Ohio Company facts for kids
The Ohio Company was a group of people from Virginia who wanted to buy and sell land in the Ohio Country. This area is mostly where the state of Ohio is today. They also planned to trade with the Native Americans living there.
The company received a special permission, called a land grant, from Britain. They also made a treaty with some Native American tribes. However, France also said this land belonged to them. This disagreement over land helped start the French and Indian War.
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Starting the Ohio Company
People in Virginia saw that the Ohio region had a lot of potential for new settlements. They wanted to claim it before France could expand into the area. In 1748, a man named Thomas Lee and the brothers Lawrence and Augustine Washington created the Ohio Company.
They wanted to explore the land and set up trading posts. Many important Virginians invested money in the company, including George Washington and George Mason. The governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, also supported the company.
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. The company promised to settle 100 families there within seven years. They also had to build a fort and provide soldiers to protect the new settlements. For ten years, they wouldn't have to pay rent or taxes on the land.
In 1752, the Ohio Company signed a peace agreement, called 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, also formed.
George Mason, who later became one of America's Founding Fathers, became the treasurer of the Ohio Company in 1752. He managed the company's money for 40 years.
The French and Indian War Begins
From 1748 to 1750, the Ohio Company hired Thomas Cresap to help them. Cresap had already set up several trading posts. He was asked to create a small road over the Appalachian mountains to the Monongahela River. This road was later widened into a wagon road. This route was one of the few ways to cross the mountains in that area.
In 1750, the Ohio Company built a strong storehouse near the Potomac River. That same year, they hired Christopher Gist, a skilled woodsman and surveyor. Gist explored the Ohio Valley to find good places for new settlements. His journeys gave valuable information about the Ohio Valley and the Alleghenies.
Based on Gist's reports, the Ohio Company started selling land in what is now Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. They also built 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 now Pittsburgh. But the government of Pennsylvania also claimed this land. Even more importantly, 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 fight for their claim to the Ohio Valley, especially at Fort Duquesne. Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia sent a military group led by George Washington to the area. This led to fighting and the start of the French and Indian War.
After the War
After the war, in 1763, the Ohio Company asked the British King to renew their land grant. They still wanted to settle the area and build military posts. But after a conflict called Pontiac's War, the British government made a new rule. The Proclamation of 1763 said that land west of the Appalachian Mountains belonged to the Native American tribes. This meant the 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 Native American tribes. This was called the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, and it allowed the British to buy land rights from the Iroquois.
Some land investors, including Samuel Wharton and William Trent, wanted to get land for traders who had lost property during the wars. They teamed up with other investors to form the Walpole Company. This company wanted to get 2.5 million acres of Ohio Country land.
Famous American Benjamin Franklin was one of the 72 people who owned shares in this company. In 1769, the Walpole Company, the Indiana Company, and members of the original Ohio Company joined together. They formed a new, bigger company called the Grand Ohio Company.
In 1772, the Grand Ohio Company received a large land grant from the British government. They planned to create a new colony called "Vandalia" along the Ohio River. However, the American Revolutionary War began, and their plans for colonization stopped. The company, based in London, closed down in 1776.
Later, in 1786, a different group called the Ohio Company of Associates was formed. This group was mostly made up of soldiers from New England who had fought in the American Revolution.
Images for kids
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The Ohio Country, showing present-day U.S. state boundaries
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Thomas Lee helped start the Ohio Company in 1748.
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This 1755 map shows colonial borders before the French and Indian War.
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This map shows the Grand Ohio Company's plan for a colony called Vandalia.
