Ohio Company facts for kids
The Ohio Company, also known as the Ohio Company of Virginia, was a group formed by people from Virginia. Their main goal was to help settle the area known as the Ohio Country (which is now mostly the state of Ohio). They also wanted to trade with the Native American tribes living there. This company received a special land grant from Britain and even made a treaty with some Native American groups. However, France also claimed this land. This disagreement over who owned the land eventually helped start the French and Indian War.
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Forming the Ohio Company
Explorers from Virginia saw that the Ohio region had great potential for new settlements. They wanted to claim it before France could expand its control there. In 1748, a man named Thomas Lee, along with brothers Lawrence Washington and Augustine Washington, created the Ohio Company.
Many important Virginians invested in the company. These included Robert Dinwiddie, who was the Royal Governor of Virginia, and even George Washington. Other key members were George Mason, John Mercer (colonial lawyer), and Robert Carter III.
In 1749, the British Crown (the King of Britain) gave the company a huge piece of land. It was 500,000 acres in the Ohio Valley, located between the Kanawha River and the Monongahela River. The company had to settle 100 families there within seven years to get the full grant. They also had to build a fort and protect the new settlements themselves. For ten years, they didn't have to pay rent or taxes on the land, which made it easier to get people to move there.
In 1752, the Ohio Company signed a peace and permission agreement, known as the Treaty of Logstown, with the main Native American tribes in the region. Around the same time, another group of land investors from Virginia, called the Loyal Company of Virginia, was also formed.
George Mason, who later became a very important figure in American history, became the treasurer of the Ohio Company in 1752. He held this job for 40 years.
The Ohio Company and the French and Indian War
Between 1748 and 1750, the Ohio Company hired Thomas Cresap. He was tasked with building a small road over the Appalachian Mountains to the Monongahela River. This road was later widened for wagons. This route was one of the few ways to cross the Appalachian mountains in the middle of the range.
In 1750, the Ohio Company built a strong storehouse at what is now Ridgeley, Virginia. They also hired Christopher Gist, a skilled woodsman and surveyor. His job was to explore the Ohio Valley and find good places for new settlements. He traveled far west, even reaching a Miami Indian village called Pickawillany. Based on his reports, the Ohio Company started selling land in what is now Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The company also created a path between their posts at Wills Creek (now Cumberland, Maryland) and Redstone Old Fort (now Brownsville, Pennsylvania).
However, there were many disagreements over who owned the land. The British King had given the Ohio Company land that included the "forks of the Monongahela," which is where Pittsburgh is today. But the government of Pennsylvania also claimed this area. On top of that, France claimed all the land drained by the Mississippi River, which included the Ohio River.
French traders competed with the Ohio Company. France also sent soldiers to claim the Ohio Valley, especially at Fort Duquesne. In response, Virginia's Governor Dinwiddie sent a military group led by George Washington to the region. This conflict over land and trade eventually led to the start of the French and Indian War.
After the War
After the French and Indian War, in 1763, the Ohio Company asked the British King to renew their land grant. They still planned to settle the area and build military posts. However, after a conflict known as Pontiac's War, the British government decided that land west of the Appalachian Mountains belonged to the Native American tribes. This meant the Ohio Company would have to buy the land again from King George III.
The Grand Ohio Company
In 1768, the British government allowed Sir William Johnson to make a new agreement with the Iroquois tribes, called the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. This treaty purchased land rights from the Iroquois.
To get approval from the British Crown, several land investors, including Samuel Wharton and William Trent, joined together. They formed a new group called the Walpole Company. This company wanted to get 2.5 million acres of Ohio Country land. Important people like Benjamin Franklin and his son William were part of this group.
The Walpole Company, along with the Indiana Company and members of the original Ohio Company, reorganized. On December 22, 1769, they formed the Grand Ohio Company. In 1772, the British government gave the Grand Ohio Company a large land grant along the southern bank of the Ohio River. They planned to create a new colony there called "Vandalia".
However, the American Revolutionary War began, and these plans for colonization stopped. The Grand Ohio Company, which was based in London, stopped operating in 1776.
A different group, called the Ohio Company of Associates, was formed in 1786. This group was mostly made up of soldiers from New England who had fought in the American Revolution and had received land certificates from Congress for their service.
