Connecticut Western Reserve Genealogy

United States   Connecticut    Western Reserve



By virtue of their "sea to sea" charter, Connectictut visionaries once claimed parts of northern Pennsylvania, northern Ohio (especially the Western Reserve and Firelands), and southern Michigan, northern Indiana, northern Illinois, and even further west.

Connecticut settlers in present-day Pennsylvania contended for Connecticut's rights in the Wyoming Valley from 1769 until 1799 when they were finally granted Pennsylvania legal titles. For further information about Connecticut claims and connections in Pennsylvania see Westmoreland County, Connecticut.

Most of the eastern states ceded their western claims to the federal government in 1786 in exchange for federal assumption of the states' Revolutionary War debt. The exception was Connecticut's Western Reserve.

The Connecticut Western Reserve was land claimed in the northeast corner of Ohio (at the time part of the Old Northwest Territory). In 1795 before she had clear title, Connecticut sold her Western Reserve rights to eight Connecticut citizens who had formed a land company.

Connecticut ceded her interest in these western lands in 1786 to the Old Northwest Territory of the federal government.

The Ohio "firelands" were set aside for Connecticut residents burned out by the British during the Revolutionary War, but only a few ever moved there.

No known records of setters in present-day Michigan are found in Connecticut. For further information see Michigan.