Information About

Firelands




In 1792, the Connecticut legislature set aside 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) for the Sufferers at the western end of the Western Reserve, consisting of all of the present-day counties of Huron County and Erie County as well as Danbury Township in Ottawa County and Ruggles Township in Ashland County .

About 30 towns, cities and villages ended up being situated in the Fire Lands near the southern shore of Lake Erie .

However, very few of the original "Sufferers" ever settled in the firelands, as the land was not given and cleared for settlement until many years after the war.

In 1803, the Sufferers, or their heirs, legal agents, and purchasers of their deeds, formed a corporation to manage the lands to which they were entitled in the newly formed state of Ohio. The land was divided into 30 five mile (8 km) square was six miles (approx. 10 km) square at that time, the older standard for survey townships in the Western Reserve was employed.) A drawing was held to determine the land received by each individual. Many of the local communities and townships in the Firelands are named for locations in Connecticut.


NAMED PLACES

The Townships of the Firelands include Ruggles Township in northwestern Ashland County; Berlin, Florence, Groton, Huron, Margaretta, Milan, Oxford, Perkins, and Vermilion Townships in Erie County; Bronson, Clarksfield, Fairfield, Fitchville, Greenfield, Greenwich, Hartland, Lyme, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, Norwich, Peru, Richmond, Ridgefield, Ripley, Sherman, Townsend, and Wakeman Townships in Huron County; and Danbury Township in eastern Ottawa County.

The incorporated villages and cities of the Firelands include Bay View , Berlin Heights , Castalia , Huron , Milan (part), Sandusky , and Vermilion (part) in Erie County; Bellevue (part), Greenwich , Milan (part), Monroeville , New London , North Fairfield , Norwalk , Plymouth (part), Wakeman , and Willard in Huron County; Marblehead in Ottawa County.


FURTHER READING

For further information see:

  • Connecticut Archives, Revolutionary War, Series I, II, and III

  • Connecticut Archives, Susquehanna Settlers and Western Lands, Series I and II

  • Aldrich, Lewis C. History of Erie County Ohio. Evansville, IN: Unigraphic, 1978 call number: F497 .E5 H57 1978 .

  • Baughman, Abraham J. History of Huron County. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1909.

  • Carpenter, Helen M. "The Origin and Location of the Firelands of the Western Reserve". Ohio State Archeological and Historical Quarterly, Vol. XLIV (1935), pp. 163-203 call number: F497 .W5 C37 1935 .

  • The Firelands Pioneer / The Firelands Historical Society. 1858- call number F497 .W5 F5 .

  • Hill, George W. History of Ashland County, Ohio. Cleveland: Williams Bros., 1880.

  • Williams, W.W., ''History of the Firelands'', Connecticut, 1879.


(Publications with CSL call numbers are in the collection of the Connecticut State Library)


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