Connecticut Western Reserve
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The Connecticut Western Reserve was land claimed by Connecticut in the Northwest Territory in what is now northeastern Ohio.
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[edit] History
Although forced to surrender the Pennsylvania portion (Westmoreland County) of its sea-to-sea land grant following the Yankee-Pennamite Wars and the intercession of the federal government, Connecticut held fast to its right to the lands between the 41st and 42nd-and-2-minutes parallels that lay west of the Pennsylvania border.
Within the state of Ohio, the claim was a 120 mile (190 km) strip between Lake Erie and a line just below Youngstown, Akron, New London and Willard, about three miles south of the present-day U.S. Highway 224. Beyond Ohio the claim included parts of what would become Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California.
In its deed of cession (the states gave up their western claims in exchange for federal assumption of their American Revolutionary War debt) dated September 13, 1786, Connecticut retained more than three million acres (12,000 km²) in Ohio. In 1796, Connecticut sold that land to investors, who formed the Connecticut Land Company. However, the Indian title to the reserve had not been extinguished. Clear title was not obtained until the Greenville Treaty in 1795 and the Treaty of Fort Industry in 1805. The west end of the reserve included the 500,000 acre (2,000 km²) Firelands or "Sufferers Lands" reserved for residents of several New England towns destroyed by British-set fires during the Revolutionary War.
The land company arranged for the surveying of the balance of the land into townships five miles square (25 square miles). To this day, the townships of the Western Reserve differ in size from those of most of the rest of the state, which are six miles square (36 square miles).
The following year, a team from the land company led by Moses Cleaveland traveled to the Reserve to prepare surveys. The group also founded Cleveland, which would become the largest city in the region. (The arbitrary decision to drop the "a" in the name of the community was done by a printer early in the settlement's existence; Cleveland taking less room on a printed page than Cleaveland.)
Over the next few years, settlers began trickling into the territory. Youngstown was founded in 1796, Warren in 1798 and Ashtabula in 1799.
In 1800, the Northwest Territory established Trumbull County. Because Warren was made the county seat, the city calls itself "the historical capital of the Western Reserve." Later, several more counties would be carved out of the territory.
[edit] Architecture
Architecture in the Western Reserve mimicked that of the New England towns where settlers came from. Many of the buildings were designed in the Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival style. Towns such as Aurora, Canfield, Gates Mills, Hudson, Milan, Norwalk, and Painesville exemplify the mixture of these styles and traditional New England town planning.
[edit] Culture
Early settlers called the territory "New Connecticut," but that name was later discarded in favor of "Western Reserve." Western Reserve College (founded 1826), which merged with the Case Institute of Technology (founded 1880) in 1967 to form Case Western Reserve University, is an example of that tie to the past. The Western Reserve Historical Society works to preserve history and historical items relevant to the area.
[edit] Sources
- 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, ISBN 0-87338-449-0).
- Taylor Upton, Harriet, History of the Western Reserve, New York: Lewis Publishing Co., 1910.
- Ohio Historical Society -- Connecticut Western Reserve
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
- Research Guide to Connecticut's "Western Lands" or "Western Reserve"
- Connecticut Western Reserve article on h2g2.
- Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
- History of the Western Reserve
- Firelands Historical Society
[edit] References
The following publications are in the collection of the Connecticut State Library (CSL):
- 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].
- Cherry, Peter Peterson. The Western Reserve and Early Ohio. Akron, OH: R. L. Fouse, 1921 [CSL call number F 495 .C52].
- Fedor, Ferenz. The Yankee Migration to the Firelands. s.l.: Fedor, 1976? [CSL call number F 497 .W5 F43 1976].
- Mathews, Alfred. Ohio and Her Western Reserve, With a Story of Three States Leading to the Latter, From Connecticut, by Way of Wyoming, Its Indian Wars and Massacre. New York: D. Appleton, 1902 [CSL call number F 491 .M42].
- Mills, William Stowell. The Story of the Western Reserve of Connecticut. New York: Printed for the author by Brown & Wilson Press [ca. 1900] [CSL call number F 497 .W5 M6].
- Peters, William E. Ohio Lands and Their Subdivision. Athens, OH: W. E. Peters, 1918 [CSL call number F 497 .W5 P47 1918].
- Rice, Harvey. Pioneers of the Western Reserve. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1883 [CSL call number: F 497 .W5 R5 1883].
- Upton, Harriet Taylor. History of the Western Reserve. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1910 [CSL call number: F 497 .W5 U7].
- 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].
