Connecticut relinquished its claim to some of its western lands to the United States in 1786 following the American Revolutionary War and preceding the 1787 establishment of the Northwest Territory. Despite ceding sovereignty to the United States, Connecticut retained ownership of the eastern portion of its cession, south of Lake Erie. It sold much of this "Western Reserve" to a group of speculators who operated as the Connecticut Land Company; they sold it in portions for development by new settlers.[2] The phrase Western Reserve is preserved in numerous institutional names in Ohio, such as Western Reserve Academy, Case Western Reserve University, and Western Reserve Hospital.
In the 19th century, the Western Reserve "was probably the most intensely antislavery section of the country".[3]John Brown Jr. called it, in 1859, "the New England of the West".[4]
Prior to the arrival of European colonists, the land surrounding the southern shore of Lake Erie was inhabited by the Erie people.[7] At the close of a war against the Iroquois from 1654 to 1656, the Erie were almost completely annihilated.[8] Their towns were destroyed, and any survivors were assimilated into neighboring tribes, mainly the Seneca.[8]
After the American Revolutionary War, Connecticut was forced by the federal government to surrender the Pennsylvania portion (Westmoreland County) of its "sea-to-sea grant" following the Pennamite–Yankee Wars. Nevertheless, the state held fast to its claim on the lands between the 41st and 42nd-and-2-minutes parallels that lay west of the Pennsylvania state border.
Connecticut gave up western land claims following the American Revolutionary War in exchange for federal assumption of its debt, as did several other states. From these concessions, the Articles of Confederation government organized the Northwest Territory (formally known as the "Territory Northwest of the River Ohio"). The deed of cession was issued on September 13, 1786. As population increased in portions of the Northwest Territory, new states were organized and admitted to the Union in the early 19th century.
Connecticut retained 3,366,921 acres (13,625.45km2) in Ohio, which became known as the "Western Reserve".[2][9] The state sold the Western Reserve to the Connecticut Land Company in 1796 (or possibly 12 August,[10] 2 September,[2] or 5 September 1795[9]) for $1,200,000.[2][9][10] The Land Company were a group of investors who were mostly from Suffield, Connecticut. The initial eight men in the group (or possibly seven[2][10] or 35[9]) planned to divide the land into homestead plots and sell it to settlers from the east.
But the Indian titles to the Reserve had not been extinguished. Clear title was obtained east of the Cuyahoga River by the Greenville Treaty in 1795[11] and west of the river in the Treaty of Fort Industry in 1805.[12] The western end of the reserve included the Firelands or "Sufferers' Lands", 500,000 acres (2,000km2) reserved by Connecticut in 1792 for residents of several New England towns which had been destroyed by British-set fires during the Revolutionary War.
The next year, the Land Company sent surveyors led by Moses Cleaveland to the Reserve to divide the land into square townships, 5 miles (8.0km) on each side (25 square miles (65km2).[13] Cleaveland's team also founded the city of Cleveland along Lake Erie, which became the largest city in the region. (The first "a" was dropped; spelling of names was not standardized at the time.)
In 1798 surveyors laid out the Girdled Road, indicated by girdled trees, which ran from Cleveland to the Pennsylvania state line near Lake Erie.[14] A modern portion of Girdled Road still exists by that name.
The territory was originally named "New Connecticut" (later discarded in favor of "Western Reserve"), and settlers began to trickle in during the next few years. Youngstown was founded in 1796, Warren in 1798, Hudson and Ravenna in 1799, Ashtabula in 1803, and Stow in 1804.
