Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-09-10
Mason and Dixon's Line.

Mason and DixonB Line.
Mason and Dixon's Line" has become phrase
of almost constant occurrence In every discussion
Of questions Of sayory and uf tho respective rights
Of "the North" IN the one hand, and 1.-THE South"
on tho other. Yet, comparatively few Of those
who 40 ippantly mako use ot the significant words,
have any just understanding Of what MASON and
Dxon's Line" actually means. They use 1t as
convenient expression, to distinguish the bounda-
res Of free and slave territories without consider
lug whether i, be n regularly marked geographical
'line," fxed and desig by monuments, courses
and distances, or merely an imaginary term Of dis
tinction between the slavehOlding aud nonslaye-
holding States Of this Union. We propose to show
by brief historical review, that II 10 simply &C.
ographcal boundary line. originally marked out
without any reierence to tho pdo0liar institution
Of the South.
In juno. 1852. King Charles l. granted to Ce-
cilius Calvert. Lord Baltimore, all that tract OF
land lying between a certain bound on tho South
unto that par. Of Delaware Bay, on the North,
which letA nader Tie Jortieth deg'.e Of North tati.
tude." thence "in fright limo, BY The degree dtore
sdid to the true meridian Of the first fountain OF
river Potomac, &c"
On the 4th Of March. 1881. thereafter. Charles
II. granted unto "our trusty and wel.belovcd sub
ject, William Penn, Esquire" that tract or part
of land in Amoricn, with the islands therein con-
tanned. us the same is bounded the east by Del
aware river, from twelve miles northward Of Now
Castle unto tho Northern boundary, extending
eastward five degrees in longitude, and to bo bound
ed on the south "by circle drawn at twe,vJ miles
distance from New Castle north ward and eastward
unto The beginning Of Me Jortieth degree Of north.
ern latitude, and then by straight line scestcard
to the limits of the longitude above mentioned"
Here, then, we have, slde by side the two grants
to Lord Baltimore and William Penn, of what
were afterwards to bo the States Of Maryland and
Pennsylvania. But, by an examination of tho
man, We will discover that the two grants are in
consistent-.a most apparent confusion existing In
regard to the division line between the two. For
whilst the twelve mle circle drawn from New Cas-
tie was " extend unto the beginning Of the for
tieth degree Of northern latitude" il Is found im.
possible for il TO reach that line at all, 1t being
more than that far distant. And again. II was
claimed by tho advocates of Penn, that as his
northern boundary, which was designated MS "an.
to the three and ortieth degree Of north latitude
only carried him to the line AZ. so his southern
boundary "unto the beginning Of the iorteth de-
gree" should carry him down to where the terri
torial span embraced in the fortieh degree began
-to-wit: to the line 800.
But it was alike impossible to make the twelve
miles circle reach this line. being south Of New
Castle some fifty miles. Here, then, was fruitful
grounds for Of those most perplexing and trou-
blesome controversies that can arise between ad-
jacent and-holding neig ghbors-a controversy about
boundaries. Accordingly it ensued, and in this
confusion we have the trivial origin Of the renowed
"Mason & Dixon's Line"
What was the cause of the confusion in tho
description Of the contiguous boundarios? 1t all
lies in the fact that, at the time these two grants
were made 1882 and 1881 the line 40o crossed
the Delaware nearly at--a little below--,ohere Nep
Castle 10, the maps in existence had 1t fixed. Il
is said that the map on the authority Of which the
lished by the celebrated Captain Smith, aud that
erroneously fixed the line whore We have sta
ted. slts - ss ..o.ss.-- Il. M
As may we'll have been expected, great animos.
ties and strife sprung upsbetween the colonsts Of
the contending proprietors. This continued for
many years without any thing like an eIectual Set
Element of the vexed question. Robbery and arson,
and even murder, were frequent occurrences all a.
long the disputed border. At last in May, l732,
impclled more by necessity than anything else,
Richard Penn and Charles Calvert (suecessors Of
William Penn and Lord Baltimore, who. in the
meantime, had died. entered into written agree
ment for the settlement Of their disputes. The
stipulatipns oft agreement were: circular line
was to be run II miles distant from New Cnstle
then 20 down to Cape Hsnlopsn. and from its o.
cean point run line due west 10 Chesapeake Bay;
find the middle point Of this line, and run another
lire thence northward. % "a to be tangent TO the
twelve mile circle on Its western verge, from the
tangent point run line duo north until il comes
to point fifteen miles south Of the latitude the
southern part Of the city Of Philadelphia; thence
BY o due line west 70 the western boundary Of
Pennsylvania. .ss ie4
Commissioners from both territories were joint
ly to run and mark the lines. and IL was agreed
that failare in q punotuai attendance. by sither
party, should forfeit the agreement. They met
and entered upon their work, but one day the
Psan party arriving little behind time. the Ma-
rylanders declared the agreement n On end. ~
The Penns then applied b, tile English Chance
ry for relief One suit after another followed.
withoas much apparent advancement toward o
aettlemsnts when, at last Litigation was cut short
by q compromise, entered Into b. tho parties. da-
ted July 4th. 1760. This put an end ~ the har-
raSsing and trcublesoms fsuds and snimositiss
and settled forever the Chains Of The dispatants.
Iswss. in fact, nothing moro than rati6cation Or
rssfirmauce Of tho sgrssmsntof l7a2 2,asynepsis Of
ef waiuh We gave abose. The agreement prov'.
ded for . joint commission % ascertaips run out
and mark the lines. In November OF the came
year i1760) the eommiesioasr6.l seven from esch
Proprietary--met at New Castle end entsrsd 4