Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1855-07-09
Mason and Dixon's Line

Mason and Dixon's Line
Our attention being brought ut this time Ia the
geographical significance of this famous line, we
are Indebted to the researches of Mr, John II. H..
Lntrobe, of Baltimore, Il gentleman whose pro-
found requirements aud literary taste have con.
tributcd much Ia enrich the common stock of
knowledge. Ihr subject was chosen by him for
m address before la Historical Society of Penn
Sylvan'a: and. n We presume, h5ta very limited
numb Il copir< were printed ~ distributions,
we 81, lin,t -gi,4ct e.rsciye- t. de Charge of
car8n ligs Ia Athens il W., quote IA few pass
agcs from it for the bencti - uur rot Ter,
Speaking Of the political turn EiF'n IL . larely
geographical question. h. -at~
- consequence of His stote IT thing has
lcanto 2 rprto,f' IL meuer' q The oil -Iuyry-
ors who established IT, rttc good FORTUNE - re-
CARDS their sunr; for, Wlllc the engineers who To-
Gated tho road arros, the Simplon have been
forgotten in all absorbing renown of the master
whom they served while, of the thousands who
sail past the Edaystone, not one perhaps knows
who il was that erected. on n crag in the midst of
The sea, the wondrous light house that has now
defed The telnpests of accntury while oblivion
has been the lot of other bcnefuctors of mankind,
whose works, of everyday utility. should have
been their enduring monuments, Charles Mason
aud .Jermiah Dixon. who, eighty six years ngo.
rnnn line through tie forest, until the Indians
forbade the further progress ot cham and com
pass, aud whose grentest merit seems to have
been, tlnt of accurate surveyors, have obtained
n notoriety for ihcir names rs lasting as the his
tory ot our country"
1t was in l7G3 that the proprieiaries of Penn.
sylpauia and MarvIand agreed with Charles Ma
son and Jeremiah piAont t. survey the boundary
between their respective grnnts; and these two
mathematician or surveyors" landed in lhila-
drlphia in Nuveubir Of The same year, aud en-
tpr.tl ut nua,. ty,,u tha prprl. DrrapI un,b Aa.
cort,ng to their own account their own account
tller new line did not vary an inch eastward or
westward ct that which had been established hy
previous surveyors; "sn that, after all says
Mr.. Latrobe, me sigltin g along poles aud the
chain measul cmontsol l76l and l762 wouldhave
answered every purpose; had the proprietors ON.
II thought 50.
lie gives a minute account eff the progress of
his work from time t. time and thus continues
The lines whose history hHs thus been given
were directed to be marked in Il particular man
ner, both 10y the agreements of the parties aud
the decree Of Lord lIardwickc; aud the survey
ors accordingly planted. Mt the end of every fifth
mile, a stone craven with the arms of the Pcnns
ON one side and Of the Baltimore family ON the
ether, marking the intermediate miles wich small
or stones having 5 i ON one side and an NJ on the
other. The stones with the arms were all sent
from England. This was done on the parallel of
latitude a. far as Sideling Hill; but here all wheel
transportation ceasIng in l766, the further mark
ing of the line was the vista Of eight yards wide,
with piles of stones on the crests of all the noun
tain ranges, built some eight feet high, as 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.. Latrorbe to discover
some information in regard TO the characters and
personal appearance of these two remarkable ind
yilpula rr,ra1 frnitlaaa tsIhntr lntfar, - h.
says ARE the mercst business letters, their journal
the most naked of records and he therefore anu
sci hlmsPlfb by diviuing their characte r. from their
respective autographs. From these he very in
genlously dedncts that mason was a cool, DELHI
crate, pains taking man, never in II hurry; n man
of quiet courage, who crossed the Monongahela
with fifteen men because II was his duty to do so
though he would have much preferred three the
number at his heels" FROM Dixon'S signature
he infers That he was n Younger man, Il more ac-
tive man; II mum Of an impatient spirn and ner-
vous temperament: just such Il man ms won ked best
with a sober sided colleague"
In "a note he tells Us that Lalande in his BibH-
ogfdphic iStrOROmiYHe, says TINT Dixon was born
in a coal mine. He died at Durham, England, in
l177, but Mason survived him ten years, aud ac-
cordlng to the Encyclopedia imer5cupd, died in
Pennsylvania in l7S1. One of the stones-that
which marked the northeast corner of Maryland
being undermined by n brook, in the course of
tno feli, and was remoyedtO form part OF a chm.
ney to "A noighboring farm house. Upon the
stone being missed Mr.. Latrobe says "the Leg
i%slatures of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Della
ware took the matter in hand, and joint commits
sion was appointed, which obtaining the services
of Lieutenant Colonel James d. Graham, "A dis
tinguished officer of tho Typographical Engi.
neers OF the lnited States, caused the work of
Mason and Dixon to be reviewed as far as was
necessary. Colonel Graham's work oarrobera-
ted IN all importat partictculars tho work of his
predecessors. Some errors were discovered how
ever
BY the correction of one of these errors the
State OF Maryland gained an addition TO her terri
tory of zone acre and eighty-sereh hundredths Of
an acre. but whether the loss fell upon Pennsyl-
wanna or Delaware does not appear. Another of
the errors corrected was ola rather singular char
acter. Colonel Graham says in his report: ''Alr.
W. smith, a gentleman who has Cnce served as
a member of the Legislature of Delaware, resided
atull half mile within the State Of PENNSYLVANIA
and Christinna Church 10y the same rcsuryey.was
found TO be in Pennsylvania.-Nat Int.
SALARIES OF GovERNoRs.-The Governor of
New York and Louisiana, 81 900, Maryland, So
600; Massachusetts and South Carolina, SI,5G0,
Pennsylvania, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee,
Oregon, and Washington Territories, $1,000;
Alabama, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico, L.
tab, Kansas, and Nebraska, $3.50; North Caro-
lima. Texas, and Missouri, s., 900; Arkansas,
81 800. Maine, Florida. Indiana, and Illinois, 81
500; Delaware, 81 1873; Connecticut, 81, 100; New