Cincinnati Land Office Receiver's letterbook

This bound volume contains letters to and from the receiver of the Cincinnati Land Office. Most letters concern land transactions and include the date, purchaser's name, purchaser's residence, quarter section, section, township, range, number of acres, rate per acre, and amount involved. Some pages are marked by fading ink and damaged or missing edges. The Federal Land Office in Cincinnati was established in 1800 as part of what was known both as the Act of May 10, 1800, and the Harrison Land Act of 1800. This Act included many provisions, such as establishing receivers and registers, permitting the lease of parcels of land under certain conditions, and setting a minimum price of $2.00 per acre. The Act also allowed for the purchase of land on credit and payable in quarters annually, with the first quarter-payment due upon the date of purchase. Lands sold by the Cincinnati office were located in the southwestern corner of Ohio and included a portion of Indiana, as well as part of the Symmes Purchase (also known as the Little Miami Purchase). Federal land offices were also established in Steubenville, Chillicothe, and Marietta under the Act, to facilitate the sale of land in the Northwest Territory. The last federal land office in Ohio at Chillicothe closed in 1876 and all federal land office records were transferred to the Auditor of State's Office in 1877. These records were subsequently transferred to the State Archives at the Ohio History Connection