March 1, 1784 | Report Resolutions from the Committee for the Western Territory, March, 1, 1784. With Jeremiah Townley Chase and David Howell, Thomas Jefferson issues recommendations for the division and government of the western edges of United States territory. The preferred boundaries of future states are laid out and vaguely classical and Indian names are given the various regions. Congress did not adopt the Ordinance as Jefferson submitted it, primarily rejecting the abolition of slavery in the region and Jefferson's nomenclature. As passed by Congress, it became the Ordinance of 1784.
May 20, 1785 | Statute Land Ordinance of 1785. Until the Homestead Act of 1862, this ordinance, with detailed instructions as to the sectioning of land into township and plats, was the guiding document in the division and dispersal of Western lands.
April 27, 1786 | Letter Samuel Parsons to Ezra Stiles, Forwarded to Thomas Jefferson, April 27, 1786 Samuel Parsons describes the fossils and ancient fortifications he encountered on his travels along the Ohio River during the Fall/Winter of 1785. Parsons letter to Stiles was forwarded to Jefferson, who was extremely interested in the discoveries along Big Bone Lick and the Ohio River.
May 8, 1786 | Letter Ezra Stiles to Thomas Jefferson, May 8, 1786 Ezra Stiles pens a note to Thomas Jefferson, introducing Samuel Wales of Yale University. Stiles also prefaces the enclosed letter from Samuel Parsons (see Samuel Parsons to Ezra Stiles, April 27, 1786.)
March 10, 1793 | Report Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, March 10, 1793 In his official capacity as Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson writes to George Washington, reiterating the boundaries of the western frontiers of the United States, particularly as they apply to treaties with Native groups.
Banner image: From the Collection of The New-York Historical Society. Accession number 1867.306.
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