Captain Aaron Olmsted (May 19, 1753 – September 9, 1806), erroneously spelled Olmstead, was a wealthy sea captain in the China trade out of New England, and one of 49 investors who formed the

Connecticut Land Company The Connecticut Company or Connecticut Land Company (e.-1795) 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 Re ...

in 1795 to purchase a major part of the

Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms o ...

from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. He became the owner of thousands of acres from his $30,000 share of the $1,200,000 total land deal. The land encompassed the areas of

Northeast Ohio The region Northeast Ohio, in the US state of Ohio, in its most expansive usage contains six metropolitan areas ( Cleveland–Elyria, Akron, Canton–Massillon, Youngstown–Warren, Mansfield, and Weirton–Steubenville) along with eight m ...

now known as

North Olmsted North Olmsted is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 32,442. North Olmsted is a west side suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and is the 8th most ...

Olmsted Falls Olmsted Falls is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and a southwestern suburb of Cleveland. The population was 9,024 at the 2010 census. The city's main business district is located at the corners of Bagley and Columbia Roads, and c ...

, and

Olmsted Township Olmsted Township is a township located in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. Situated in the southwest end of the county, Olmsted Township is a west side suburb of Cleveland, and a part of the even larger Greater Cleveland area. As of the 201 ...

(originally known as Lenox) in what is now

Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or ) is a large urban County (United States), county located in the Northeast Ohio, northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the Canada–United States border, U.S.- ...

, as well as Franklin Township, named after his son Aaron Franklin Olmsted, and most of the city of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in what is now Portage County. Olmsted traveled west on horseback to visit the land in 1795, but never settled there. A native of

East Hartford, Connecticut East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aerospac ...

, he was born 19 May 1753 as the eighth child of General Jonathan and Hanna (Meakins) Olmsted. Olmsted served as

Adjutant general An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

of the

4th Connecticut Regiment The 4th Connecticut Regiment was raised on April 27, 1775, at Hartford, Connecticut. The regiment saw action in the Invasion of Canada. After which the regiment was disbanded on December 20, 1775, and reformed on September 16, 1776, to fight i ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He married Mary Langrel Bigelow on 10 December 1778 and had fourteen children, of which only five lived to adulthood. He died 9 September 1806 in East Hartford.

References

External links

Portrait

Portrait of Olmstead's wife

Bio Sketch

Genealogy

Marriage details"> Marriage details
* People from East Hartford, Connecticut Cuyahoga County, Ohio Portage County, Ohio History of Kent, Ohio 1753 births 1806 deaths Connecticut Land Company {{US-bio-stub