A major issue faced by the Land Company was that their purchase of the land was of questionable legality. Connecticut claimed to have sold them not only the title to the Western Reserve, but also the right to govern its inhabitants. It was unclear whether a state could sell its jurisdiction to a private company. This legal gray area caused queasiness by investors, so in 1797, the Connecticut legislature signed a bill to transfer the land to the federal government. However, the shareholders and customers of the Land Company feared that this offer would cause them to lose their titles, and they instead requested that Connecticut intervene to have Congress recognize the jurisdiction of the Land Company.[15] In February 1800, a federal committee headed by John Marshall found that the titles and jurisdiction of the Western Reserve remained formally in the hands of Connecticut, observing that this created an exclave with significant practical problems for governance. He proposed that the federal government simply obtain direct jurisdiction over the land.[16]
The Western Reserve thereby became federal property in April 1800, and settlers were allowed to retain their titles. The United States absorbed it into the Northwest Territory, which organized Trumbull County within the boundaries of the Reserve. Warren, Ohio is the former county seat of the Reserve and identifies itself as "the historical capital of the Western Reserve." Later, several more counties were carved out of the territory. The name "Western Reserve" survives in the area in various institutions such as the "Western Reserve Historical Society" and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
The Western Reserve was arguably the most anti-slavery region of the country in the pre-Civil War period. Many Underground Railroad routes ended with a trip through the Western Reserve to a boat to cross Lake Erie into what is today Ontario. The three oldest sons of the abolitionist John Brown—John Jr., Jason, and Owen—together with other participants in John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, were all living in Ashtabula County, for security; the Governor of Ohio, William Dennison Jr., refused to honor Virginia's request for Owen's arrest and extradition.[17][18] A U.S. Marshall, attempting to serve a warrant requiring Owen to testify before a U.S. Senate committee, reported that without "an armed force" he could not be arrested; "in Ashtabula County...there is a secret and armed organization numbering several hundred." They proclaimed themselves safer there than in any other place in the U.S., or even in Canada.[19]
This area of Ohio became a center of resource development and industrialization through the mid-20th century. It was a center of the steel industry, receiving iron ore shipped through the Great Lakes from Minnesota, processing it into steel products, and shipping these products to the east. This industry stimulated the development of great freight lakers, as the steam ships were known, including the first steel ships in the 20th century. Railroads took over some of the freight and commodity transportation from the lake ships. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these cities attracted hundreds of thousands of European immigrants and migrants (both black and white) from the rural South to its industrial jobs.
Seeking Heritage Area designation
At the request of Congress in 2011, the National Park Service prepared a feasibility study for declaring the 14-county region of the Western Reserve as a National Heritage Area. This is a means to encourage broad-based preservation of such historical sites and buildings that are related to a large historical theme. Such assessment and designation has been significant for recognizing assets, and encouraging new development and businesses, including heritage tourism, often related to adaptive re-use of waterways, and buildings, as well as totally new endeavors. The United States has designated 49 National Heritage Areas, including two in Ohio: the Ohio Canal of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the National Aviation Heritage Area.[20]
The NPS study coordinator said that while the region had the historic assets, and there was considerable public support for such a designation, the Western Reserve lacked "a definitive coordinating entity or supporting group," which is required to gain Congressional approval.[20] If such a body develops in the future, it might seek federal designation as a Heritage Area.
Geauga County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,397. The county seat and largest city is Chardon.
Ashtabula County is the northeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,574. The county seat is Jefferson, while its largest city is Ashtabula. The county was created in 1808 and later organized in 1811. The name Ashtabula derives from the Lenape language phrase ashte-pihële, which translates to 'always enough (fish) to go around, to be given away' and is a contraction of apchi ('always') + tepi ('enough') + hële. Ashtabula County is part of the Cleveland, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Bay Village is a city in western Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, the city is a western suburb of Cleveland and a part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 16,163 at the 2020 census.
Norwalk is a city in and the county seat of Huron County, Ohio, United States. The population was 17,068 at the 2020 census. The city is the center of the Norwalk micropolitan area and part of the Cleveland–Akron–Canton combined statistical area. Norwalk is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Lake Erie, 51 miles (82 km) west/southwest of Cleveland, 59 miles (95 km) southeast of Toledo, and 58 miles (93 km) west/northwest of Akron.
