Maumee Road Lands

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Maumee Road Lands were a group of land tracts granted by the United States Congress to the state of Ohio in 1823 along the path of a proposed road in the northwest corner of the state.

United States Congress Legislature of the United States

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the Federal Government of the United States. The legislature consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Ohio State of the United States of America

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Of the fifty states, it is the 34th largest by area, the seventh most populous, and the tenth most densely populated. The state's capital and largest city is Columbus.

Contents

The Maumee Road is the dark line in northwest Ohio between the western edge of the Firelands and the Maumee River Royce-areas-ohio.jpg
The Maumee Road is the dark line in northwest Ohio between the western edge of the Firelands and the Maumee River

History

With the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 the Indian Nations ceded southern and eastern Ohio to white settlement. [1] The Treaty of Fort Industry in 1805 moved the boundary westward to a line 120 miles (190 km) west of Pennsylvania, which coincided with the western boundary of the Firelands of the Connecticut Western Reserve. [2] In 1807, the Treaty of Detroit called for the cession of lands northwest of the Maumee River, mostly in the Michigan Territory. [3] The area between the Maumee River and the 1805 boundary remained Indian Lands, and thus, the United States could not legally build a road connecting settlements in Ohio and the Michigan Territory. This area was also in the Great Black Swamp, and would require much engineering effort and funds to cross with a road.

Treaty of Greenville 1795 treaty ending the Northwest Indian War

The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., was a 1795 treaty between the United States and Indians of the Northwest Territory including the Wyandot and Delaware, which redefined the boundary between Indian lands and Whiteman's lands in the Northwest Territory.

Treaty of Fort Industry

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."

Pennsylvania State of the United States of America

Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle. The Commonwealth is bordered by Delaware to the southeast, Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, Lake Erie and the Canadian province of Ontario to the northwest, New York to the north, and New Jersey to the east.

On November 25, 1808, at Brownstown in Michigan Territory, the United States and five nations of Indians signed the Treaty of Brownstown. [4] Article II of the treaty called for the Indian Nations to cede to the United States a tract of land two miles (3 km) wide from Perrysburg, Ohio on the Maumee River to Bellevue, Ohio on the western edge of the Western Reserve so the United States could build a road 120 feet (37 m) wide to connect their disconnected lands.

Indigenous peoples of the Americas Pre-Columbian inhabitants of North, Central and South America and their descendants

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the Pre-Columbian peoples of North, Central and South America and their descendants.

Treaty of Brownstown

The Treaty of Brownstown was between the United States and the Council of Three Fires, Wyandott, and Shawanoese Indian Nations. It was concluded November 25, 1808 at Brownstown in Michigan Territory, and provided cession of a strip of Indian land for a road to connect two disconnected areas of land previously ceded by Indians in Michigan and Ohio.

Perrysburg, Ohio City in Ohio, United States

Perrysburg is a city in Wood County, Ohio, United States, along the south side of the Maumee River. The population was 20,623 at the 2010 census. It was founded before Toledo, now a larger port city located about 12 miles (19 km) to the northeast on Lake Erie. Perrysburg is now a suburb of Toledo, Ohio.

In 1811, [5] Congress appropriated $6,000 to explore, survey and mark a road sixty feet wide. In 1815, [6] Congress made provisions to survey the lands one mile (1.6 km) either side of the road path into tracts running parallel and perpendicular to path of the road, and sell them at the Canton Land Office. In 1816, [7] the President was authorized to move the path of the road to pass through Fremont. No action was taken on these counts, so, in 1820, the Ohio legislature asked Congress to take action. [8]

Canton, Ohio City in Ohio, United States

Canton is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio, United States. Canton is located approximately 60 miles (97 km) south of Cleveland and 20 miles (32 km) south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and Wayne counties to the city's west and southwest. Canton is the largest municipality in the Canton-Massillon, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Stark and Carroll counties. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 73,007, making Canton eighth among Ohio cities in population.

