In 1803, the Sufferers, their heirs, or purchasers of their deeds, formed a corporation to manage the lands to which they were given in the newly formed state of Ohio. The land was divided into 30 five mile square survey townships, which were further subdivided into 120 quarters, each containing 4,000 acres. A drawing was then held to determine the land received by each individual. Many communities and towns in the Firelands are named for locations in Connecticut. As time passed and the population increased the county was split up to its current standing
The History of Huron County
Huron County has a history mired in the conflicts in the establishment of the United States - a history that predates the founding of the State of Ohio.
The Firelands (or Sufferer's Lands) were located at the western end of the Connecticut Western Reserve in what is now Ohio. The land, a half million acres, was reserved for residents of the Connecticut towns of Danbury, Fairfield, Greenwich, Groton, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, and Ridgefield who lost their homes in 1779 and 1781 from fires set by British forces during the Revolutionary War. Originally the area was referred to as the "Fire Lands".
In 1792, the Connecticut legislature set it aside for the sufferers at the western end of the Western Reserve, consisting of all of the present-day counties of Huron County and Erie County as well as Danbury Township in Ottawa County and Ruggles Township in Ashland County.
About 30 towns, cities and villages ended up being situated in the Firelands near the southern shore of Lake Erie. In the beginning, the entirety of the Firelands was Huron County.
Very few of the original "Sufferers" ever came to settle the Firelands, because the land was not given to them until many years after the war. Even then, the land was not hospitable due to Indian hostilities prior to and during the War of 1812 and the need to clear dense forests from the land so that it could be used for farming.