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ifil
PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS Aa'D BY No. 69, HIGH-STREET, BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD STREETS, PHILADELPHIA. %
[No. 6y, of Vol. II!.]
SECRETARY'S
(c° w c OUR last.)..
nPHE United States north-weft of the Ohio, is
on the f.juth by that river, on the cast, by Penii- ,
on the north and weft, by the lines which divide ..he ,
United States from the dominions of Great-Britain and Spain.
The part of this territory occupied by Indians, is north <nd
weft of the following lines, tlkablilhed with the Wiandots, De
laware?, Chippawa*, and On::was by the treaty of fort M'lntolh,
and with tli" Shawanefe, by that ot the Great JVliami, to wit : be
ginning at the mouth ot the Cayahoga, and running up the river
to the portage, between that and the Tufcaroras branch of the
Muflungurn, then down the said branch to the forks, at tlecrof
{\ng place above fort Lawrence, then weilwardiy, towards the
portage of ihe Big Miami, to the main branch of that river,
then down the Miatn' 10 the tork of that river next below the
old fort, which was taken by the French in 1752 ; thence due
veil to the river De la Panfe, und down thatriver to the Wabafh.
Solar the lines are preciiely defined, and the whole countiy
southward of these lines, and eallward of the Wabafh cleared ot
the claim* of thole Indians, as it is also of those of the Poutiwati
jna*, and Sacs, by the treaty of Mutkingum. How far on the
other fide of the Wabath, the fouihern boundary of the Indiana
has been defined, we know not. It is only understood in gene
ral, that their title to the lower country, between that river and
the Illinois, has been formeily extinguilhed by the French, while
in their pofl ffion. As to that countiy then, and what lies Hill
bevond the Illinois, it would leem expedient that nothing be
gone, until a fair afecrtainment of boundary can t3ke place, by
mutual consent, between us and the Indians mteicfted.
Tne country within the YVabafn, the Indian line before aef
cribed, the Pennfylvanian line, and the Ohio, contains, 011 a
loose estimate, about 55,000 iouare miles, or 35 millions of
acres,
During the Biitifh government, gr<°at numbers of persons had
formed themselves in companies under different names, such a &
the Ohio, theWabafli, ihe Illinois, the Mifliiippi, or Vaudalia
companies, and had covered with their applications, a great part
of their territory. Some of them had obtained eiders on certain
conditions, which, having never been fulfilled, their luits were
never completed by grants. Oiheis were only in a state of mgo
ciation when the Biitifti authority was discontinued. Some of
these claims being already under a special tcierencc by order of
Congress, and all of them probably tailing under the operation of
the lame principles, they will not be noticed in the present
report.
The elaims of citizens to be here stated will be,
1. Those reserved to the States by their deeds of ceflion.
11. Thole which have anien under the government of the
United States themselves.
Und«r the fir ft head presents itfelf the tract ot country from the
completion of the 41ft degree, to 42 deg 2 min. of north latitude,
and extending from the Pennlylvania line before mentioned, 120
miles wtftward, not mentioned in the deed of Connecticut, while
all the country westward thereof, was mentioned to be ceded ;
about two and a half millions of acres of this may perhaps be
wiihou: the Indian lines befoie mentioned.
2. A refcivdtion in the deed ot Virginia, of the pofTefiions
and titles of the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other
fcttlersof the Kaflfcafkias, St. Vincennes, and the neighboring vil
lages, who had profeffed themselves citizens of Virginia, which
rights have been fettled by an ast ot the last feflion of Congrels,
entitled, " An a£t for graining lands to the inhabitants and fu
llers ai Vincennes and the Illinois country, in the territory north
west of the Ohio, and for confirming them in their poflefiions."
Thele lands are in the neighborhood of the fcveral villages.
3 A refervution in the lame deed, of a quantity, not exceeding
150,000 acres of land for General George Rogers Clarke, and
the officers and soldiers of h:s regiment, who were at the reduc
tion ot Kaikaikias, and St. Vincennes, to be laid off in such place
on the northwest fide ot the Ohio, as a majority of the orticers
Ibouid choofThey chole they ihould be laid off on the river
adjacent to the rapids, which accordingly has been done.
