Guide to the Leonard-Latham-Anderson Collection

History of Virginia Military District in Ohio and biographies of Leonard, Latham and Anderson

Virginia Military District in Ohio

Virginia's claim to land in the Old Northwest Territory dated to a colonial charter issued by King James I in 1609. In 1784, following the American Revolution, this claim was relinquished to the United States government, with one exception - the Virginia Military District.

Virginia kept a 4.2 million-acre section of land between the Little Miami River (west side), the Ohio River (south side), and the Scioto River (east and north sides) in what became the state of Ohio. The Virginia Military District in Ohio comprised all or part of 22 counties, including: all of Adams, Brown, Clinton, Clermont, Highland, Fayette, Madison and Union; and parts of Auglaize, Clark, Champaign, Delaware, Franklin, Hamilton, Hardin, Marion, Logan, Pickaway, Pike, Ross, Scioto and Warren.

Virginia used this land to satisfy state military bounty warrants that were issued as compensation to its veterans of the American Revolution. The amount of land to which a veteran was entitled was based on his length of service and military rank, ranging from 100 acres for a private to 15,000 acres for a Major General. If a soldier was killed during service, his heirs could claim the bounty warrant. Many veterans or their heirs sold their warrants, often to land speculators.

Veterans who wished to claim land with a Virginia military warrant followed a standard process. First, a certificate of service was obtained. Next, a printed warrant, specifying the quantity of land was issued by the land office in Virginia. This warrant authorized the veteran, his heirs, or assignee to select from available land in the Virginia Military District. The warrant was then sent to the principal surveyor, and a deputy surveyor wrote a general description, or entry, of the land and ran a survey. After the survey was accepted, the warrant was sent to the federal government and a U.S. patent was issued.

Although the Land Ordinance of 1785 had established a rectangular survey system that was used for most of the Northwest Territory, land in the Virginia Military District was surveyed under Virginia's old metes and bounds system that relied on natural features, such as trees, rocks, and streams, for corner markers.

This caused descriptions of property to be confusing and frequently resulted in overlapping claims. Many lawsuits were filed over competing land claims in the Virginia Military District.

Sources: (1) Dean, Tanya, and W. David Speas. George Knepper, ed. Along the Ohio Trail: A Short History of Ohio Lands. Columbus, Ohio: Auditor of State, 2001. (2) Peters, William E. Ohio Lands and Their Subdivision. Athens, Ohio: W. E. Peters, 1918.

Benjamin G. Leonard, 1793-1845

Benjamin Greene Leonard was born November 8, 1793, at Windsor, Vermont, to Nathaniel Leonard and Mary Leverett Leonard. His family moved to Lewiston, Niagara County, New York, where he grew up with siblings Abiel Leonard (1797-1863); Margaret Leonard (1795-1866), m. Jonathan Bailey; Nathaniel Leonard (1799-1876); Philip Leonard (1801-1802); and Mary Leonard (1803-1856), m. Jonathan Bell. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1813, Leonard studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced for a time in Canandaigna, New York. About 1819, he moved to Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio, where he lived for more than two decades. Shortly after his arrival there, he formed a law partnership with his Dartmouth College classmate, Allen Latham. The two men advertised their specialty as "investigating and prosecuting all claims and titles to land in the Virginia Military district." [Broadside, August 1, 1820]

Known for his remarkable memory and knowledge of the law, Leonard excelled in the court room and was a leader of the bar in Ross County, commanding large legal fees for his services. It was said, however, that he seemed to shun business, rather than recruit it. Leonard's office was in a secluded location, and he often remained locked in it for days with his books. Clients who persistently knocked on his door were greeted with "a volley of curses," and taken to the Madeira Hotel or a county office for consultation. To his credit, Leonard often assisted young lawyers with complex legal matters and was charitable to the poor.

An inveterate scholar and book collector, Leonard studied mathematics, metaphysics, astronomy, theology and literature in his spare time. He mastered several languages in order to study in greater depth, and it was said that he died with a book in his hand.

Leonard regularly used opium in the form of camphorated tincture (paregoric), and was known to indulge "to excess in spirituous liquors." He never married, but was "notorious for coarse and indiscriminate amours, and took very little pains to conceal them." In physical features, Leonard was described as "about five feet and eight inches, slender, bony and angular. He was of dark complexion, had very black hair, and his eyes were dark hazel and deep set under rather heavy brows. He was very near sighted and always wore concave gold rimmed spectacles. He had an eager, restless, nervous, impatient and 'fidgety' look and manner. His voice was sharp and shrill, and when speaking excitedly, it rose almost to a scream."

In 1840, Leonard's legal prowess took him to Washington, D.C., to try a case before the Supreme Court. The learning and skill he displayed there were much admired by the leading statesmen of that day. During this trial, however, Leonard became mentally deranged, a condition that had affected his father and grandfather before him. Upon his return to Chillicothe, he was taken to the insane asylum in Columbus, Ohio, where he died on January 14, 1845. Leonard was buried in the Grandview Cemetery in Chillicothe.

