The Firelands

The Firelands. . , The history of the Firelands is linked to the American Revolutionary War. During the British raids of 1777 and 1779 the Connecticut towns of Danbury, East Haven, New Haven, Fairfield, Norwalk, Greenwich, Groton, Ridgefield and New London were destroyed by fire. In 1781 the last major British raid was commanded by Benedict Arnold, who had turned traitor. Lives were lost and many homes and shops were burned. , For ten years the townspeople petitioned the General Assembly of Connecticut for relief. The Assembly was sympathetic with their plight but they were unable to make restitution. Finally on May 10, 1792 the Connecticut legislature set aside 500,000 acres of land for the sufferers. The tract was In the western most part of the Connecticut Western Reserve in what is now the state of Ohio, named the Fire Sufferers Land or Fire Land. The tract consists of all of the present-day counties of Huron and Erie as well as Danbury Township in Ottawa County and Ruggles Township in Ashland County. Many of the new Firelands communities were named for their Connecticut counterparts. , After years of delay, only a few of the original “Sufferers” were able to move to the new land; most were too old to migrate. Their younger heirs either made the move or sold the land.