4. A refervauon in the fame deed, ot lands between the Sciota
and Little Miami, to make up to the Virginia troops on conti
nental establishment, the quantity which the good lands, in their
southern allotment, might tall Ihort of the bounties given them by
the laws ot that Slate. By a statement ot the i6h Sept. 1788, it
appears, that 724,045 acres had been furveytd tor them on ihe
south eaftcrn fide of the Ohio; that 1 acres had been
farv.vedon the northweitern fide; th,jt warrants lor 649,649
acre* more, to be laid off on the fame fide of the river, were in
tbe flands of the furvcyor, and it was supposed there might iiill be
iome tew warrants not yet piefented ; io that this refervauon may
Deflated ai 2,045,034 £ acies ur perhaps some Imall matter
more.
If. The claims of individual citizens, derived from the United
States thcmleives, are the following :
1. Thole of the continental army, founded on the resolutions of
Congrelsof Sept. 16, 1776, August 12, and Sept. 30, 1780, and
fix».d by the ordinance of May 20, 1785. The resolution of
O&ober 22, 1787, and tl»e fupplenaentary ordinance of July 9,
3788, in the feveu ranges of townlhips, beginning at a point on
the Ohio, due north from the western termination of a line then
lately run, as the southern boundaiy of Pennsylvania : 01 in a fc
cond trad of a million ol acres, bounded eaii, by the 7 h range
of the laid townlhips, fouih by }he lands ot Cutler and Sargent ;
*orth, by an extension of the northern boundary ot the said town
&»ps ; and going towards the weft io far as to include the above
quantity, or, lastly, in a third tra& of country, beginningat the
mouth ot the Ohio, and running up the river Miffifxppi to the ri
ver An Vaule, thence up the lame till it meets a welt line from the
mouth of the little Wabalh ; thence along that line to ttie Great
Wabafh ; thence down the fame and the Ohio, to the beginning.
The ftim iota! of the said military claims i* 1,851,800 acres.
2. Those of the individuals who mads pgrchafes of land a..
New-York, wi:hin the laid fevco rangetof townships, according
to the resolutions of Congrek ot Apnl 2tft, 1787, and the i <p
p»ernentary Ordinance ot J uly 9, 1788, which claims amount tc
acres.
3. Tlie purchase of one million and a half acres of land by Cut
ler ai»d Sargent, on behalf of certain individuals, aflociatrd under
name ol the Ohio Company. This begins w here the Ohio is
interfered by the weflcrn boundary of the 7th range ol town
ftipy, and runs due nonh oil thai boundary 1306 chains and 25
Ji&ks ; thence due Weft to the western boundaryof the 17th range
w» townfiitps ; thence due south to the Ohio, and up that nvi
to the beginning; the whole area containing 1:781,760 acres &•
December 17, 170 1.
R T,
l*nd, whereof 281,760 acres, contifting of various lots and town-
Ihips, are teferved to the United States.
4. The purchase by the fame Cutler and Sargent on'behalf also
of themselves and_others ; This begins at the tiortheaftem angle
oft oTtheir purchase before described, and runs due north
-ttTthe northern boundary of the 10th townlhip from the Ohio ;
rhene<? due weft, to the Scioto; thence down the fame, and up the
Ohio 10 Ihe South western angle of the said purchase before dcfcr.-
bed, and along the wefterp and northern boundaries thereof to
the beginning ; the whole area containing 4,901,480 acres of
land, out of which, however, five lots, to wit, No. 8, 11, 16, 26,
and 29 q.t every township, of fix miles square, are retained by the
United States, and out of the whole are retained the three town-,
(hips of Gna enhuuen, Schoenbrun, and Salem ; and certain
lci;os aroumi them, as will be hereafter mentioned.
5. The purchairof John CI eves Symmes, bounded on the weft
by the G»eat Miami; en the south by the Ohio; on the eafl
by a line which is to bgin on the bank of the Ohio, 20 miles
from the mouth of the great Miami, as measured along the fev ral
couifes of the O'iio, and to run parallel with the general courfeof
the laid Great Miami ; and on the north by an eait and weft liner,
10 lun as io include a mil! on of acres in 'he whole area, whereof
live lots, numbered as before mentioned, aie reserved out of eve
ry townllnp by the United States.
