MICHIGAN DEPUTY SUVEYORS
THE YEARS THEY WERE SURVEYING |
1815 B. HOUGH |
Northwest Ordinance
In 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance. This ordinance set up a government for the Northwest Territory and outlawed slavery there. It allowed the region to be divided into separate territories. Once a territory had a population of 60,000 free citizens, it could petition Congress to become a state. The new state would then be "on an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatsoever." This Ordinance was important because it set up a way for new states to be admitted to the United States. It guaranteed that all states would be treated equally. Eventually, the Northwest territory was carved into five states: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. As the Indian land titles were being extinguished or moved farther west, the next step toward the settlement of Michigan’s interior was the survey of these lands. None of the government lands acquired was surveyed until after the War of 1812. The government surveyors began their work in 1815 when two men were hired to establish accurately the location of the base line and the principal meridian. With these standard coordinates established, other contracts were let to have the townships set off in the eastern part of the Territory.
In 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance. This ordinance set up a government for the Northwest Territory and outlawed slavery there. It allowed the region to be divided into separate territories. Once a territory had a population of 60,000 free citizens, it could petition Congress to become a state. The new state would then be "on an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatsoever." This Ordinance was important because it set up a way for new states to be admitted to the United States. It guaranteed that all states would be treated equally. Eventually, the Northwest territory was carved into five states: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. As the Indian land titles were being extinguished or moved farther west, the next step toward the settlement of Michigan’s interior was the survey of these lands. None of the government lands acquired was surveyed until after the War of 1812. The government surveyors began their work in 1815 when two men were hired to establish accurately the location of the base line and the principal meridian. With these standard coordinates established, other contracts were let to have the townships set off in the eastern part of the Territory.
The surveys were conducted by individuals under
contract with the United States surveyor general. The surveyor’s task was to
run a line exactly straight in a given direction and to measure that line in
units of one mile. He required two chainmen to measure the line and an axeman
to clear the line of brush and to mark corners. A hardwood stake was driven
into the ground at each section corner, with about a foot length left showing
above the ground. The surveyor worked with a compass set on a tripod. Surveyors
had to mark all trees along the line and to maintain careful records of the
crossing of streams, ravines, and hills, the character of the soil and timber,
as well as a description of each township. For this work, they were paid from
$2.00 to $6.50 per mile surveyed. Working eight months a year, the surveyor
could earn as much as $3,000, out of which he had to pay his assistants.
Michigan
actually has TWO base lines!!! How can that be?
One of the early contracts for surveys in Michigan Territory was given to Benjamin Hough on April 28, 1815 for the survey of a true meridian line northward from Fort Defiance, Ohio. Hough began his work on September 29, 1815. His notes state: "Commence the meridian, or Indian boundary line at the mouth of the Great Auglaize River and run by the true meridian due north." Two weeks later, he had progressed 70 miles when he encountered the Grand River in Section 7, T3S, R1E. A few days later, Hough set the first Initial Point for the Michigan surveys. He also surveyed the first two miles of the eastern section of the Base Line across ranges 1 and 2 east. A surveyor named Fletcher laid out the base line in ranges 3 and 4 east, but his work was grossly inaccurate and had to be resurveyed. In 1824, Joseph Wampler resurveyed Fletcher’s work and laid out the four townships cornering on the initial points. His corners are the ones accepted today. He found it necessary to establish two initial points where the Base Line intersects the Meridian in order to tie in the survey of the lands already laid out east of the meridian. These points are 14.18 chains (935.88 feet) apart on the Meridian with the south line of T1N, R1E. being that distance north of the south line or T. 1 N., R. 1 W.
One of the early contracts for surveys in Michigan Territory was given to Benjamin Hough on April 28, 1815 for the survey of a true meridian line northward from Fort Defiance, Ohio. Hough began his work on September 29, 1815. His notes state: "Commence the meridian, or Indian boundary line at the mouth of the Great Auglaize River and run by the true meridian due north." Two weeks later, he had progressed 70 miles when he encountered the Grand River in Section 7, T3S, R1E. A few days later, Hough set the first Initial Point for the Michigan surveys. He also surveyed the first two miles of the eastern section of the Base Line across ranges 1 and 2 east. A surveyor named Fletcher laid out the base line in ranges 3 and 4 east, but his work was grossly inaccurate and had to be resurveyed. In 1824, Joseph Wampler resurveyed Fletcher’s work and laid out the four townships cornering on the initial points. His corners are the ones accepted today. He found it necessary to establish two initial points where the Base Line intersects the Meridian in order to tie in the survey of the lands already laid out east of the meridian. These points are 14.18 chains (935.88 feet) apart on the Meridian with the south line of T1N, R1E. being that distance north of the south line or T. 1 N., R. 1 W.