at New Haven, Conn., on the 28th of August 1811, there being present: Guy Richards and William Eldridge representing New London ; Ebenezer Avery, jr., for Groton ; Ebenezer Lessup for Fairfild; Taylor Sherman for Norwalk; Philip B. Bradley for Ridgefield, and Epaphras W. Bull for Danbury. A petition was there prepared, addressed to the General Assembly of Ohio, making report of their proceedings, and asking that their acts be declared legal by the State, and their records kept and preserved in Huron county. This county had been erected two years before. The reader will bear in mind the fact that down to the time of the final report and dissolution of the body corporate known as " the proprietors of the half million acres of land lying south of Lake Erie, called Sufferers' Land," all the business and proceedings thereof were transacted in the State of Connecticut; all records were kept in the towns in which the "Sufferers" respectively resided, and in books especially provided therefor ; all taxes were payable and receivable there. In fact all matters relating to these lands were performed in the same manner as if the Sufferers' Lands were a part and parcel of Connecticut, except that the records and proceedings were specially and separately kept: Upon the petition of the directors mentioned above the Legislature of the State of Ohio, on the 20th day of February, 1812, passed an act of which the following is a copy : “Whereas, it is represented to this General Assembly by the directors of the proprietors of the half million acres of land lying south of Lake Erie called ‘Sufferers' Land,' incorporated by that name by an act of the General Assembly of this State, passed the 15th day of April, one thousand eight hundred and three, that by virtue of the authority vested in them by said act, the said proprietors have extinguished the Indian Claim of title to said lands, surveyed and located the same into townships and sections, made an exact partition thereof to and among the proprietors, and used the surplus monies which remained in the hands of their treasurer after the Indian title was extinguished, and partition of said lands was made, amounting to two thousand six hundred dollars, for laying out and improving the public roads in said tract, and have now fully done and completed all and singular the matters and things which the interest of said proprietors required, and agreeably to the provisions and requirements of said act of incorporation. "And whereas, it is further represented by the said directors, that in transacting the business of said company, under the provisions of the act aforesaid, they have caused their clerk to make and keep a true entry and record of all the votes and doings of the directors, agreeably to the requirements of said act, and that said company have, in consequence thereof, two record books, one of which contains the votes and proceedings of the directors, and a record of the field minutes of the survey of said land ; and the other, a complete partition of the whole of said half million acres, both of which record books are certified to 50 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. be the records of said company, by Isaac Mills, esq., their clerk, and deposited in the hands of the recorder of Huron county, where the directors of said company pray they be and remain as a part of the records of said county—Therefore, "Sec. 1. That the record books, aforesaid, containing the votes and proceedings of the directors of said company, and records of the field minutes of said survey of said half million acres, and the records of partition thereof, be kept by the recorder of Huron county and his successors in office, and that said record books be and remain a part and parcel of the records of said county, and that any certified copies therefrom, which may hereafter be made by the recorder of said county, may be used and read as legal evidence in all courts of record or elsewhere ; and it shall be the duty of the recorder of Huron county, to give a certified copy of any part of said records, to any person demanding the same, for which he shall be entitled to the same fees as are provided for by law for copies of other records. "Sec. 2. That the expenditure of said sum of two thousand six hundred dollars surplus money, in laying out and improving the public roads on said lands, as before mentioned, be, and the same is hereby ratified and confirmed. "This act to take effect from and after the passage thereof."