MINISTERIAL LANDS Sep C&S ?
buckeye
In the formation of our government, the setting apart of public lands for
the support of schools and setting aside of public lands for the purpose of
religion form two interesting chapters in our history and probably the
least understood by the people.
Ohio holds the distinction today of being the only state in the Union in
which land was set aside by congress for the support of religion. Congress,
after setting aside for the support of religion, certain land from two
purchases made when the state was still a part of the Northwest Terri-
[29]
tory, realized that in so doing it has probably violated one of the main
principles which caused the Puritans who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620,
to leave their mother country, namely the separation of church and state.
The early congress soon recognized the folly of its act and refused to take
similar action at any subsequent meetings.
It seems strange and inconsistent that descendants of the early Puritans
would be a party to a plan endowing the church with land and making the
state the trustee of the endowment.
The ministerial lands of Ohio, in reality, are an outgrowth of the desire
of congress to make provisions for education and in so doing, set aside one
thirty-sixth part of all lands, for educational purposes. Likewise, one
thirty-sixth part of all townships in the Ohio Company's first purchase and
in Symmes purchase was set aside as ministerial land. For school lands,
Section 16 of each township was arbitrarily chosen, and for ministerial
lands, Section 29.
While these so-called ministerial lands are comparatively small, they
nevertheless form a part of the present administration of the state. They
require a regular division of the funds derived from them and a subsequent
redivision among all religious denominations in the benefiting townships.
The ministerial lands were set apart in only two of the land grants in Ohio
; namely, the Ohio Company's first purchase of 750,000 acres in 1792, which
included the settlement of Marietta and surrounding country, and the Symmes
purchase of 311,682 acres two years later, which included the settlement of
Cincinnati, and all the land between the Miami rivers, from the Ohio river
north, to about the middle of what is now Butler and Warren counties.
As the purchasers of these two tracts came from parts of the Union where it
was customary and deemed necessary to have a regular settled clergyman in
every town, they therefore stipulated in their original purchase that a
permanent fund in land should thus be set apart for this purpose.
Originally, the care of these lands was placed by congress in the hands of
the state legislature and locally, three men were elected to have charge of
the lands with the responsibility of taking care of them. They met once a
year and, after paying all claims, including the services of the officers,
the remainder was distributed, pro rata, to the different religious
societies that filed with the trustees a sworn statement of the number of
members 15 years of age or older, each living in the original surveyed
township. No distinction was made as to different religious organizations
and each received a share proportionate to its number of members.
The duty of administering these lands now falls upon the Auditor of State
who, in his capacity as Supervisor of School and Ministerial Lands,
[30]
as immediate charge of making these lands produce their utmost,
distributing the funds, keeping the records, and collecting all rents.
The trustee system remained in force 111 years, ending in 1917, when the
Garver law went into effect. This took the care of these lands from the
three trustees and put it in the hands of the Auditor of State.
The matter of distribution of the funds has become somewhat involved with
the later surveys of some townships which overlap the original survey. But
under the stipulations of the law, the denominations to benefit must have
members living within the original township survey.
Some of these Ministerial Lands have an interesting history behind them,
particularly those in Marietta and Cincinnati.
These two towns were established in the early days when Indians were a
menace to the white man and the need of establishing protection against the
redman was great. Thus, the inducement was held out for those who were so
bold as to brave the onslaughts of the Indians, that if they would inhabit
the frontier, and act as an outpost against the Indians, they would be
given a 99 year lease with a fixed rental on their land. This rental
condition, which exists even today, is responsible for a number of lots in
Marietta still being under the provisions of this early act of congress.
This fixed rental condition was enacted for Marietta township which later
included the city of Marietta since the city was built mostly on Section 29
of this township. The Act was passed Feb. 21, 1805, and read in part as
follows : "which lease or leases shall be made for a term of 99 years, and
renewable forever, with a fixed annual rental, not in any case to exceed
ten dollars for the one-third of an acre nor less than one dollar."
This was the settlers' reward for their fortitude and bravery, a gratuity
which was passed on to their descendants and to those who were fortunate
enough to come into possession of the land they had occupied.
Inasmuch as a great portion of this land was located in Section 29, which
was set aside as ministerial land by terms of the Ohio Land Company
purchases, the revenue derived from it is today being divided among the
denominations that have members living within the original township survey.
This fact too, accounts for the large number of lots and fractional lots in
the city of Marietta which totaled approximately 545 on Dec. 31, 1955.
Likewise, in Green Township, Hamilton County, which later included a part
of the suburbs of Cincinnati, certain lands came under similar terms. The
act of Feb. 6, 1812, reads in part : "�no lessee�shall be compelled, at any
time�to pay any greater or other sum of rent than such as may have been
established . . . at the time of leasing of same . . . nor shall said lands
at any time hereafter . . . be subject to any other appraisal or
revaluation".
[31]
Viewing the results of this act after a period of 144 years it seems
ridiculous that the land rental should be based at 6% of the original
valuation of $10.00 for a third acre, or a total of $1.80 an acre on the
most valuable land in Marietta and worth thousands of dollars at the
present time. Similar conditions exist in parts of Cincinnati under like
terms.
In 1817, the legislature authorized the granting of 99 year leases
renewable forever, the land to be appraised every 33 years, and the rent to
be fixed at 6 per cent of the appraised value. Numerous leases were made
under these conditions as many of the people did not have sufficient money
with which to buy government land. For a nominal rental, this gave the
lessees undisturbed possession of the land as long as they paid the rent
when due, which amounted to about the same as having a fee simple title to
it. Many of these leases are still in force today. In 1826, provision was
made for the sale of the land, the proceeds to be deposited in the
irreducible debt fund of the state and the interest thereon to go to the
schools and religious bodies entitled to it.
In 1914, authority was given to the Auditor of State to lease all school
and ministerial lands for oil, gas and other minerals, all money received
from these sources to be handled the same as that from the sale of land.
At the close of the "Old Administration" in 1917 when control of the
ministerial and school lands passed from the trustees to the state, there
were 2603 acres of farm land, 602 lots and fractional lots in Marietta and
66 small tracts and lots in the suburbs of Cincinnati listed as ministerial
lands. The amount of money deposited in the Irreducible Debt to the credit
of the ministerial lands was $150,275.97.
The records indicate there remains approximately 3250 acres of farm lands,
545 lots and fractional lots in Marietta and about 60 small tracts and lots
in the suburbs of Cincinnati listed as ministerial lands on Dec. 31, 1955.
The increase in the farm land acreage over that of the old administration
is due to the discovery of lands not on record and the decrease in city
lots is due to the sale of these lots.
The ministerial trust fund had $67,051.74 invested in bonds as of Dec. 31,
1955. The interest, amounting to $1,822.86 annually, is distributed
semi-annually to 19 townships in 8 counties.
[32)
[SOURCE: A Short History of Ohio Land Grants. Prepared for the Schools of
Ohio James A. Rhodes, Auditor of State, Supervisor of School and
Ministerial Lands, Custodian of Public Land Records (there is no
publication date but had to have been between 1956 --Dec. 31, 1955 is
mentioned in the text and 1962 -- while Rhodes was state auditor.) pp
29-32.
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS � Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
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. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
. . .
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James Veverka wrote:
One of the ways to counter the attack on American Constitutional principles
by the religious right is to address their revisionism, misinformation and
distortions.
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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