The Military Tract of Central New York

Central New York

Central New York is a term used to broadly describe the central region of New York State, roughly including the following counties and cities:...

, also called the New Military Tract, consisted of nearly two million acre

Acre

The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...

s (8,000 km²) of bounty

Bounty (reward)

A bounty is a payment or reward often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group. Bounties are most commonly issued for the capture or retrieval of a person or object. They are typically in the form of money...

 land set aside to compensate New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

’s soldiers after their participation in the Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

.

The United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 had already guaranteed each soldier at least 100 acres (0.4 km²) at the end of the war (depending on rank), but by 1781, New York had enlisted only about half of the quota set by the U.S. congress and needed a stronger incentive. The state legislature authorized an additional 500 acres (2 km²) per soldier, using land from 25 Military Tract Townships

Township (United States)

A township in the United States is a small geographic area. Townships range in size from 6 to 54 square miles , with being the norm.The term is used in three ways....

 to be established in central New York State. Each of the townships was to comprise 100 lots of 600 acres (2.4 km²) each. Three more such townships were later added to accommodate additional claims at the end of the war.

The townships were at first numbered (1 through 28), but were later given (mostly) classical Greek

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 and Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 names, along with a few honoring English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

s:

1. Lysander Lysander, New York Lysander is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 19,285 at the 2000 census. The town was named after Lysander, a Spartan military leader, by a clerk interested in the classics.... 2. Hannibal Hannibal (town), New York Hannibal is a town in Oswego County, New York, USA. The population was 4,957 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from the hero of ancient Carthage, Hannibal.... 3. Cato Cato (town), New York Cato is a town in Cayuga County, New York, USA. The population was 2,537 at the 2010 census. The name was assigned by the surveyors of the Military Tract, and is one of many towns and villages bearing classical place names.... 4. Brutus Brutus, New York Brutus is a town in Cayuga County, New York, USA. The population was 4,464 at the 2010 census. The name was assigned by a clerk interested in the classics.The Town of Brutus is located in the east part of the county and is west of Syracuse.... 5. Camillus Camillus (town), New York Camillus is a town in Onondaga County, New York, U.S. The population was 24,167 at the 2010 census. The town was named after Roman military leader Marcus Furius Camillus by a clerk interested in the classics.... 6. Cicero Cicero, New York Cicero is a town in Onondaga County, New York, USA. The population was 27,982 at the 2000 census. The name of the town was assigned by a clerk interested in the classics, honoring Cicero, a Roman statesman.... 7. Manlius Manlius (town), New York Manlius is a town in Onondaga County, east of the city of Syracuse, New York, United States. The population was 32,370 at the 2010 census, making it the third largest suburb in metropolitan Syracuse...

8. Aurelius Aurelius, New York Aurelius is a town in Cayuga County, New York, USA. The population was 2,792 at the 2010 census. The town was named after the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.The Town of Aurelius is at the western edge of the county and borders the City of Auburn....   9. Marcellus Marcellus (town), New York Marcellus is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 6,319 at the 2000 census. The town was probably named after Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a Roman general, by a clerk interested in the Classics.... 10. Pompey Pompey, New York Pompey is a town in the southeast part of Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 6,159 at the 2000 census. The town was named after the Roman general and political leader Pompey by a late 18th-century clerk interested in the Classics in the new federal republic.- History :The... 11. Romulus Romulus, New York Romulus is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 2,036 at the 2000 census. The town is named after the mythical founder of Rome, Romulus, a name assigned by a clerk with an interest in the classics... 12. Scipio Scipio, New York Scipio is a town in Cayuga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,713 at the 2010 census. The town name was provided by a clerk with an interest in the classics.... 13. Sempronius Sempronius, New York Sempronius is a town in Cayuga County, New York, USA. The population was 895 at the 2010 census. The town was named after a Roman military and political leader by a clerk interested in the classics.... 14. Tully Tully (town), New York Tully is a town in Onondaga County, New York, USA. The population of the town was 2,709 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is derived from the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero. The town is on the county's south border, south of Syracuse....

