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HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 53 CHAPTER VI LAND TITLE. French and British Claims.—Relinquishments by the Indians.--Conflicting Claims of States.— Virginia's Deed of Cession.— Different Classes of Lands.—The Virginia Military District.— Extent and Character of the Reservation.—Colonel Richard C. Anderson, Surveyor General.— His Successors.—The Congress Lands.—School Lands.— Early Legislation. THE French were the first civilized people who laid claim to the territory now included within the boundaries of Ohio. Resting the right of her title upon the early discoveries of the indomitable and intrepid explorer and adventurer, Robert Cavalier de la Salle, France retained nominal ownership of the soil until the treaty of Paris was made, in 1763, when the territory northwest of the Ohio, came into the possession of Great Britain, who had previously, and ineffectually contested the title. Great Britain remained in possession until after the close of the Revolutionary war, when, by the treaty of peace, concluded at Paris, in 1783, and ratified by the American Congress in the following year, the ownership was vested in the United States, INDIAN CLAIMS. The indefinite claims of the Iroquois Indians, or Six Nations, based upon the assumption of having conquered the whole country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and 54 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. hence becoming its owners, was extinguished by the terms of the treaty of Fort Stanwix, concluded October 22, 1784. The commissioners of congress in this transaction were: Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee, and the Six Nations were represented by two of their greatest chiefs: Red Jacket and Cornplanter, By the treaty of Fort McIntosh, negotiated in 1785, by George Rogers Clark, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee, was secured the relinquishment of all claims to the Ohio valley, held by the Delawares, Wyandots, Ottawas, and Chippewas. By the provisions of this treaty, the boundary line between these Indians and the United States was established along the Cyuahoga river and the main branch of the Tuscarawas to its fork, near Fort Laurens, thence westwardly to the portage, between the headwaters of the Great Miami and the Miami of the Lakes (Maumee), thence down said river to Lake Erie, and along the lake to the mouth of the Cuyahoga. Other relinquishments of Ohio territory were effected by the treaty of Fort Finney, near the mouth of the Great Miami, concluded with the Shawnees, January 31, 1786; by the treaty of Fort Harmer, held by General St. Clair, January 9, 1789; by the treaty of Greenville, August 3, 1795, and by various other treaties, made at various times, from 1796 to 1818. It is a fact worthy of note, that the title to every foot of Ohio soil was honorably acquired from the Indians by treaty or purchase. THE CLAIMS OF STATES. For some time before and after the ratification of the Treaty of Peace in 1784, between the United States and Great Britain, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut asserted claims to portions of the lands now included in Ohio, and Virginia claimed the whole and much more, even to the entire extent of "the territory northwest of the Ohio river." Virginia's claim was founded upon certain charters granted to the colony by James the First, and bearing date respectively, April to, 1606, May 23, 1609, and March 12, 161 I ; also upon the conquest of the country between the Ohio, Mississippi, and the northern lakes, by General George Rogers Clark, in 1778 and 1779. Though possessing as valid a claim as any other State, Virginia was the second to relinquish her hold upon the disputed territory, for the good of the United States, which was done by a deed of cession, granted March 1784.* The charters of Massachusetts and Connecticut each embraced territory extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and that of New York, obtained from Charles the Second, included territory that formerly had been granted to the other two colonies. Their charters, covering, to some extent, the same territory, there arose conflicts between them and Virginia as to the ownership of the soil of Ohio. New York made a deed of cession May t, 1782. Virginia followed, reserving the military lands, in 1784, and Massachusetts, on the thirteenth of November, of the same year, authorized her delegates in *The nature and provisions of this deed of cession are more fully explained under the heading of " Virginia Military lands,- in this chapter. congress to cede the title of the State to all lands west of the western boundary of New York. The measure was consummated in 1785. Connecticut ceded all of her claim west of what is now known as the Western Reserve, in September, 1786, making what Chief Justice Chase characterized as "the last tardy and reluctant sac- rice of State pretentions to the common good." When Ohio was admitted to the Federal Union as an independent State, one of the terms of admission was, that the fee simple to all the lands within its limits, especially those previously granted or sold, should be vested in the United States. The different portions of the lands have, at various times, been granted or sold