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 established

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

, as the first permanent settlement of the new

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the newly organized

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

.Hubbard, Robert Ernest. ''General Rufus Putnam: George Washington's Chief Military Engineer and the "Father of Ohio,"'' pp. 2–4, 80, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina, 2020. .

Creation of the company

The company was formed between March 1 and March 3, 1786, by

Rufus Putnam 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 in the initial co ...

, Benjamin Tupper,

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 in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. They had met at The Bunch-of-Grapes tavern, located on King Street, to discuss the settlement of the territory around the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

.Hubbard, Robert Ernest. ''General Rufus Putnam: George Washington's Chief Military Engineer and the "Father of Ohio,"'' p. 104, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina, 2020. . On March 8, 1787, Parsons, Putnam, and Cutler were chosen as directors, and

Winthrop Sargent Winthrop Sargent (May 1, 1753 – June 3, 1820) was an American politician, military officer and writer, who served as List of Governors of Mississippi, Governor of Mississippi Territory from 1798 to 1801, and briefly as acting List of Adjutant ...

was elected secretary. On August 30, 1787,

James Mitchell Varnum James Mitchell Varnum (December 17, 1748 – January 9, 1789) was an American legislator, lawyer, generalHeitman, ''Officers of the Continental Army'', 559. in the Continental Army, and a pioneer to the Ohio Country.Wilkins, ''Memoirs of the Rho ...

was elected as a director, and Richard Platt as treasurer. Later directors included

Griffin Greene Griffin Greene (1749–1804) served as a commissary, paymaster, and quartermaster to the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was subsequently a American pioneers to the Northwest Territory, pioneer to the Ohio Country, helpi ...

upon the death of Varnum, and Robert Oliver upon the death of Parsons.

Negotiations with the government

Cutler was sent to New York to negotiate with the

Congress of the Confederation The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States from March 1, 1781, until March 3, 1789, during the Confederation ...

to help the company secure a claim on a portion of the land. While there, Cutler aligned himself with William Duer, secretary of the U.S. Treasury Board. Duer and his associates formed a group of New York

speculators In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable in a brief amount of time. It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline i ...

who were determined to see settlement of the area west of the

Appalachians The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. At this time, Congress desperately needed revenue. The prospect of sales of land helped settle controversy and secure the incorporation in the

Northwest Ordinance The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio and also known as the Ordinance of 1787), enacted July 13, 1787, was an organic act of the Congress of the Co ...

of the paragraphs that prohibited

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, provided for land for

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

and for the support of the ministry. The Ohio Company's purchase was enabled first by the passage on July 13, 1787, of the "Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio," commonly known as the

, and second, by the Act of October 23, 1787, which authorized Congress to make contracts of public lands for not less than one million acres. On October 27, 1787, the Treasury Board under Secretary William Duer finalized the Ohio Company's purchase. Their first contract was for the Ohio Company to purchase 1,500,000 acres (6,000 km²) of land at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, from a point near the site of present-day Marietta, to a point nearly opposite present-day

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell County, West Virginia, Cabell and Wayne County, West Virginia, Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The County seat, seat of Cabell County, the city is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, O ...

, for a payment of $1 million in government securities, then worth about 12¢ specie to the dollar. The contract also provided that one section of land in every township be devoted to the maintenance of public schools, another section be set apart for religious uses, and two entire townships be reserved for a university. The second contract was an option to buy all the land between the

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and the Scioto rivers and the western boundary line of the Ohio Company's tract, extending north of the tenth

survey township A survey township, sometimes called a Congressional township or just township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System and by Canada's Dominion Land Survey is a nominally-square area of land that is nominally six survey miles (a ...

from the Ohio, this tract being preempted by Manasseh Cutler and Winthrop Sargent for themselves and others for the

Scioto Company The proposed purchase by the Scioto Company is shown in red. The proposed purchase by the Ohio Company is in blue. The final purchase by the Ohio Company is in green. The 350px The Scioto Company was a company led by American colonel Willia ...

. Cutler's original intent was to buy only about 1,500,000 acres (6,000 km²) for the Ohio Company, but on the July 27, Congress authorized a grant of about 5,000,000 acres (20,000 km²) of land for $3,500,000; a reduction of one-third was allowed for bad tracts, and it was also provided that the lands could be paid for in United States securities. On the same day, Cutler and Sargent for themselves and associates transferred to William Duer, then Secretary of the Treasury Board, and his associates one equal moiety of the Scioto tract of land mentioned in the second contract. Both parties were to be equally interested in the sale of the land, and were to share equally any profit or loss. But the Scioto Company interest was speculative, and their contract lapsed before they purchased any land. In contrast, the Ohio Company had a genuine plan of settlement. The company made its first installment of $500,000, but was unable to raise the second $500,000. It settled for a purchase of , plus the two townships for

College Lands The College Lands were a tract of land in the Northwest Territory, later Ohio, that the Congress donated for the support of a university. Ohio University became the first college northwest of the Ohio River as a beneficiary of this tract. Backgro ...

and the reserved School Lands and Ministerial Lands sections in each township, for a total area of , called the First Purchase. The lands were privately surveyed, but on the same plan of townships, ranges, and sections as the adjacent

Seven Ranges The Seven Ranges (also known as the Old Seven Ranges) was a land tract in eastern Ohio that was the first tract to be surveyed in what became the Public Land Survey System. The tract is across the northern edge, on the western edge, with the so ...

under the procedure of the

Land Ordinance of 1785 The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress of the Confederation on May 20, 1785. It set up a standardized system whereby settlers could purchase title to farmland in the undeveloped west. Congress at the time did not hav ...

.Text of Ordinance of May 20, 1785

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Settlement at
Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in Appalachian Ohio, southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum River, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia ...

In 1788, General

laid out the plans for Marietta, the first permanent settlement in the present state of Ohio. The Ohio Company sent pioneers from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

to the Northwest Territory. Their first purchase was in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, Meigs,

Gallia Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . According to Ju ...

, Lawrence and Athens counties. Difficulties with Native Americans during the

Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War (1785–1795), also known by other names, was an armed conflict for control of the Northwest Territory fought between the United States and a united group of Native Americans in the United States, Native American na ...

, including the Big Bottom Massacre, led Congress in 1792 to donate on the north edge of the first purchase as a buffer against incursion. The

Donation Tract The Donation Tract was a land tract in southern Ohio that was established by the Congress in the late 18th century to buffer Ohio Company lands against local indigenous people. Congress gave lots to men who settled on the land. This marked the f ...

incorporated much of present-day Washington and Morgan counties. Many associates of the company held army bounty warrants, which they could exchange for federal land, totaling . Later in 1792, the Ohio Company purchased another in Morgan, Hocking, Vinton and

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

counties, using these bounties, with the 1/3 discount for bad lands, as in the first purchase. - Text of Act of April 21, 1792

The Second Purchase had no sections set aside for schools or ministry. The Second Purchase is also known as the

Purchase on the Muskingum The Purchase on the Muskingum also called Ohio Company's Second Purchase, was a tract of land in the Northwest Territory, later Ohio, that the Ohio Company of Associates purchased from the United States federal government in 1792. History In 178 ...

. In 1796, the Ohio Company divided its shares and ceased to be a genuine land company.

Notes

References

* * Hildreth, S. P. (1852). ''Biographical and Historical Memoirs of the Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio'', H. W. Derby and Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. * * * ;Attribution *

External links

Manuscripts and Documents of the Ohio Company of Associates - Marietta College
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohio Company Of Associates American companies established in 1786 Early American land companies Pre-statehood history of Ohio Marietta, Ohio