Page:Messages and Letters of William Henry Harrison Vol. 1.djvu/106

68  January 14, 1803 Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society, Collections VIII, 540

, By an act of Congress passed the 30 of April 1802 entitled "An act to enable the people of the Eastern Division of the Territory North West of the River Ohio, to form the constitution and State Government and for the admission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states and for other purposes". It is declared that from and after the formation of the said states, all that part of that part Northwestern territory which is not included within the boundaries prescribed for the said state shall be attached to, and made part of the Indiana Territory;

and whereas the inhabitants of the said Eastern division have formed themselves into an independent state by the name of the State of Ohio it has become necessary for the convenience of the citizens in the newly acquired territory and the due administration of justice that a new county should be laid off and alterations made in the boundaries of those formerly established. Wherefore I William Henry Harrison Governor of the Indiana Territory by the authority vested in me by the ordinance for the Government of the Territory, do ordain and declare that a county shall be formed in the North-eastern part of the Territory to be known and designated by the name and style of the County of Wayne. And the boundaries of the said county shall be as follows to wit: Beginning at a point where the East and West line passing through the Southerly extreme of Lake Michigan would intersect a North and South line passing through the most Westerly extreme of the said Lake, and thence north along the last mentioned line to the Territorial boundery of the United States, thence along the said boundry line to a point where an East and West line passing through the Southerly extreme of Lake Michigan would intersect the same, thence West along the last mentioned line to the place of beginning.—And all the aforesaid lands lying within the above described lines and boundaries are hereby erected into the county of Wayne. And the inhabitants of the said county of Wayne shall have