15. Fabius Fabius (town), New York Fabius is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,974 at the 2000 census. The classical name of the town was assigned by a clerk interested in the classics.The Town of Fabius contains a village of Fabius... 16. Ovid Ovid (town), New York Ovid is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 2,757 at the 2000 census. The town is named after the Roman poet Ovid, a name assigned by a clerk interested in the classics.... 17. Milton Genoa, New York Genoa is a town in Cayuga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,935 at the 2010 census.The Town of Genoa is located in the southwest corner of the county and is north of Ithaca, New York... 18. Locke Locke, New York Locke is a town in Cayuga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,951 at the 2010 census. The town was named after John Locke, an English philosopher and is the birthplace of Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States.... 19. Homer Homer (town), New York Homer is a town in Cortland County, New York, United States. The population was 6,363 at the 2000 census. The name is from the Greek poet Homer.The Town of Homer contains a village called Homer... 20. Solon Solon, New York Solon is a town in Cortland County, New York, United States. The town has a total population of 1,108, as of the 2000 census. The name of the town comes from the Greek lawmaker Solon.... 21. Hector Hector, New York Hector is a town in the northeastern corner of Schuyler County, New York, United States. The population was 4,854 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Hector Ely, who at the time was the firstborn son of the town founders...

22. Ulysses Ulysses, New York Ulysses is a town located in northwest Tompkins County, New York, U.S.. The population was 4,900 at the 2010 census. The town was named after the hero of the Odyssey.... 23. Dryden Dryden (town), New York Dryden is a town in Tompkins County, New York, USA. The population was 13,532 at the 2000 census. The town contains two villages: one also named Dryden and one named Freeville... 24. Virgil Virgil, New York Virgil is a town in Cortland County, New York, United States. The population was 2,287 at the 2000 census. The name is from the Roman poet Virgil... 25. Cincinnatus Cincinnatus, New York Cincinnatus is a town in Cortland County, New York, U.S. The population was 1,051 at the 2000 census. The town is named after an important Roman general, Cincinnatus.... 26. Junius Junius, New York Junius is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 1,362 at the 2000 census.The Town of Junius is in the northwest corner of the county and is east of Geneva, New York.- History :... 27. Galen Galen, New York Galen is a town in Wayne County, New York, United States. The population was 4,439 at the 2000 census. The town is named after the classical physician Galen.The Town of Galen is on the south border of the county and west of Syracuse, New York.... 28. Sterling Sterling, New York Sterling is a town in Cayuga County, New York, United States. The population was 3,040 at the 2010 census. The town is named after "Lord Stirling", a general of the Revolutionary War. Sterling is the most northerly town in the county...

The tract covered the present counties of Cayuga

Cayuga County, New York

Cayuga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It was named for one of the tribes of Indians in the Iroquois Confederation. Its county seat is Auburn.- History :...

, Cortland

Cortland County, New York

Cortland County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, named after Federico Van Cortlandt, president of the convention at Kingston that wrote the first New York State Constitution in 1777, and first lieutenant governor of the state. The county seat is Cortland...

, Onondaga

Onondaga County, New York

Onondaga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 467,026. The county seat is Syracuse.Onondaga County is part of the Syracuse, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area....

, and Seneca

Seneca County, New York

As of the census of 2000, there were 33,342 people, 12,630 households, and 8,626 families residing in the county. The population density was 103 people per square mile . There were 14,794 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile...

, and parts of Oswego

Oswego County, New York

Oswego County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 Census, the estimated population was 122,109. The City of Oswego and the Village of Pulaski serve as the dual county seats in a two shire system of government...

, Tompkins

Tompkins County, New York

Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, and comprises the whole of the Ithaca metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 101,564. The county seat is Ithaca, and the county is home to Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community...

