Zane's Trace - Colonel Zane's Tracts

Colonel Zane's Tracts

As part of his petition to Congress (see above), Col. Zane requested that he be given the right to buy select tracts of land at three sites where the Trace crossed a major river. The rivers were, from east to west, the Muskingum River, the Hocking River, and the Scioto River. Congress granted this request. General Rufus Putnam, surveyor general of the United States, surveyed the tracts, all of which were purchased by Col. Zane.

Col. Zane deeded the tract at the Muskingum River to his brother Jonathan Zane and to his son-in-law, John McIntire, on December 10, 1800. McIntire had already laid out a town named Westbourne in 1799, the name of which was changed by the postmaster to Zanesville in 1801.

Col. Zane divided his tract along the Hocking River into lots, and appointed his sons Noah Zane and John Zane as agents to sell the lots. A town was laid out here in 1800, and was named New Lancaster at the request of resident Emmanuel Carpenter, Sr., in honor of his prior home of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The town was renamed Lancaster in 1805 to avoid confusion with the town of New Lancaster, also in Pennsylvania.

Col. Zane's tract on the Scioto River was not as useful for development. The town of Chillicothe had already been settled on the west bank of the Scioto River, and land west of the Scioto River was reserved for Virginian veterans of the Revolutionary War. Col. Zane sold his tract of land on the eastern bank of the Scioto River to Humphrey Fullerton in 1804.