Migration Patterns- The Firelands

A major development in the migration to the west was the Military bounty lands that were located in the Northern Portion of Ohio. The first area to cause people to migrate to Northwest Ohio was the region known as the Firelands. This area was located just west of The Connecticut Western Reserve. The land today is present day Erie and Huron counties. Some of the land is also located in Ashland County.

The area was twenty five miles wide. It was established to compensate those residence of the State of Connecticut that had property destroyed by the British during the Revolutionary War. The raids occurred in the towns of Danbury, New Haven, Fairfield, Norwalk and New London. Families in these area were greatly effected by the raids. Many of these town names were used for areas in the Firelands region. Approximately 500,000 acres were put aside in 1792 to compensate these people. It took over thirty years after the war for the claims to take full effect and many of the claimants were either to old or had passed on. These claims would also be sold to other people that would then move to the area.