The College Lands were a tract of land in the Northwest Territory

Northwest Territory

The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...

, later Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, that the Congress

Congress of the Confederation

The Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled was the governing body of the United States of America that existed from March 1, 1781, to March 4, 1789. It comprised delegates appointed by the legislatures of the states. It was the immediate successor to the Second...

 donated for the support of a university. Ohio University

Ohio University

Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...

 became the first college northwest of the Ohio River as a beneficiary of this tract.

Background

In 1787, Manasseh Cutler

Manasseh Cutler

Manasseh Cutler was an American clergyman involved in the American Revolutionary War. Cutler was also a member of the United States House of Representatives and a founder of Ohio University....

, as agent for the Ohio Company of Associates

Ohio Company of Associates

The Ohio Company of Associates, also known as the Ohio Company, was a land company which is today credited with becoming the first non-American Indian group to settle in the present-day state of Ohio...

, petitioned Congress to purchase a large tract of land in the Northwest Territory. In this application, he insisted that two townships of land be appropriated for the support of a university. Thus, when the Continental Congress contracted with the company October 23, 1787 included was that “not more than two complete townships should be given perpetually for the purpose of an university; that they be laid off by the purchasers as near the center of the tract as may be and applied to the intended object by the legislature of the state.” Thus, two townships of thirty six square miles each, near the center of the first tract purchased, were reserved for that purpose.

Tracts Selected

The directors of the Ohio Company selected townships 8 and 9 of the 14th range of the Ohio River survey at a meeting on December 16, 1795 for maintenance of the proposed university. These correspond to the modern civil townships of Alexander

Alexander Township, Athens County, Ohio

Alexander Township is one of the fourteen townships of Athens County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 2,614 people in the township, 2,590 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...

 and Athens Township

Athens Township, Athens County, Ohio

Athens Township is one of the fourteen townships of Athens County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 27,714 people in the township, 6,680 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...

 Athens County

Athens County, Ohio

As of the census of 2000, there were 62,223 people, 22,501 households, and 12,713 families residing in the county. The population density was 123 people per square mile . There were 24,901 housing units at an average density of 49 per square mile...

.

American Western University Chartered

Manasseh Cutler

Manasseh Cutler

Manasseh Cutler was an American clergyman involved in the American Revolutionary War. Cutler was also a member of the United States House of Representatives and a founder of Ohio University....

 drafted legislation that was introduced by his son Ephraim Cutler

Ephraim Cutler

thumb|right|350px|alt=old dudeEphraim Cutler was an early Northwest Territory and Ohio political leader and jurist.-Early life:...

, and on January 9, 1802, the Territorial Legislature of the Northwest Territory passed “an act establishing an university in the town of Athens.” This act created the American Western University and section eleven of the act vested the two townships with the corporation created to run the university, allowing the trustees to divide and lease the lands for not more than 21 years. American Western University never came to be. One author says it was because no one could be induced to lease wilderness lands for such a short period, while another maintains bad roads, widely separated trustees, and distraction of impending statehood were responsible.

Ohio University Chartered

The act chartering American Western University was never repealed. The state had the College Townships appraised in 1803. On February 18, 1804, the Ohio legislature passed another “act establishing an university in the town of Athens.” This act named the university “Ohio University” and authorized the trustees to lease the land “for the term of ninety years, renewable forever, on a yearly rent of six percentum on the amount of valuation” subject to re-evaluation after 35 and 60 years. No leases were taken, as land in adjacent townships could be bought outright for one dollar per acre or less, and no one would risk such re-evaluations. In February 1805, the state directed that leases should run for 99 years, renewable forever, at six percent of appraised valuation. In 1826 the university was permitted to sell lands within the townships, but for leased lands, the rent established in 1805 still prevails.