George Rogers Clark’s
Land Grants
By: Brittany
Book
March 6,
2002
Venture
Orange One
When Clark
was authorized by Virginia to raise soldiers for the Illinois Campaign, Thomas
Jefferson, George Mason, and George Wyeth wrote him a letter saying that he and
his soldiers would receive rewards in land and the usual pay if they were
successful. This land is commonly
called the “Illinois Grant” or “Clark’s Grant.” In 1781, the General Assembly adopted a
resolution providing land to the soldiers who were involved in the Illinois
Campaign. This land is one hundred
fifty thousand acres located on the Northern side of the Ohio River.
“Clark’s
Grant” extends from below the falls to a little below Silver Creek, and up the
river to the upper end of Eighteen Mile Island. This land grant now makes up parts of
Clark, Floyd, and Scott counties in Indiana, but mostly Clark county. This land grant includes present day
Sellersburg, Indiana.
In 1783, an
act was passed for the surveying of Clark’s Grant. William Clark, George Rogers Clark’s
cousin, and his assistant surveyors, Edmund Rogers, David Steel, Peter Catlet,
and Burwell Jackson surveyed this grant.
This land was divided into tracks that generally contained
five
hundred
acres each. There were some errors
in the surveying, but these errors benefited the soldiers. Some of the tracks had a little more
than five hundred acres in them.
Each private received
108 acres of land. General Clark
received 8,049 acres. Virginia had
never reimbursed George Rogers Clark for the debts he accumulated in taking the
Northwest Territory. These debts
switched from Virginia’s hands to his. When he received his land, he had to sell
it to pay his creditors.
1,000 acres were set
aside near the Falls of the Ohio for a town. This town was Clarksville. Clarksville is located between
present-day Jeffersonville and New Albany.
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