Ravenna, April 9, 1826
John Wyles Esq
Dear Sir,
I must confess that I have been Inexcusably ____ in not writing you oftener and will only attempt to excuse myself in fact by assuring you that I have nothing of importance to communicate and I always face a reluctance in writing unless I can communicate something in which my confidence will for ever intent in knowing since you were heir In 1823. Land sales here ben very dull & money scarce we have been scattering ourselves from year to year that the demand for land here would increase & sales become more brisk But many of the causes, that conspire to produce a depreciation in the value of lands have some years since, Will exist – One of the most prominent of these causes is that growing out of the precarious practice of selling unfair – liberal credit as it was termed, which so generally prevailed here some years ago. When lands sales were brisk – Most of those settlers, who then purchased upon credit. (and I may say the greater part of these) and who have since made improvements on the land & perhaps made partial payments towards it, now find that they can never complete payment & obtain the fee, and are obliged either to abandon the land cause or what is about the same thing, to sell this equitable wight in it for what they can get– Hence a purchase coming into the country with money to pay for land can purchase This improved farms very low and often at a price below what wild lands ought to bring, but in this way we are changing our population & improving the country. Another cause is that many of the non -resident lands, owned by non-residents have fallen into the hands of heirs or other persons who cannot or do not wish to keep them and who are occasionally seatleing their lands into the market at a low rate for instances the lands in Shalersville
the town north of Ravenna / have been and now are selling at two dollars per acre the purchaser working his selection the lands in Shalersville are equal in quality to any in the country. I deem it unnecessary to enumerate other Causes to a man of your intelligence as I presume they have already presented themselves to your mind – But we live in expectation & are seatting ourselves with prospect of better times – we think that the Ohio Canal will have consumable effect upon the price & lack of Lands and particularly in the region of the Canal this work is advancing rapidly and I believe very profusouly. It is expected that 40 miles of this Canal from Cleveland south to the Portage summit will be completed next fall – Other sections of it further south are in a state of equal forwardness – and it is expected that the whole work will be completed in the year 1829 – But we have another Canal in contemplation which we think will be of much greater importance to the Reserve than the Ohio Canal – that is a Canal from this Portage summit of the Ohio to Pittsburgh there to meet the Delaware & Ohio canal already commenced & also the Potomac & Ohio canal now in contemplation – the cause of this Canal will probably be nearly as follows, we From Akron on the Portage summit to the village of Middlebury then northerly to the southern bend of the Cuyahoga in the northwest part of Tallmadge, there following the valley of the Cuyahoga on the south side of the stream to P___ P_____ then Mills Franklin then easterly through the south part of Franklin to the south branch of the Cuyahoga There following up the valley of that steam to its northern land in Ravenna then across the summit (about ½ a mile south of this village) to the Mahoning in the southeast part of the township hence following the valley of the Mahoning by the way of Warren to the Big Beaver there following the valley of the Warren & the Ohio to Pittsburgh this will open a direct & uninterrupted canal communication through the Pennsylvania canal to Philadelphia or through the Potomac canal to the city of Washington & Baltimore we view this Communication of the highest importance to Ohio and Particularly to the Reserve. Ever since the creation of the Ohio Canal on its present route. I have concerns this cross Canal as a certain consequence and have already devoted much time in exploring the route in order to ascertain its practicality to – How soon this work will be undertaken I cannot say. The route will doubtfully be surveyed this same Mon. And we intend next winter to apply to the Legislature of Ohio and Pennsylvania for a charter and should we must with no diffiecultues in obtaining stock it may be commenced during next year or this year following But we shall know more about it in the course of the summer This Canal would effect rain the value of your lands as well as effect a lake of theres Having a view to the effect that this Canal will have when the value of your lands in Thorndike I have not felt so anxious about the sales of them at present. Indeed there has been no opportunities of selling at the price you find (which I consider no more than a fair price) Unless when long Credit for the whole of the its purchase money – And the practice of selling entirely upon Credit I consider to be [damaged] proprietor to purchaser & to the country / Relative to your affairs here I have nothing very important to communicate the Administrators on Pundersons estate have paid nothing expecting a– small sum for taxes – I have neither seen nor heard anything from Mr. Heacocks since I wrote him but __ relative to your communication until last week although I have been through Boston several times on my way to Chanders for the purpose of seeing him but always found him absent – Last week when I saw him, he still felt curious to make the arrangement he Proposed to gain but made no definite proposition, & Nothing was decided– the Administrators have been very negligent about selling the estate, and every thing appears to remain as it did when you were here – I hope you will make it convenient to visit this country and th_ __, if not th_ __ of that information I will make out a full & particular __ of you concerns here –
Yours with great respect,
Jonathan Sloan
Ravenna O
April 15
John Wyles Esquire
Brimfield
Russell Bissell to John Wyles, Sr. and Aaron Buckland, 1796, Box: 1, Folder: 2. Wyles Family Western Reserve Collection, MS-079. Linda Lear Center for Special Collections and Archives.