The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 census results, the six-county Cleveland, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consists of Cuyahoga County, Ashtabula County, Geauga County, Lake County, Lorain County, and Medina County, and has a population of 2,185,825, making it the 33rd-most populous metropolitan area in the United States and the third largest metropolitan area in Ohio. The metro area is also part of the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area with a population of over 3.7 million people, the most populous statistical area in Ohio and the 17th most populous in the United States.
Northeast Ohio is a geographic and cultural region that comprises the northeastern counties of the U.S. state of Ohio. Definitions of the region consist of 16 to 23 counties between the southern shore of Lake Erie and the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, home to over 4.5 million people. It is anchored by the metropolitan area of Cleveland, the most populous city in the region with over 372,000 residents in 2020. Other metropolitan centers include Akron, Canton, Mansfield, Sandusky, and Youngstown. Northeast Ohio includes most of the area known historically as the Connecticut Western Reserve.
The Firelands, or Sufferers' Lands, tract was located at the western end of the Connecticut Western Reserve in what is now the U.S. state of Ohio. It was legislatively established in 1792, as the "Sufferers' Lands", and later became named "Fire Lands" because the resale of the land was intended as financial restitution for residents of the Connecticut towns of Danbury, Fairfield, Greenwich, Groton, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, and Ridgefield. Their homes had been burned in 1779 and 1781 by British forces during the American Revolutionary War. However, most of the settlement of the area did not occur until after the War of 1812. "Fire Lands" was later spelled as one word: "Firelands."
Moses Cleaveland was an American lawyer, politician, soldier, and surveyor from Connecticut who founded the city of Cleveland, Ohio, while surveying the Connecticut Western Reserve in 1796. During the American Revolution, Cleaveland was the brigadier general of the Connecticut militia.
The Treaty of Fort McIntosh was a treaty between the United States government and representatives of the Wyandotte, Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa nations of Native Americans. The treaty was signed at Fort McIntosh on January 21, 1785. It contained 10 articles and an addendum.
This is a list of high school athletic conferences in Ohio, separated by Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) region. Some conferences have schools in multiple regions, and will be listed in all applicable regions. However, the conference information is on the region page where the most schools are classified in.
The Treaty of Fort Industry was a successor treaty to the Treaty of Greenville, which moved the eastern boundary of Indian lands in northern Ohio from the Tuscarawas River and Cuyahoga River westward to a line 120 miles west of the Pennsylvania boundary, which coincided with the western boundary of the Firelands of the Connecticut Western Reserve. In return, the United States agreed "every year forever hereafter, at Detroit, or some other convenient place" to pay $825 for the ceded lands south of the 41st degree of north latitude, and an additional $175 for the Firelands, which lie north of 41 degrees north, which the President would secure from the Connecticut Land Company, for a total of annuity $1000.00, to be "divided between said nations, from time to time, in such proportions as said nations, with the approbation of the President, shall agree."
Oxford Township is one of the nine townships of Erie County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Sandusky, Ohio micropolitan statistical area and the Cleveland-Akron-Canton Combined Statistical Area. The 2020 census recorded 1,140 residents.
The Connecticut Company or Connecticut Land Company was a post-colonial land speculation company formed in the late eighteenth century to survey and encourage settlement in the eastern parts of the newly chartered Connecticut Western Reserve of the former "Ohio Country" and a prized-part of the Northwest Territory)—a post-American Revolutionary period region, that was part of the lands-claims settlement adjudicated by the new United States government regarding the contentious conflicting claims by various Eastern Seaboard states on lands west of the gaps of the Allegheny draining into the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. Under the arrangement, all the states gave up their land claims west of the Alleghenies to the Federal government save for parts parceled out to each claimant state. Western Pennsylvania was Pennsylvania's part, and the Connecticut Western Reserve was the part apportioned to Connecticut's claim. The specific Connecticut Western Reserve lands were the northeastern part of the greater Mississippi drainage basin lands just west of those defined as part of Pennsylvania's claims settlement.
Saybrook Township is one of the twenty-seven townships of Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 9,711 people in the township.
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States is divided into 21 townships.
