b'slow sales because it needed money for The Ohio Companythe national treasury. What Congress The Ohio Company of Associatesneeded was to find a group of busi- was formed in Massachusetts in 1786.nessmenland developers and investors Led by General Rufus Putnam, Reverend who were interested in buying large Manasseh Cutler, Major Winthropareas of land in the Northwest Territory. Sargent, Captain Thomas Cushing, andFortunately, that is exactly what hap- Colonel John Brooks, this group offeredpened. to buy land from Congress at just theBefore 1796, each section of a right time. They wanted to start newtownship had to be numbered like TABLE lives in the new territory after theA, starting in the lower right-hand American Revolution.corner. Numbering moved up. Then a new Manasseh Cutler and Winthroprow (called a range) would continue being Sargent met with a congressional com-numbered from the bottom and up. mittee to discuss the purchase. CutlerToday, in 29 states a legal descrip- persuaded the committee to sell a verytion of a parcel of land must still contain large tract of land to the Ohio Company.the numbers of the range, township, The deal was to buy 1,500,000 acres bysection, and part of section, and the making a down payment of $500,000 andoriginal land survey name. paying the rest of the money (anotherThe only properties to use this num- $500,000) after the surveys were fin-bering system were the Seven Ranges, ished. Major General Arthur St. Clair,the Between the Miami Rivers Survey, the president of Congress, supported theand the Symmes Purchase Survey. In Ohio Companys plans. The main reason he1796 the did so was that the men of the Ohionumberingmethodchanged. TABLE AThe Federal Survey System1785 to 179236 30 24 18 12 6The 35 29 23 17 11 5Seven 34 28 22 16 10 4Ranges 33 27 21 15 9 332 26 20 14 8 231 25 19 13 7 1Range 6 Range 5 Range 4 Range 3 Range 2 Range 1This table shows the federal numbering system for sections within a township. (an area of 36 sections, each section being 1 mile by 1 mile = 1 square mile). Each township was 36 miles square (6 miles by 6 miles).Graphic (UU)page 46'