, Schuyler

Schuyler County, New York

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,224 people, 7,374 households, and 5,191 families residing in the county. The population density was 58 people per square mile . There were 9,181 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...

 and Wayne

Wayne County, New York

Wayne County is a county located in the US state of New York. It is part of the Rochester, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area and lies on the south shore of Lake Ontario, forming part of the northern border of the United States with Canada. The name honors General Anthony Wayne, an American...

. Most of these township names are reflected in current town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 names in these counties, but the area of the military townships do not correspond exactly with any of the modern towns, which only cover a fraction of the original townships.

The names themselves have been attributed to Robert Harpur

Robert Harpur

Robert Harpur was an American teacher, politician, pioneer, and landowner who settled in the Binghamton, New York area.-Life:...

, a clerk in the office of New York's Surveyor General, Simeon De Witt

Simeon De Witt

Simeon De Witt was Geographer and Surveyor General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and Surveyor General of the State of New York for the fifty years from 1784 until his death.-Life:He was one of fourteen children of physician Dr...

. Harpur apparently had an interest in classical literature.

Townships were as far as geographically feasible made up of a 10x10 square of mile-square (640 acre) lots; 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) were used for boundary roads, leaving 600 acres (2.4 km²) to be deeded in each lot. Ninety-four (94) lots in each Township were to be deeded, with the other six (6) reserved for public purposes such as churches and schools.

The portion of the Military Tract north of Seneca Lake (i.e. townships of Galen and Junius) was divided by the New Preemption Line

Preemption Line

The Preemption Line divides the Indian lands of western New York State awarded to New York from those awarded to Commonwealth of Massachusetts by the Treaty of Hartford of 1786...

 from land to its west assigned by the Treaty of Hartford

Treaty of Hartford

The term Treaty of Hartford applies to three historic agreements negotiated at Hartford, Connecticut. The 1638 treaty divided the spoils of the Pequot War. The 1650 treaty defined a border between the Dutch Nieuw Amsterdam and English settlers in Connecticut...

 of 1786 to Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. The tract immediately to the west became the Phelps and Gorham Purchase

Phelps and Gorham Purchase

The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the purchase in 1788 of the pre-emptive right to some 6,000,000 acres of land in western New York State for $1,000,000 . This was all land in western New York west of Seneca Lake between Lake Ontario and the Pennsylvania border...

. The west limit of most of the tract was Seneca Lake.

Two Indian reservations were included in the Tract, for the Onondaga and Cayuga. All of the Cayuga and most of the Onondaga (including the City of Syracuse

Syracuse, New York

Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

) were taken a few years later by New York State by treaties whose legality has been repeatedly challenged, since following the Trade and Intercourse Act of 1790

Indian Intercourse Act

The Nonintercourse Act is the collective name given to six statutes passed by the United States Congress in 1790, 1793, 1796, 1799, 1802, and 1834. The Act regulates commerce between Native Americans and non-Indians...

only the United States could conclude treaties with Indians.

Timeline

• 20-March-1781: New York legislature authorizes a military tract as part of law to raise its quota of regiments
• 19-October-1781: Cornwallis surrenders, end of Revolutionary War
• 25-July-1782: approximate boundaries (to be surveyed) of original 25 townships established by NY legislature
• 03-September-1783: Treaty of Paris, peace settlement with Great Britain
• 12-September-1788: Treaty of Fort Stanwix: Indian title to the military tract was extinguished
• 1789: military tract surveyed
• 03-July-1790: Names given to the first 25 townships at a meeting of the Commissioners of the Land Office of New York, chairman Governor George Clinton
• 1791: lots drawn and assigned to settlers
• 1791: name given to Township 26 (Junius) by Commissioners
• 1792: name given to Township 27 (Galen) by Commissioners
• 1795: name given to Township 28 (Sterling) by Commissioners
• 1799: deadline to settle