to various companies, bodies politic, and individuals. The principal divisions were known as follows: 1, Congress Lands; 2, United States Military Lands; 3, Virginia Military District; 4, Western Reserve; 5, Fire Lands; 6, Ohio Company's Purchase; 7, Donation Tract; 8, Symmes' Purchase; 9, Refugee Tract; to, French Grant; I r, Dolerman's Grant; 12, Zane's Grant; 13, Canal Lands; 14, Turnpike Lands; 15, Maumee Road Lands; 16, School Lands ; 17, College Lands; 18, Ministerial ; 19, Moravian; 2o, Salt Sections. Having traced the history of the title to the soil of Ohio, we shall proceed to show how those particular classes of lands represented in Ross and Highland counties were parceled off and put into the market. All of Ross county east of the Scioto is within the Congress Lands, while all that part of the county lying west of the Scioto, and the entire territory of Highland county, are in the Virginia Military District. THE VIRGINIA MILITARY LANDS. At its session, beginning October 2o, 1783, the general assembly of Virginia passed an act to authorize its delegates in congress to convey to the United States, in congress assembled, all the right of that commonwealth to the territory northwest of the Ohio river. Congress stipulated to accept this cession upon condition that this territory should be formed into States, containing a suitable extent of territory, and that the States so formed should be distinctly republican, and admitted members of the Federal Union, having the same rights of sovereignty and freedom as the other States. On the seventeenth of March, 1784, Thomas Jefferson, Arthur Lee, James Monroe, and Samuel Hardy, the Virginia delegates to congress, conveyed to the United States "all right, title and claim, as well as of jurisdiction, which the said commonwealth hath to the territory, or tract of country, within the limits of the Virginia charter, situate, lying and being northwest of the river Ohio." This act of cession contained, however, the following reservation: "That in case the quantity of good land on the southeast side of the Ohio, upon the waters of C timberland river, and between the Great and Tennessee rivers, which have been reserved by law for the Virginia troops, upon continental establishment, should, from the North Carolina line, bearing in further upon the Cumberland lands than was expected, prove insufficient for these legal bounties, the deficiency should be made up HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 55 to the said troops in good lands, to be laid off between the rivers Scioto and Little Miami, on the northwest side of the river Ohio, in such proportions to them as have been engaged to them by the laws of Virginia." The land embraced in this reservation constitutes the Virginia Military district in Ohio, and is composed of the counties of Adams, Brown, Clinton, Clermont, Highland, Fayette, Madison, and Union, and portions of Scioto, Pike, Ross, Pickaway, Franklin, Delaware, Marion, Hardin, Logan, Clark, Greene, Champaign, Warren, and Hamilton. Congress passed an act authorizing the establishment of this reservation and location as defined, upon the report of the executive of Virginia that the deficiency of good lands upon the waters of the Cumberland existed. The Virginia soldiers of the Continental line, who served in the Revolutionary war, were compensated in bounty awards of these lands according to the rank, time of service, etc. The first step necessary, after securing the proper certificate of actual service, was that of pro- curing a printed warrant from the land officer, specifying the quantity of lands and the rights upon which it was due. This military warrant was issued from the land office, in the State of Virginia, which empowered the person to whom it was granted, his heirs or assigns to select the number of acres specified in the lands reserved for that purpose, and to have the same appropriated. After the location was made, and the boundaries ascertained by surveying, the owner of the warrant returned it to the State authorities, and received in its place a patent, or grant, from -the government. This grant was equivalent to a deed in fee simple, and passed all of the title of the government to the grantee. On the same day on which the act was passed, Richard C. Anderson, a colonel in the army, was appointed surveyor for the Continental line of the army, by the officers named in the act and authorized to make such appointments as they saw fit. He opened his office at Soldiers' Retreat, near Louisville, for entries in the Kentucky lands, on the twentieth of July, 1784. When the Kentucky grant was exhausted, August t, 1787, he prepared for entries in the Ohio tract. He held his position up to the time of his death, October 16, 1826, and during the long period faithfully discharged the onerous duties devolving upon him. His son-in-law, Allen Latham, esq., was appointed surveyor sometime after Colonel Anderson's death (probably in 1827), and opened his office at Chillicothe, in July, 1829. He remained in office until June 23, 1834, when Colonel W. Marshall Anderson, now of Circleville, was appointed. His services closed June 14, 1847, and his successor was E. P. Kendrick, who still remains in the office, although the business is attended to by his son, Samuel Kendrick. Any