Editing Symmes Purchase

{{more citations needed|date=September 2014}}
[[File:Ohio Lands.svg|thumb|Map of Ohio showing the Symmes Purchase.|250px]]
The '''Symmes Purchase''', also known as the '''Miami Purchase''', was an area of land totaling roughly {{convert|311,682|acre|sqmi km2}}<ref name=OHC>{{cite web|title=Symmes Purchase|url=http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Symmes_Purchase|website=Ohio History Central|publisher= Ohio Historical Society|accessdate=26 September 2014}}</ref> in what is now [[Hamilton County, Ohio|Hamilton]], [[Butler County, Ohio|Butler]], and [[Warren County, Ohio|Warren]] counties of southwestern [[Ohio]], purchased by Judge [[John Cleves Symmes]] of [[New Jersey]] in 1788 from the [[Continental Congress]].

==History==
In the 1780s, [[Benjamin Stites]], a friend of Symmes, was visiting Limestone (now [[Maysville, Kentucky]]) and lost some of his horses to theft by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]. Pursuing them through the wilderness of southwestern Ohio, he travelled as far north as [[Xenia, Ohio|Xenia]], observing the fertility of the country in the process. He was so impressed with the region that he informed Symmes of its prospects upon his return. Symmes gathered a syndicate, known as the '''Miami Company''', to buy the land.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.symmestownship.org/about/history/history-heritage.aspx |title=Symmes Township, Ohio > About > History > History & Heritage |website=www.symmestownship.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208225502/http://www.symmestownship.org/about/history/history-heritage.aspx |archive-date=2015-02-08}} </ref>  The original contract was for {{convert|1,000,000|acre|km2}}, but the company couldn't afford to pay for the land, and paid for and received only {{convert|311,686|acre|km2}} in the southwest portion of the original tract.  The land was {{frac|66|2|3}}¢ per acre.

==Location==
The tract is bordered on the south by the [[Ohio River]], on the west by the [[Great Miami River]], and on the east by the [[Little Miami River]]. The northern boundary runs through Butler and Warren Counties about 25 miles north of the Ohio River. Sections of Todhunter and Garver Roads in [[Monroe, Ohio|Monroe]], Monroe Road in [[Lebanon, Ohio|Lebanon]], and Oregonia Road in [[Turtlecreek Township, Warren County, Ohio|Turtlecreek Township]] run along the boundary.<ref>https://midpointedigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/Crout/id/5458/rec/2 map Symmes Purchase, c. 1789. George C. Crout</ref>

==Survey==
Deeds in this area will refer to the "[[Between the Miami Rivers Survey]]", "M.Rs." or "M.R.S." (M.R.S. is also used to describe the [[Congress Lands West of Miami River|"Miami River Survey"]] a survey west of the [[Great Miami River]]).

Unfortunately, Symmes' men committed many errors while performing the survey, including using [[magnetic north]] rather than correcting for [[true north]]. Further, Symmes sold much land that he did not own, some as far north as [[Dayton, Ohio|Dayton]], meaning that some early settlers found themselves [[squatter]]s on the [[public domain (land)|public domain]]. Symmes also sold some land that he did own more than once.<ref>http://www.surveyhistory.org/symmes_purchase.htm THE SYMMES PURCHASE by C. Albert  White</ref>

==Settlement==
Three settlements grew up in the area in 1788, all near the Ohio River: [[History of Cincinnati#Losantiville|Losantiville]], [[North Bend, Ohio|North Bend]], and [[Columbia-Tusculum, Cincinnati|Columbia]].  Losantiville was renamed [[Cincinnati]] in 1789 by [[Arthur St. Clair]], governor of the [[Northwest Territory]].  They were among the earliest settlements in Ohio and the Northwest Territory.  In 1789, [[Fort Washington (Cincinnati, Ohio)|Fort Washington]] was built in the reserved portion of the Purchase to protect the fledgling settlements.

==See also==
* [[Ohio Company of Associates|Ohio Company Purchase]]
* [[Ohio lands]]
* [[Land Ordinance of 1785]]
{{Ohio-Lands}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{coord|39|15|N|84|30|W|display=title}}

[[Category:Former regions and territories of the United States]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Ohio]]
[[Category:Warren County, Ohio]]
[[Category:Hamilton County, Ohio]]
[[Category:Butler County, Ohio]]
[[Category:History of Dayton, Ohio]]