Symmes bought from the Congress in 1788. President George Washington signed the patent on October 30, 1794 conveying to Symmes 248,250 acres (1,005 km²) plus a surveying township of 23,040 acres (93 km²), in trust, for an academy. This land was known as the Symmes Purchase, and was the cause of considerable controversy in his lifetime and after. The purchase price was $225,000, and was paid in notes issued by the Congress to raise money during the Revolutionary War. There is no doubt that a considerable part of this amount came from Symmes in the first place as he lent most of his own money to the revolution.