The Donation Tract was a land tract in southern

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

that was established by the Congress late in the 18th century to buffer

Ohio Company The Ohio Company, formally known as the Ohio Company of Virginia, was a land speculation company organized for the settlement by Virginians of the Ohio Country (approximately the present U.S. state of Ohio) and to trade with the Native Ameri ...

lands against local indigenous people. Congress gave lots to men who settled on the land. This marked the first time that federal land was given without charge to specified settlers, predating the more famous

Homestead Act The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of th ...

of 1862 by seventy years.

Background

The

Ohio Company of Associates The Ohio Company of Associates, also known as the Ohio Company, was a land company whose members are today credited with becoming the first non- Native American group to permanently settle west of the Allegheny mountains. In 1788 they establis ...

, also known as the Ohio Company, was a land company that was formed on March 3, 1786, by General

Rufus Putnam Brigadier-General Rufus Putnam (April 9, 1738 – May 4, 1824) was an American military officer who fought during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. As an organizer of the Ohio Company of Associates, he was instrumental ...

Benjamin Tupper Benjamin Tupper (March 11, 1738 – June 7, 1792) was a soldier in the French and Indian War, and an officer of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, achieving the rank of Brevet (military), brevet Brigadier general (United ...

Samuel Holden Parsons Samuel Holden Parsons (May 14, 1737 – November 17, 1789) was an American lawyer, jurist, generalHeitman, ''Officers of the Continental Army'', 428. in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and a pioneer to the Ohio Countr ...

and

Manasseh Cutler Manasseh Cutler (May 13, 1742 – July 28, 1823) was an American clergyman involved in the American Revolutionary War. He was influential in the passage of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and wrote the section prohibiting slavery in the Nort ...

, who had met in Boston, Massachusetts to discuss the settlement of the territory around the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

. They convinced Congress to sell the company a tract at the confluence of the

Muskingum River The Muskingum River (Shawnee: ') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country o ...

and the

. Settlement began at the newly formed town of

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Mar ...

in April 1788. Indians objected to this incursion on their homeland, leading to the War of 1790. Most of the troops in

Fort Harmar Fort Harmar was an early United States frontier military fort, built in pentagonal shape during 1785 at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, on the west side of the mouth of the Muskingum River. It was built under the orders of Colone ...

, near Marietta, were transferred to Fort Washington to protect

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, so settlers ended up having to defend themselves at the expense of the Ohio Company.

Wyandot Wyandot may refer to: Native American ethnography * Wyandot people, also known as the Huron * Wyandot language * Wyandot religion Places * Wyandot, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Wyandot County, Ohio * Camp Wyandot, a Camp Fire Boys and ...

s killed settlers in the Big Bottom massacre of Jan. 2, 1791, in present day Morgan County.

Congressional donation

The Ohio Company petitioned Congress in March, 1792 to donate some land along the north boundary of their lands to form a buffer against the Indians. With the Act of April 21, 1792, Congress donated to the officers of the Company. The land was to be conveyed in lots of , free of expense, to each male of at least 18 years of age who settled on the land. The Donation Tract is in parts of modern day Adams, Fearing, Salem, Muskingum,

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and ...

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, and Watertown Township in Washington County, and Windsor Township in Morgan County. The land was divided into “allotments”, and each allotment was further divided into lots. These lots did not follow the usual surveying plan of survey townships and one square mile

sections Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

. That part of the tract that was not conveyed by the Company to settlers within five years was to be returned to the federal government. However, nothing was done about the unsold lots until an act in 1818, - Text of Act of March 18, 1818

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

when Congress required their return so they could be sold by the Marietta Land Office. After settlement of the Donation Tract, the Ohio Company did not suffer another raid as large as the Big Bottom Massacre.

References

External links

Ohio History Central- Donation Tract
Former regions and territories of the United States Geography of Ohio Pre-statehood history of Ohio History of the Midwestern United States Washington County, Ohio Morgan County, Ohio {{DEFAULTSORT:Donation Tract

Background

Congressional donation

See also

References

External links