Everything about Central New York Military Tract totally explained
The
Military Tract of Central New York, also called the
New Military Tract, consisted of nearly two million
acres (8,000 km²) of
bounty land set aside to compensate
New York’s soldiers after their participation in the
Revolutionary War.
The
United States Congress had already guaranteed each soldier at least 100 acres (0.4 km²) at the end of the war (depending on rank), but by 1781, New York had enlisted only about half of the quota set by the U.S. congress and needed a stronger incentive. The state legislature authorized an additional 500 acres (2 km²) per soldier, using land from 25 Military Tract
Townships to be established in central New York State. Each of the townships was to comprise 100 lots of 600 acres (2.4 km²) each. Three more such townships were later added to accommodate additional claims at the end of the war.
The townships were at first numbered (1 through 28), but were later given (mostly) classical
Greek and
Roman names, along with a few honoring
English authors:
The tract covered the present counties of
Cayuga,
Cortland,
Onondaga, and
Seneca, and parts of
Oswego,
Tompkins,
Schuyler and
Wayne. Most of these township names are reflected in current
town names in these counties, but the area of the military townships don't correspond exactly with any of the modern towns, which only cover a fraction of the original townships.
The names themselves have been attributed to
Robert Harpur, a clerk in the office of New York's Surveyor General,
Simeon De Witt. Harpur apparently had an interest in the classical literature.
Townships were as far as geographically feasible made up of a 10x10 square of mile-square (640 acre) lots; 40 acres were used for boundary roads, leaving 600 acres (2.4 km²) to be deeded in each lot. Ninety-four (94) lots in each Township were to be deeded, with the other six (6) reserved for public purposes such as churches and schools.
The portion of the Military Tract north of
Seneca Lake (for example townships of Galen and Junius) was divided by the New
Preemption Line from land to its west assigned by the
Treaty of Hartford of 1786 to
Massachusetts. The tract immediately to the west became the
Phelps and Gorham Purchase. The west limit of most of the tract was
Seneca Lake.
Two Indian reservations were included in the Tract, for the Onondaga and Cayuga. All of the Cayuga and most of the Onondaga (including the
City of Syracuse) were taken a few years later by New York State by treaties whose legality has been repeatedly challenged, since following the
Trade and Intercourse Act of 1790 only the United States could conclude treaties with Indians.
Timeline
- 20-March-1781: New York legislature authorizes a military tract as part of law to raise its quota of regiments
- 19-October-1781: Cornwallis surrenders, end of Revolutionary War
- 25-July-1782: approximate boundaries (to be surveyed) of original 25 townships established by NY legislature
- 03-September-1783: Treaty of Paris, peace settlement with Great Britain
- 12-September-1788: Treaty of Fort Stanwix: Indian title to the military tract was extinguished
- 1789: military tract surveyed
- 03-July-1790: Names given to the first 25 townships at a meeting of the Commissioners of the Land Office of New York, chairman Governor George Clinton
- 1791: lots drawn and assigned to settlers
- 1791: name given to Township 26 (Junius) by Commissioners
- 1792: name given to Township 27 (Galen) by Commissioners
- 1795: name given to Township 28 (Sterling) by Commissioners
- 1799: deadline to settle
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