Background

John Cleves Symmes was born in Riverhead, New York on July 21, 1742. He was the son of the Rev. Timothy and Mary (Cleves) Symmes and the descendant of Zechariah Symmes who emigrated from England to Charlestown, Massachussets, in 1634.

Education

Symmes' education was fairly adequate, and for a time he taught school.

Career

In 1770 John Symmes settled in Sussex County, New Jersey, and in 1780 he removed to Morristown. Taking a leading part in Revolutionary activities in New Jersey, he became chairman of the committee of correspondence for Sussex County in 1774, and in 1775 he was appointed a colonel in the militia.

He helped cover Washington's retreat through New Jersey in 1776, and from 1776 to 1779 he fought in a number of battles, notably at Monmouth and at Short Hills. As a member of the New Jersey convention in 1776, he was on the committee that drew up the new state constitution, and in 1776, 1780, and 1785 he was elected to the New Jersey legislative council.

Also in 1776 he was on a commission to investigate the dissatisfaction among the New Jersey state troops at Ticonderoga. A year later he was elected an associate justice of the supreme court of New Jersey, a commission that was renewed in 1783.

In 1778 he represented New Jersey at the New Haven convention to regulate prices. He was elected a member of the Continental Congress from New Jersey in 1785 and was reelected in 1786.

With characteristic impulsiveness he proposed at first to found a settlement on the Wabash above Vincennes; but after due reflection he applied to Congress for 2, 000, 000 acres in the more accessible region between the two Miamis.

On October 3, 1787, Congress authorized a formal contract with him, but before it was signed he issued his "Trenton Circular, " which outlined his terms for granting land and called attention to the resources and the favorable location of the proposed colony.

On February 19, 1788, Congress appointed him a judge of the newly erected Northwest Territory, and, after making the first payment for his land, he left in July for the western country, although not until October 15, 1788, was he given a definite contract for 1, 000, 000 acres, the Miami Purchase.

About four and a half months later, he founded a settlement at North Bend, the third one on his lands. Soon he was selling many warrants for lands; but collections were poor, and he could not meet the payments due under his contract. Jonathan Dayton and Elias Boudinot, both of whom were personally interested in the new colony, came to his aid, and the president issued a patent, on September 30, 1794, for the 311, 682 acres Symmes had actually paid for. However, when he died in Cincinnati, the bulk of his property had been dissipated.

Achievements

• John Symmes' main achievement was in planting an important colony, with its chief settlement, Cincinnati, which was, perhaps, the most important military and commercial outpost in the early W. Serving as a judge of the Territorial Court from 1788 until Ohio became a state in 1803, Symmes pursued an active career as a land developer and seller as well. Eventually he accomplished the establishment of the new colony and founded a settlement at North Bend, the third one on his lands. As a colonizer, he had the perseverance and qualities of leadership that eventually won success. Yet he was quarrelsome and exceedingly careless, issuing conflicting warrants and even selling lands outside his patent. As a result he was made a defendant in many lawsuits.

Works

More photos

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  • Symzonia: A Voyage of Discovery (1820)

    (In 1818 US Army veteran John Cleeve Symmes proposed a the...)

  • The Trenton Circular "To the Respectable Public" of November 26, 1787. Letter of John Cleves Symmes to Elias Boudinot of January 12 and 15, 1792

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • Symmes's Theory Of Concentric Spheres: Demonstrating That The Earth Is Hollow, Habitable Within, And Widely Open About The Poles

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Correspondence of John Cleve Symmes

    (Symmes was a New Jersey congressman and land developer in...)

  • Symmes's Theory Of Concentric Spheres: Demonstrating That The Earth Is Hollow, Habitable Within, And Widely Open Abut The Poles (1826)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • Symzonia; A Voyage of Discovery

    (This historic book may have numerous typos and missing te...)

  • The Intimate Letters Of John Cleves Symmes And His Family

    (Including Those Of His Daughter Mrs. William Henry Harris...)

  • The Correspondence Of John Cleves Symmes 1926 Hardcover

    (Lang:- English, Pages 350. Reprinted in 2016 with the hel...)

  • The Symmes theory of concentric spheres: demonstrating that the earth is hollow, habitable within, and widely open about the poles
  • Light gives light, to discover--"ad infinitum"

Views

As a member of Congress he speedily became interested in western colonization. The immediate impetus to action probably came from Benjamin Stites who, while trading along the Ohio, had been greatly impressed with the possibilities of the fertile region that stretched northward from that river, between the Miami and the Little Miami rivers. Stites pointed out the many possibilities of these lands, and Symmes made a trip down the Ohio in the spring of 1787, certainly as far as the falls (Louisville).

As a jurist, he was not at all noteworthy, holding his appointments from influence, rather than from any reputation for profound legal knowledge. In his capacity of territorial judge he did not cooperate wholeheartedly with Governor Arthur St. Clair, and differences between the two were common.

Connections

His first wife, Anna Tuttle of Southold, Long Island, left two daughters, one of whom became the wife of William Henry Harrison. Mrs. Mary Halsey of New Jersey was his second wife, and his third wife was Susanna Livingston, the daughter of William Livingston, of New Jersey.

Father:

Timothy Symmes

Mother:

Mary (Cleves) Symmes

Third wife:

Susanna Livingston

Second wife:

Mrs. Mary Halsey

First wife:

Anna Tuttle

associate:

Arthur St. Clair

Scottish-American soldier and politician

References

• The northern portion of the proposed John Cleves Symmes "Miami purchase" of October 1787: Early Ohio land owners of ranges VIII through XVI, townships I through VII