It is fuggefV d that this purchaser, under colour of a firft and
larger proportion to.the board of ireafury, which wds never clo
sed (but pending that proportion) fold sundry parcels of land,
between his eastern boundary before mentioned, and the Little
Miami; and that the purchafeis have fettled thereon. If these
luggefhons prove true, the fettlcrs will, perhaps, be thought to
meut th. favor of the*legiflature, as purchafert for valuable con
federation, and without notice of the defe£l of title.
The contra As. for lands, which were at one time under confi
dcration with MeilYs. Flint and Parker, and with Colonel Mor
gan, were never so tar orofecutcd as to biinj either party under
any obligation. All proceedings thereon were dil'continued at a
very early stage, and it 'S supposed that no further view's cxiit with
any other party These, therefore, are not to be enumerated a
mong t xtftmg claims.
6. Three townihips were reserved by the ordinance of May 20,
1785, adjacent to Ljke Erie, for refugees from Canada and No-
and for other purposes according to lefolutiom ot
Coiigrefs, made or to be m -de on that fubjc&. Theie would oi
couiie contain 60,120 acrcs.
7. The lame ordinance of May 20th, 1785, appropriated the,
ihicr. towns of Gnadenhuitcn, Sthoenbrun, and Salem, on the
Mufkingum, tor the christian Indians formesly fettled there, or
the remains of that society, with the grounds round about them,
and the quantity of the said circumjacent grounds, for each ot th
ia:d towns, was determined by the relolution of Congress of Sep
tember 3d, 1788, to be so much as, with the plat of us iefpe£tive
town, would make up 4000 acre*; lo that three towns aud theii
circumjacent lands were to amount to 12,000 acres. This refei
vation was accoidmgiy made out of the large purchase of Cutlet
and Sargent, which comprehended them. The Indians,however,
tor whom the lefervation was made, have chosen to emigraic be
yond tliv limits of the United States, so that the lands icferved
tor them, ftiil remain to the United States.
On the whole, it appears that the United States may rightfully
difpofeof the lands between the Wabafh, and the Ohio, Penn
sylvania, the torty-fii ft parallel of latitude, and the Indian hues
defci ibed in the treaties of the Great Miami, and fort M'lntolh,
with excepnons only of the rights saved by the deed of ceflion oi
Virg. and of all rights legally derived trom the government ot the
United States, and supposing the part south ot the Indian lines, to
contain as before conje&ured about 35 millions of acres, and
that the claims of citizens before enumerated may amount to be
tween thirteen and fourteen millions, there remain at the difpofai
of the United States upwards of twenty-one millions of actes, in
thi& northwestern quarter.
And though the want of a&ual surveys of fomc parts, and of a
general delineation of the whole on paper, so as to exhibit to the
eye the locations, forms, andielative portions of the rights betoie
dcfcribcd, may prevent our forming a well defined idea ot them
at this difUuce, yet, on the spot th.fe difficulties exilt but in a
small degree. The individuals theie employed in the details of
buying, felling and locating, possess local informations ot th,
parts which concern them, to as to be able to keep clear ot eacn
others rights ; or, it in some lnftances a confltft ot clauns (houlu
arise, from any want of certainty in their definition, a ucal juug'.
wil! doubtless be provided to decide them without delay, at Icaii
provisionally. Time, instead of clearing up these uncertainties,
will cloud them the more, by the death or removal ol witneiic,
the difappearanee ot lines aad masks, change oi parties, and other
cafualtics.
Nov. 8, 1791
[The following letters accompanied the msi
fage of the 12th in It. troiu the I'refideiit.of the
United Status, to Cougrefs, and were omitted in
the li»ii Gazette lor want oi room.]
Fert-ff'ajhingion, Ocl. 6, 1 79 1.
Sir, ...
I HAVE now the farisfaifhon to inform you that
the army moved from iort HflnHi[i'ii f thc name
I have given to the fort on the Miami, on the
4th at "iglu in the morning, under the command
cf General Butler. The 01 der of march and en
cam pmerit I had regulated before, and on the 3d
returned to 1 his place to get up the militia. 1 hey
marched yesterday, and conlilt of but about 300
!;>en, as you will fee by the enclosed ab!tratf of
the mutter. 1 have reason to believe, however,
that at least an.equal number will be up here by
the ioih, and I have left ordeis for their follow
ing us The monthly return Ihould have accom
panied this letter, but it was not ready v.hen I
left camp, and has not been forwarded fmce. I
have hitherto found it impofiible to reduce the
officers commanding corps to punctuality with
rcfied. to their returns, but they are meading.