soldier who held a warrant, or the heir or assign of any soldier who held a warrant, was at liberty to locate his lands wherever he pleased within the Virginia Miltary lands, and in consequence of the irregularities with which many locations were made, and the encroachment of some locations upon others, far more litigation has arisen, relative to lines and titles in this district, than in those which were regularly surveyed and laid off in sections. The Virginia Military tract was never surveyed into townships until it was done in the different counties, by order of the county commissioners, when it became desirable to organize the townships for civil purposes. Hence their irregular shape and size. CONGRESS LANDS. As heretofore stated, all of that part of Ross county lying east of the Scioto is within the Congress lands. These lands are so called, because they were sold directly by the officers of the government, under such laws as were from time to time enacted. Offices were opened at convenient places for the sale of these lands—at Marietta, Steubenville, Zanesville, Chillicothe, and elsewhere —and the districts were called after the names of these towns. (The office at Chillicothe was lately closed and the records removed to Washington and Columbus.) The Congress lands were surveyed and put itT the market in conformance to an ordinance passed in 1785, after the several States claiming ownership had all granted deeds of cession to the United States, and after the title had been made perfect by treaty with the Indians. The lands were surveyed into townships six miles square, or as nearly that size as was practicable, and were divided into sections, each a mile square. Four sections in each township were reserved for future sale by the United States, and one section was set apart for the use of schools. Originally a provision was made for the reservation of one-seventh of the lands surveyed, for the use of the Continental troops, but this plan was subsequently abandoned. The system of the survey and sale of the Congress lands underwent many changes, which it is unnecessary here to relate. EARLY LEGISLATION IN REGARD TO SCHOOL LANDS. Congress, by a compact with the people, gave them one thirty-sixth p'art of all the lands northwest of the Ohio river, for the maintenance of schools. The lands for this purpose set apart, however, were appropriated by squatters, and through unwise, careless, and, sometimes, corrupt legislation, these squatters were vested with proprietorship. "Members of the legislature, not unfrequently, got acts passed and leases granted, either to themselves, to their relatives, or to their warm partisans. One senator contrived to get, by such acts, seven entire sections of land into either his, or his children's, possessions."* From 1803 to 182o, the general assembly spent a considerable portion of every session in passing acts relating to these lands, without ever advancing the cause of education in any degree. In 1821 the house of representatives appointed five of its members, viz: Caleb Atwater, Lloyd Talbot, James Shields, Roswell Mills and Josiah Barber, a committee on schools and school lands. This committee subsequently made a report, rehearsing the wrong management of the school land trust on behalf of the State, warmly advocated the establishment of a system of education, and the adoption of measures which would secure for the people the rights which congress intended * Caleb Atwater's "History of Ohio." 56 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. they should possess. In compliance with the recommendation of the committee, the governor of the State, in May, 1822, having been authorized by the legislature, appointed seven commissioners of schools and school lands, viz: Caleb Atwater, the Rev. John Collins, Rev. James Hoge, D, D., N. Guilford, Hon. Ephraim Cutler, Hon. Josiah Barber and James M. Bell, esq. The reason why seven persons were appointed was because there were seven different sorts of school lands in the State, viz: Section number sixteen in every township of the Congress, the United States Military lands, the Virginia Military lands, Symmes' purchase, the Refugee lands, and the Connecticut Western Reserve. For the two classes of lands represented in the lands of Ross and Highland counties, the appointments were as follows: For Congress lands, Caleb Atwater; Virginia Military lands, John Collins. The commission of seven persons was reduced, by various causes, to one of three, Messrs. Atwater, Collins and Hoge, who performed the arduous duties incumbent upon them, with but little remuneration, and (at the time) but few thanks, The legislature of 1823 broke up without having taken any definite action upon the report presented by the commission, but during the summer and autumn of 1824, the subject of the sale of the school lands was warmly agitated, and the friends of this measure triumphed over the opposition so far as to elect large majorities to both branches of the general assembly, in favor of its being made a law. The quantity of land set apart was ascertained, in 1825, to be a little more than half a million acres, and was valued at less than a million dollars. A portion of these lands was sold by the legislature under authority from congress, and the residue was leased. |