Sources: (1) "Benjamin Green Leonard." Class of Alumni of Dartmouth College in 1813: With Biographical Notices of the Members. Boston: Press of T. R. Marvin, 1854. (2) Gilmore, William E. "Benjamin Greene Leonard." The Weekly Law bulletin and Ohio Law Journal. Vol. XXXIX. Columbus and Cincinnati, 1898: pp. 238-239.

Allen Latham, 1792-1871

Allen Latham was born July 1, 1792, in Lyme, Grafton County, New Hampshire, the son of Arthur Latham and Mary Post Latham. He attended school at South Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1813. Latham studied law with Judge Nahum Mitchell of Bridgewater and at the law school in Litchfield, Connecticut, before moving west to Ohio.

Latham was admitted to the bar in New Philadelphia, Ohio, before moving to Chillicothe, which had been Ohio's political center and capital from 1803 until 1810. In Chillicothe, Latham opened a very successful law office and general land agency. About 1820, he formed a partnership with his Dartmouth classmate, Benjamin G. Leonard, and the two men advertised their services in "prosecuting all claims and titles to land in the Virginia Military district."

On March 22, 1822, Allen Latham married Maria W. Anderson, the daughter of Col. Richard Clough Anderson and Sarah Marshall Anderson of Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky. Col. Anderson was a large land holder and the surveyor general of the Virginia Military District. Following the death of Anderson, Latham was appointed the surveyor general by President Andrew Jackson in 1829. The Kentucky bounty lands were exhausted, so Latham moved the land office of the Virginia Military District to Chillicothe, Ohio.

In addition to his legal and land business, Latham was involved in politics and the railroad. He served as an Ohio senator from 1841 until 1842, and was president of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad from 1848 until 1850.

Latham moved to Cincinnati in 1854, and died in New Richmond, Clermont County, on March 28, 1871. He was buried in the Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati.

Sources: (1) "Allen Latham." Class of Alumni of Dartmouth College in 1813: With Biographical Notices of the Members. Boston: Press of T. R. Marvin, 1854. (2) Hopkins, John F., and Mary W. M. Hargreaves, ed. The Papers of Henry Clay: Secretary of State 1826. Vol. 5. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2015.

Richard Clough Anderson, 1750-1826

Richard Clough Anderson was born at Gold Mines, Hanover County, Virginia, on January 12, 1750, the son of Robert Anderson and Elizabeth Clough Anderson. With his education completed at the age of 16, Anderson took up a position in the mercantile trade, eventually becoming a manager of cargo on merchant ships bound for foreign ports. At the outbreak of the American Revolution, he joined the Continental Line as a captain in the Fifth Virginia Regiment. Anderson served in a variety of positions and regiments throughout the war and participated in several important battles. He was wounded twice, spent nine months as a prisoner of war, and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

In 1783, Richard C. Anderson was appointed Surveyor General of Virginia military lands in Kentucky and Ohio. He located his office and home near Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky, calling his farm, "Soldier's Retreat." Anderson's position required him to oversee the surveying and recording of entries for the military bounty lands in Kentucky and Ohio that were awarded to veterans of the Virginia Continental Line.

On November 24, 1787, Anderson married Elizabeth Clark (1768-1795), sister of George Rogers Clark. Before her 1795 death, the couple had four children: Richard Clough Anderson, Jr. (1788-1826); Ann (1790-1863) m. Mr. Logan; Cecilia (1792-1863); and Elizabeth (1794-1870), m. Mr. Gwathmey. On September 17, 1797, Anderson married, as his second wife, Sarah Marshall (1799-1854), and 12 more children were added to the family, eight living to adulthood: Maria (1798-1887), m. Allen Latham; Larz (1803-1878); Robert (1805-1871); William (1807-1881); Mary Louisa (1809-1889) m. James Hall; John Roy (1811-1863); Charles (1814-1896); and Sarah (1822-1895), m. Andrew Kendrick. Richard Clough Anderson died October 16, 1826, and was buried in the Anderson family plot in Louisville.

Source: Anderson, Kitty. "Soldiers' Retreat, a Historical House and its Famous People." The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society. Vol. 17, No. 51, September 1919: pp. 65-77. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23368553.

Scope and Content

The Leonard-Latham-Anderson Collections consists mainly of the papers of Benjamin Greene Leonard, Allen Latham, and Richard Clough Anderson, all of whom played important roles in the settlement and development of the Virginia Military District in Ohio. The papers appear to have been acquired through Richard Gregg Lewis (1850-1938), a native of Portsmouth, Ohio, and an 1876 graduate of Marietta College.

The collection includes correspondence, business, and legal documents, as well as records related to Virginia military bounty land warrants. With materials dating from 1779 to 1875, the collection is divided into three series, as described below.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions

There are no restrictions on accessing material in this collection. Copyright restrictions may apply to materials. Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the repository and from the copyright holder.

Several other repositories hold materials related to Benjamin G. Leonard, Allen Latham, Richard C. Anderson, and the Virginia Military District, including: Huntington Library, San Marino, California; University of Illinois, Urbana; Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky; William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia; Ohio History Connection, Columbus; Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland; and the Library of Virginia, Richmond.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

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Preferred Citation

Leonard-Latham-Anderson Collection, Marietta College Library.

Other Finding Aid

PDF of finding aid.