265
TH. JEFFERSON, Stc'ry cf Slate.
13 /| /( j It
[Whole No. 275.]
Our numbers, :ifter deducting the garrisons of
rliis plat e and Fort-Hamilton,are about two thou •
find, exclusive of the militia. I trust I shall find
tiicui fufficient and ihould the reft of the mili
tia come on, it will make the matter pretty cer
tain. But the season is now so far advanced/that
I fear the intermediate polls, which would in»
deed have been highly neceflary, it will be iin
poflible to eitabliih : in that, however, 1 niuft be
governed by circumstances, of which 1 will take
care that you fliall be apprized fn due time.
Should the enemy coine to meet us, which seems
to be expecfted, and be difconifited, there will be
no difficulties ; but if they exped; us at the Mia
mi villages, the business will wear another face,
and the intermediate polls become more eflen
tial.
1 am this moment felting out for the army,
which I hope to overtake to-morrow evening,and
will write to you again as soon afier as may be.
With great regard and refpedt,
1 have the honor to be.
Sir, your very humble fevant,
The Hon. Maj. Gen. Knox,
Secretary of War.
Camp, 81 ?/ulcs advanced, of Fort-Wajhingion f
Nov. i, 1789.
Sir,
SINCK I had the honor 10 write to you 011 the
2111 lilt, nothing very material has happened,
and indeed I am at present so unwell (ami luve
been so for foine time pall) that I coulti ill detail
ir, if it had happened,—not that that (pace of
time has been entirely barren of incidents ; but
as few of them have been of the agreeable kind,
I beg you to accept a fort of journal account of
them, which will be the eafielt for me.
On the asd, the ,indifpofirion that had hung
about me for some time, funietiines appearing as
a billious cholic, and sometimes as a rheumatic
alllnna, to my gr eat faiisfadtion changed to the
gout in the left arm and hand, leaving the brealt
and (tomach perfectly relieved, and the cough
which had been exceifive, entirely gone. This
day Mr. Ellis, with sixty militia from Kentucky,
joined the army, and brought up a quantity of
flour and beef. 23d, two men, taken in the atft
of deserting to the enemy, and one for (hooting
another soldier and threatning to kill an officer,
were hanged upon the grand parade, the whole
army being drawn out. Since the army have
halted, the country around this and ahead for
fifteen mileschas been well examined: it is a
country, which had we arrived a month foonet
in it; and with three times the number oi ani
mals, they would have been all fat now. 24th,
named the foxijcfferfon (it lies in lat. 40. 4.^2.N.)
and marched, the fame Indian path serving to
conduift us about fix miles, and encamped on
good ground and an excellent pofitien—
in fi oi»«, and a very large prarie, which would
at the proper season afford forage for a thousand
horses, on the left. So ill this day that I had
much difficulty in keeping with the army. 2jtb,
very hard rains last night—obliged to halt to
day, on account of provisions ; for though the
foltliersmay be kept pretty easily in camp under
the expedtotion of provisions arriving, they can
not bear ro march in advance, and take none a
long with them. Received a letter from Mr.
Hodgdon, by express ; 13000 cwt. of flour will
arrive on the 27th. 26th, a party of militia sent
to reconnoitre, fell in with fivelndiansj and fuf
fered them to flip through their finger* : in their
camp, articles tothe valueof twenty-two dollars
were found and divided. The Virginia battali
on is melting down v£ry fact ; not withstanding
the promises of the men to the officers, thirteen
have been discharged by Col. Dark to-day. 27fh,
gave orders for inlifting the levies, with thecon
dition of serving out their time in their present
corps. Pyamingo, arrived incampwith his war
riors : I was so unwell, could only fee him and
bid him welcome, but entered on no bufu.efi.
Considerable diflatisfatflion among the levies a
baut their enlistments. 28th, some clothing sent
for to Kort-Wafhington for the recruits arrived,
was begun to be diltributed, and will have a good
effe<ft ; but the inlifling the levies does not meet
with the encouragement that might have been
exDetfeo : it is not openly complained of by the
officers, but it is certainly piivately by some of
high rank, and the measure of tempvrg 'hem
with warm clothing condemned. M:. hodgdon
ARTHUR St. CLAIR.