Surveyor General of the Northwest Territory

The Surveyor General of the Northwest Territory was a United States government official responsible for surveying land in the Northwest Territory in the United States late in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The position was created in the Land Act of 1796 to survey lands ceded by Indians northwest of the Ohio River and above the mouth of the Kentucky River. This act, and those that followed evolved into the Public Land Survey System.

Rufus Putnam was appointed to the office in 1797, and held it until 1803. His office was in Marietta. In 1801, the position was offered to Andrew Ellicott by Thomas Jefferson, but he refused, because he was upset at slow pay for work he had done for the Federal Government.Jared Mansfield held the office from 1803 to 1813. His office was in Cincinnati.Josiah Meigs held office 1813 to 1815, and Edward Tiffin from 1815 to his death in 1829. Tiffin had his office in Chillicothe. The Surveyor General of Illinois office was created on April 29, 1816, reducing effective area to Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.William Lytle served 1829 until his death in 1831. He moved the office back to Cincinnati.Micajah T. Williams held the office 1831 to 1834, when Robert Todd Lytle took over. Ezekiel S. Haines was appointed in 1838.Judge William Johnston held the office 1841-1845 as thanks for his efforts in supporting the Whig ticket in 1840.Lucius Lyon was appointed in 1845, and moved his office to Detroit. In June, 1845, the Ohio and Indiana offices were closed, and subsequent surveys were made under the Commissioner of the General Land Office. The Surveyor General was initially paid $2000 per year, and his deputies were paid three dollars per mile surveyed.

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