The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1855-08-03
Mason & DixOn's Line.

concerning this f;rmnns line but The following from
The National IutcliecHccr will prove of additional
interest aud lhforma'on
For attention being brought at this time to
the geographical significance OF this famous line,
We indebted t" the researches Of Mr.. John II.
B. LatrObe, Of Baltimore, gentleman whose pro.
found requirements and literary taste have con.
trtbu!ed much to enrich the common stock Of know
ledge. The Sub lect was chosen by him for an
address before the Historical Society OF Pennsyl.
Va,ii" aud, we prrsume d very lned NUN.
Der OF copies prinled for distribution, we shall
not subject ourselves TO the charge Of carrying
figs 10 Athens, If We quote lew passages from ii
'or the benefit of our readers. Speaking Of :he
political torn 9 ven purely geographical ques.
tlon he saws:
"A Consequence OF this state Of things has been
20 P"rp-tuae the memory of the old surveyors
who established ia rare good fortune regards
their fame for, while III" engineers who located
the road across the SimpIon have been forgotten
in The alI-ab>orhng rerown of the master whom
they served u hilr. of ht thousands Who sail past
the Eddy stone, not on" perhaps knows who it was
that erected crag in the midst of the the
wonderous lighthouse, that has defed the
rmpests Of a century (; while oblivion has been
the lot Of other bencfactOrs OF mankind whose
works, Of every day utility, should have been their
enduring monuments, Charles Mason aud Jeremiah
Olson, who. sixtv-six years ago. ran line through
the forest. until the Indians forbade the further
progress of chain and compass and whose greatest
merit seen. to have been that Of accurate survey
ors, have obtained nntorI"tv for their names
aSting the history Of our county,.
1t was in 1863 that the propretaries Of Penn.
syIvania and Maryland agreed with Charles Mason
and Jeremiah Dixon to survey The boundary be.
tween Their respective grants; and these " TWO
mathematcians or surveyors" landed in PhadeI-
pha in November Of the same year, end entered
al upon the work agreed upon. According
to their own accoun! their new line did DOT vary
an inch eastward or westward of that which had
been established by previous survey ors; that,
alter ALL" says Mr.. Latrohe, ''the sighting along
poles and the rude chain measurements of l76l
and 1862 would have answered every purpose had
the proprleors only thought So"
He gives a minute account of the progress OF
this work from time to time, and thus continues:
"The lines whose history has thus been given
were directed TO be marked in a peculiar manner,
both by HE agreements OF lie parties and The de-
cree OF Lord Hhrdwicke ; and the surveyors ac-
cordingy planted, al the end Of every fifth mile,
a stone craven ilh the arms Of the p inns on the
one side and of the Baltimore family on the OF her,
making the intermediate miles with smaller stones
ha wing 2 on side and M "n the other.-
The stones with .he arms were all sent from Eng
land. This done on the parallel of latitude Il
far SidtIing Hill hut here all wheel transport
tauon ceasing in l776, the further marking of the
line was the vista of eight yards wide, with piles
OF stones the creSts of all ID" mountain ranges,
bui some eight feet high, as far the summit of
The Allegheny, beyond which the line was marked
by posts, around which stones and earth were
thrown the better TO preserve them.
All The efforts Of Mr. Latrobe to discover some
Information in regard to the characters and per.
sonal appea of these two remarkable indivl.
dna,s, proved ruIrlrss. "Their letters" he says,
.are The merest busnes. letters; their journal is
the most naked Of records - and he therefore "a
unused himself by divining heir characters from
their respective autographs. From these he very
ingeousv d"duces that ''Mason was a cool, delib-
crate, paInstaklng man, never in hurry; man
of quiet courage, who crossed The Monongahela
with fifteen men, because il was his duty to do So
though he would have preferred thrice the number
at his heels" From D'xon's signature he Infers
"Ihat he was younger man ; more active man
"A man of impatient spirit and a nervous temporal
ment; Just such as worked best with So
ber sided coIIrague.'
In "A no:e he tells that La!andr, in his Bill.
ogr0phy Aaronomique. says thai Dixon was barn
a coal mine. He died at Durham, England
in l777, but Mason survived him ten years. and
according 10 the Encyclopedia Americana died in !
Pennsylvania in 1887. One of he slones-lhat
which marked III" nearest corner OF Mary yIand-
being undermined bv bronx, in The course OF
TIM" Tell, and removed TO form part OF chin
ney OF nrIg Ighhoring farm house. Upon The stone
being missed, NJ Latrobe says, " the LegsIa.
lures o! Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware
took the matter in hand, and joint commission |
appointed which, obtained the services of
Lieut. Cot. James ID. Graham, distinguished |
officer of the T"p"gr rphcaI Engineers of the U.
States caused The work Of Mason and Dixon 10
be reviewed as far was necessary Colonel
Graham's work corrob"rated IN all important
particulars the work Of his predecessors. Some er
rOrs wcrr discovered, ho~ever."
By the correction Of Of these errors The |
Stale OF MarvI"nd gnned an addition to her terri. |
tory OF zone acre uHd ei@hfy seUen hundtc0IhS Of
an acre" but whether The loss fell upon Penussl.
vania or Delaware dOrs not appear. Another OF
the corrected WAS of rather singular char.
acer. Colonel Graham says IN his report: .sMr |
w. Smith. gentleman who has served ii
fui! half mile wiihIn rhe State Of Penns ylvania,"
and Chrisunna church, by the same re-survey, was
found to be- IN Pennsylvania.
These are all curIous facts, well worthy to be
made The subject Of an address anv historical
society and The manner in whch Mr.. Larrnbe
m"nt OF the Prnn~ yranitn society in seiecung
individual 80 every way competent TO lts sa'isac.
tory performance.
A soIiier trial for hsbituHl drunkenness was
addressed by the Presideni-' Prisoner, YOU have