General Simon Perkins was an early settler, businessman and surveyor of the Western Reserve of Connecticut, which would later become northeast Ohio. He co-founded Akron, Ohio, with Paul Williams in 1825. He served as a brigadier-general during the War of 1812.
David Hudson was an American businessman noted for founding Hudson Township, now Hudson, Ohio. Hudson was born in Branford, Connecticut, and lived there until the age four when his family moved to Goshen, Connecticut, where he lived for many years, owning a farm, marrying Anna Norton in 1783, and raising the oldest seven of their nine children. In 1789, Hudson joined a group to purchase a parcel of land in the Connecticut Western Reserve. The following year, he left Goshen to survey the parcel and settle it as Hudson Township. Hudson traveled through the state of New York, west along Lake Erie and south along the Cuyahoga River to reach his land.
This is a list of high school athletic conferences in the Northeast Region of Ohio, as defined by the OHSAA. Because the names of localities and their corresponding high schools do not always match and because there is often a possibility of ambiguity with respect to either the name of a locality or the name of a high school, the following table gives both in every case, with the locality name first, in plain type, and the high school name second in boldface type. The school's team nickname is given last.
This is a list of former high school athletic conferences in the Northeast Region of Ohio, as designated by the OHSAA. If a conference had members that span multiple regions, the conference is placed in the article of the region most of its former members hail from. Because the names of localities and their corresponding high schools do not always match and because there is often a possibility of ambiguity with respect to either the name of a locality or the name of a high school, the following table gives both in every case, with the locality name first, in plain type, and the high school name second in boldface type. The school's team nickname is given last.
References
Notes
↑ Western Reserve. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History (2020-10-05). Retrieved on 2020-10-05.
↑ Elsewhere in Ohio, most townships are 6 miles (9.7km) on each side (36 square miles (93km2)), following the guidelines of the US Land Ordinance of 1785.
↑ Williams Brothers (1879). "Chapter VI: Pioneer Events". History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio. p.21. The following are the names of the townships which this road passed through, as they now stand upon the maps: beginning at the Pennsylvania line, the first town is Conneaut, Ashtabula county, the second is Shefield, the third is Plymouth, the fourth Austinburg, and the fifth Harpersfield. It seemed to deflect to the south, and pass across a corner of Trumbull township; then passing into Geauga, across the township of Thompson; thence into the town of Le Roy, in Lake County. The road across this township is open and traveled at this time. Passing through Concord township, it crossed the road leading from Painesville to Chardon, about a mile south of Wilson's Corners, at a place called, fifty years ago, the 'Log Tavern,' and across the northwest part of Kirtland. The east end of the road at Pennsylvania was likely on or near modern Underridge Road according to a historic plaque.
Hatcher, Harlan, Western Reserve: The Story of New Connecticut in Ohio, Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1949. (2nd edition, Cleveland: World Publishing, 1966). (2nd edition paperback, Kent State University Press, 1991, ISBN0-87338-449-0).
The Public Records of the State of Connecticut [HistRef ConnDoc G25 1776-]. This multi-volume set contains the record of transactions of the Connecticut General Assembly. Each volume covers a given time period and has an index. Researchers interested in the Western Lands should consult these volumes to gain knowledge of the legislative actions and petitions granted by the Connecticut General Assembly.
Burke, Thomas Aquinas. Ohio Lands: A Short History. [Columbus, OH]: Auditor of State, c1997 [CSL call number HistRef HD 243 .O3 B87 1997].
Upton, Harriet Taylor. History of the Western Reserve. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1910 [CSL call number: F 497 .W5 U7]. Volume 1, onlineVolume 2, online
Wickham, Gertrude Van Rensselaer. Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve. [s.l.]: Whipporwill, [197- ] [CSL call number F 497 .W5 W63 1970z].
Internet archive
Cleveland Centennial Commission. Woman's Dept (1896). Album of the Western Reserve Centennial. Cleveland, Ohio: Edwin H. Clark and Co. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
