The Refugee Tract is an area of land in

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 ...

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 ...

granted to people from British Canada who left home before July 4, 1776, stayed in the US until November 25, 1783, continuously, and aided the cause of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

Location

The Refugee Tract of is located in parts of Franklin, Fairfield,

Licking Licking is the action (philosophy), action of passing the tongue over a surface, typically either to deposit saliva onto the surface, or to collect liquid, food or minerals onto the tongue for ingestion, or to animal communication, communicate w ...

and

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

counties in Ohio. It extends for eastward from the

Scioto River The Scioto River ( ) is a river in central and southern Ohio more than in length. It rises in Hardin County, Ohio, Hardin County just north of Roundhead, Ohio, flows through Columbus, Ohio, where it collects its largest tributary, the Olent ...

along the south line of the United States Military District. For the first it is four and one half miles wide, and for the easternmost it is wide.

History

During the

, there were certain men of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, who sympathized with, and rendered aid to the

, some of them joining the American Army. For this lack of loyalty to the Crown of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, that government confiscated their possessions. For their co-operation with the colonists in their struggle for independence, the government of the United States granted this strip of land to them. In 1783 and 1785, the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

promised to compensate the Canadians with land as soon as it was possible to do so. 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 Land Ordinance of 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 ...

reserved "three townships adjacent to

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

" for their use. This land belonged to

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, and so was not theirs to promise. In 1798, Congress published advertisements in newspapers inviting those with claims to file an account within two years. The Secretaries of the Treasury and War examined the testimonies to determine the quantity of land each should receive. Acts of February 18, 1801 - Text of Act of February 18, 1801

and April 23, 1812 - Text of Act of April 23, 1812

named a total of 67 claimants to receive , in the amounts of 2240, 1280, 960, 640, 320, and . The claimants' land was selected by drawing lots. An act of April 29, 1816 - Text of Act of April 29, 1816

authorized the

United States General Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government responsible for Public domain (land), public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 ...

in Chillicothe to sell the unclaimed as Congress Lands. Several men who missed the deadline for claiming land were compensated with land in other parts of the country in the 1820s and 1830s. In Columbus, the Refugee Grant lies approximately between Fifth Avenue on the north and Refugee Road on the south. The

Ohio Statehouse The Ohio Statehouse is the List of state and territorial capitols in the United States, state capitol building and seat of government for the U.S. state of Ohio. The Greek Revival building is located on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, ...

and most downtown office buildings are located within the tract.

Legacy

Refugee Road in Columbus is named after the tract. This road continues into Fairfield County and runs along the southern border of the tract. In Licking County, a different parallel road also named Refugee Road runs along the northern border of the tract. A plaque affixed to the LeVeque Tower memorializes the tract. Truro Township, settled by the Canadian Taylor family, was named after

Truro, Nova Scotia Truro (Scottish Gaelic: ''Trùru'') is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada. Truro is the shire town of Colchester County and is located on the south side of the Salmon River (Nova Scotia), Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth ...

Claimants

Notes

References

* *

External links

1883 History of Fairfield CountyOhio History Central - Refugee Tract
{{coord, 39, 56, 29, N, 82, 48, 35, W, display=title Tracts Franklin County, Ohio Licking County, Ohio Perry County, Ohio Fairfield County, Ohio Canadian-American culture in Ohio Former regions and territories of the United States Geography of Ohio Pre-statehood history of Ohio History of the Midwestern United States 1801 in the United States