The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1855-07-21
From the v r,rnal Intelligcncer.
Mason and Dixon's Line.

given Immortality to their names, could
have forcseen ITO what base uses" It would
be brought, we are persuaded, little as we
knew OF their characters, that even royal
mandate would have failed in moving them
to undertake il.
For our attention beipg brought at this
time to the geographical Specification Of this
famous line, we are indebted to the research.
es OF Mr. John II. Is. Latroke, of Baltimore,
gentleman whose profound quirements
and literary taste have contributed much to
enrich the common stock Of knowledge
The subject was chosen by Lin for an ad.
dress before the Historical Society Of Penn
sylvania and as We presume but a very
limited number Of copies were printed for
distribution, we shall not subject ourselves
to the charge Of carrying figs to Athens, il
we quote q few passages from 1t for the BEN
eft Of our readers Speaking Of the political
turn given to purely geographical ques.
ton, he says:
"A consequence Of this state of things
has been to pcrpctuatc the memory of the
Old surveyors who established it-a rare
good fortune as regards their fame for
while the engineers who located the road
across the Simplon have been forgotten in
the all absorbing renown Of the master
whom they served; while Of the thousands
who sail past the Eddystone, not one per.
maps knows who 1t was that erected on a
crag in the midst Of the sea, the wondrous
hight house that has now delied the tcinpcs,s
ol century while oblivion has been the
lot OF other bcnefactOrs Uf mankind, whose
works, Of every day utility, have been their
Z tp 4
Jeremiah Dixon, who eighty-six years ago,
ran line through the forest, until the In.
dams forbade the further progress Of chain
and compass, and whose greatest mcIi,
seems 10 have been that Of accurate survey.
ors, have obtained a notoriety nor their
names as lasting as the history Of our coun.
try"
II was in 1868 that the proprictarics Of
Pennsylvania and Maryland agreed with
Charles Mason and jeremiah Dixon to sur.
vey the boundary between their respective
| grants: and these two mathernatic,ans or
surveyors landed at Philadelphia in No.
Seihber oil the same year, and entered al
once upon the work agreed upOn.
According TO their own account, the ncx
line did not vary an inch eastward or west.
ward OF that which had been established by
previous surveyors so that after all " saws
Mr. La,robe, "the sighting along the poles
and the rude chain measurements Of l76l
ana 1907 would have answered every pur.
pose had the proprietors only thought So"
he gives minute account OF the progress
o' tins work from lime 10 time, and thus
| continues:
The iines whose history has thus been
| given were directed to be marked in par
ticular manner, both by the agreements Of
/ the parties and the decree Of Lord Hard.
wicke; and the surveyors accordingly plant.
cd at the end Of every fifty miles, a stone
| craven with the arms Of the Penns on one
side, and Of the Baltimore family on the
other marking the intermediate miles with
smaller stones having p ON one side and
! IN II on the other. The stones with IN,
f0ne-were- sall-se0t- <frnD zGsgi = : =
Ss'This WAS done on the parallel of laf.
tsde as far rs Sideing Hill, but here all
wheel transportation ceasing in 1866, the
further marking Of the line was the vista OF
eight yards wide, with piles Of stones on the
crests OF all the mountain ranges, built some
eight feet high, rs far as 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.. Latroje to discover
some information in regard to the charac.
teristics and personal appearance Of these
two remarkable individuals proved truitless.
Their letters he says, ''are the meres,
business letters, their journal is the most
naked Of records, and he therefore amused
himself by divning their characters from
| their respective autographs.
! From these he very iGgcniouslv dcduces
that MASON was n cool, deliberate, pains.
taking man, never in q hurry; n man o
quiet courage who crossed the M0nonyahe.
la with fifteen men, because it was his duty
TO do SO, though he would have much pre-.
ferrcd thrice the number at his heels"
From Dixons signature hc infers "that he
was younger man; more active man
man oi impatient spirit and nervous TEN.
permanent; just such man as worked best
with sober.sided colleague"
In note he tells us that Lalande, in hi.
photographic Astronomique, says that Dix
on was born in a cOdl mine. lie died al
Durham, England, in l777 but Mason sur.
yived him ten years, and according to the
Encyclopedia Americana, died in Pennsyl
vania IN 1887. One of the stones-tha,
which marked the northeast corner of Mary
land-bclng undermined by brook, in the
course OF time fell, and was removed TO form
part OF chimney TO neighboring farm
house.
Upon the stone being missed, Mr.. Latrob,
says 1.-The legislature OF Pennsylvania, Mary
land and Delaware took the matter in hand
and JOINT committee was appointed, which
obtaining the services of Lieutenant COlone
James ID. Graham, distinguished officer o
the Typographical Engineers of the UnteC
States, caused tue works OF Mason aud Dix
on to be reviewed as far as was necessary
Colonel Grahams work corroborated in al
important particulars the work of his pre-
dcccssors. Some crrois were discovered
however"
BY the corrections Of one of these error.
the state Of Maryland gained an addition tt
her territory Of one "acre and eighty.scvel
hundredths ofan acre." but whether the losl
fell upon Pennsylvania does not appear
Another of the errors corrected was OF rath
er singular character Colonel Graham
says in his report: "Mr W. Smith, gen
tlenan who has once served as a member o.
the legislature Of Delaware, resided ful
half mile within the state Of Pennsylvania,
and Christiana church by the same re-sur
vey, was to be in Pennsylvania.
These are all curious facts, well worthy
to be made the subject Of an address to any
historical society; and the manner il, whic!
Mr.. Latrobe executed his task shows thu
discriminating judgment Of the Pennsylva
mia society in selecting an individual so every
way competent to its satisfactory perform
ance.
"a Hon OLD FOURTH or JuLY."-The AL
bany Knicker ecker says:
Among the gentlemen who went in for
"high old Fourth Of July" was man by tht
namo Of Snyder, Of Schenectady. Mr.. 5