Connecticut Land Company

1795) was a post-colonial land speculation company formed in the late eighteenth century to survey and encourage settlement in the eastern parts of the newly chartered Connecticut Western Reserve of the former "Ohio Country"[1] and a prized-part of the Northwest Territory)—a post-American Revolutionary period region, that was part of the lands-claims settlement adjudicated by the new United States government regarding the contentious conflicting claims by various Eastern Seaboard states on lands west of the gaps of the Allegheny draining into the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers.

[3] The original proprietors, 57 of the wealthiest and most prominent men in Connecticut, included Oliver Phelps, the largest subscriber and chief manager of the project.

In 1796, one of the largest shareholders, Moses Cleaveland, planned a settlement on the banks of the Cuyahoga River with Seth Pease.

Despite its short existence, the Connecticut Land Company was instrumental in the development of the region and left a lasting impact on the landscape.

Moses Cleaveland successfully negotiated a treaty with the Iroquois, who gave up all of their land claims east of the Cuyahoga River.

On September 5, 1795, the company adopted articles of association, and each purchasing group was given a proportional share of the land commensurate with the amount of capital invested.

The company did not even set up a marketing office in the Western Reserve to promote sales of land.

The other problem that beset the company and hurt land sales was political uncertainty surrounding the Connecticut Western Reserves.

Making settlement even less attractive was that the US government did not recognize the Western Reserve as part of the Northwest Territory until 1800.

Although this act resolved the problem of political uncertainty, continued poor company management meant that few settlers came.