Fremont, Ohio City in Ohio, United States

Fremont is a city in and the county seat of Sandusky County, Ohio, United States, located along the west bank of the Sandusky River. It is about 40 miles from Toledo. The population was 16,734 at the 2010 census.

All the land between the Maumee River and the Western Reserve was ceded by the Indians with the Treaty of Fort Meigs in 1817, [9] and surveyed into townships and sections in the Congress Lands North and East of the First Principal Meridian in 1821.

Treaty of Fort Meigs

The Treaty of Fort Meigs, also called the Treaty of the Maumee Rapids, formally titled, "Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., 1817", was the most significant Indian treaty in Ohio since the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, and resulted in cession by the Indians of nearly all remaining Indian lands in northwestern Ohio. It was the last but one and largest wholesale purchase of Indian land in Ohio.

Survey township mostly-square areas used for land descriptions in the U.S.

Survey township, sometimes called Congressional township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System, refers to a square unit of land, that is nominally six miles (~9.7 km) on a side. Each 36-square-mile (~93 km2) township is divided into 36 one-square-mile (~2.6 km2) sections, that can be further subdivided for sale, and each section covers a nominal 640 acres (2.6 km2). The townships are referenced by a numbering system that locates the township in relation to a principal meridian (north-south) and a base line (east-west). For example, Township 2 North, Range 4 East is the 4th township east of the principal meridian and the 2nd township north of the base line. Township (exterior) lines were originally surveyed and platted by the US General Land Office using contracted private survey crews. Later survey crews subdivided the townships into sections (interior) lines. Virtually all lands covered by this system were sold according to these boundaries. They are marked on the U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps.

Section (United States land surveying) square subdivision of a U.S. survey township

In U.S. land surveying under the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), a section is an area nominally one square mile, containing 640 acres, with 36 sections making up one survey township on a rectangular grid.

Grant by Congress

The Maumee Road Lands in northwest Ohio Maumee Road Lands.png
The Maumee Road Lands in northwest Ohio

In 1823, [10] Congress authorized the state of Ohio to build the road, and granted land to the state 120 feet (37 m) wide, plus one mile (1.6 km) on each side of the road, bounded by sectional lines. This grant became known as the “Maumee Road Lands“. In 1825 Ohio appropriated moneys to build the road, and provided for sale of granted lands to pay for it. The section of road is about 46 miles (74 km) long, and the land granted to Ohio amounted to about 60,000 acres (240 km2) in Wood and Sandusky counties. [11]

Wood County, Ohio County in the United States

Wood County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 125,488. Its county seat is Bowling Green. The county was named for Captain Eleazer D. Wood, the engineer for General William Henry Harrison's army, who built Fort Meigs in the War of 1812.

Sandusky County, Ohio County in the United States

Sandusky County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio located southeast of the Toledo Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 60,944. Its county seat is Fremont. The county was formed on February 12, 1820, from portions of Huron County. The name is derived from the Wyandot word meaning "water". The Sandusky River runs diagonally northeast through the county to its mouth on Sandusky Bay. The bay opens into Lake Erie.

United States Route 20 is situated along the Maumee road.

See also

Notes

  1. 7  Stat.   49 - Text of Treaty of Greenville Library of Congress
  2. 7  Stat.   87 - Text of Treaty of Fort Industry Library of Congress
  3. 7  Stat.   105 - Text of Treaty of Detroit Library of Congress
  4. 7  Stat.   112 - Text of Treaty of Brownstown Library of Congress
  5. 2  Stat.   668 - Text of Act of December 12, 1811 Library of Congress
  6. 3  Stat.   201 - Text of Act of February 4, 1815 Library of Congress
  7. 3  Stat.   284 - Text of Act of April 16, 1816 Library of Congress
  8. Peters, p. 317.
  9. 7  Stat.   160 - Text of Treaty of Fort Meigs Library of Congress
  10. 3  Stat.   727 - Text of Act of February 28, 1823 Library of Congress
  11. Peters, p. 319-320.

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