Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-04-23
Correspondence of the HERALD
Re-Survey of Towns.

Mr.. EDITOR /: -A At the late election
the voters OF the town OF Liberty
voted on the question Of re-sur7ey
of the town. The proposal was de-
feated. | cannot believe however
that it is permancn y killed. The
necessities Of the case viii become
more and more apparent until at
some future election when there is
more discussion Of the subject and
more money in the pockets Of the
taxpayers-the majority will favor
the resurvey. Perhaps this is suit
able occasion to offer a few thoughts
on the question Let it be under
stood however that my remarks are
not addressed to the voters of Lib
erty only, for they apply equally to
every town in the state whose an
cient landmarks are in as neglected
condition as ours.
1t is now forty years since the sar-
veys Of this county were made.
During forty years many changes
take place in = new country Ike this.
The original corners have in great
many instances disappeared and in
the majority Of cases it is a triumph
Of skill and perseverance, to find and
identify them. Net moro than one
in ten OF the witness trees are stand
ing. Sometimes one or both stumps
may be foLna-often a mere frag-
ment of stump under ground is all
that remains, often We OILY find a
mere depression in the ground where
the stump has been burnt out and
must base our labors upon that. Bot
poor as are the remaining evidences,
they are rapidly vanishing before the
march of time aud Improvement.
They are slipping from our grasp and
will soon be irrecoverable except at
great expense of money and temper.
Every year adds to the difficulty.
Every year q number of old witness
trees are removed, either by natural
causes or by the carlessness of those
who should be their most jealous
guardians. Every year some field
is improved and the old tree or stump
that had stood as the solitary witness
Of some important corner for more
than generation is thoughtlessly
dug up and removed while there is
no trace of stake, stone or mound, 10
mark the corner. l said an impor-
tant corner, but what true landmark
is not important. Men are apt 70
regard the corners Of their own LAND
as private property that they may
keep and destroy at will. This is Il
great mistake. The corners are PUB.
lie property that affect the rights
and interests of many. \ section
corner is as much the property OF
one part Of the town as another, and
it is impossible to tell how soon indi-
viduais living more than a mile dis
tant or the town itself may be en-.
gagged in a dispute in regard to that
corner. A quarterpost standing at
the middle of o section line is neces-
sary to the survey of two sections,
and its removal short distance in
any direction will necessitate the re-
moval OF most of the lines and cor
ners in both sections. | know of
instances where the removal Of a
single rotten stump, would make 1T
necessary to resurvey The section
line in order to establish the quarter
post. This would place it consid-
cradle distance from is original pos
ition. This would Leave the former
surveys inside the two sections en-,
tirely faulty and useless. This change
would give most Of the fences, and
some of the buildings to new owners.
This would lead to various contend
ing surveys, much angry litigation
and bitter neighborhood quarrels.
Now the way to avoid all this is to
preserve our authentic corners. But
who is going to do it ? Certainly not
the owners Of the land for they are
VIGOROUSLY careless in this respect.
They continue to pillow, to build
over them, to drive over them, and
lose them by neglect regardless Of
the fact, that such corners have cost
great deal of money and are likely
to cost vastly more unless preserved
Now who are the proper guardi-
ans of these landmarks. The gener-
al Government gave them to US.
The State government gives them to
the town and enables the towns to
re-establish and perpetuate them.
The expense would be considera BILE,
yet true economy requires it to be
done and the sooner the cheaper
Most of these corners have been
hunted up by surveyors many times
over, at great expense to to individ-
uaIs, yet where are they now ?
Generally impossible to find except
with the compass and chain The
stakes have burnt or rotted down.
the brush has grown up over them,
the cattle or hogs or teams have
throw them down and they have
oSCh iCpioCSu W SuOo95 " HOS a.
all, and sometimes interested parties
have helped to ObliteI ate a corner
and misoad even the surveyor II
costs several dollars to get a survey
or to hunt up q quarterpost in dis
tant part of the country. In a few
years another surveyor goes over the
same work with increased difficulties,
and so on, time after time.
Now instead of each one making
expensive private surveys, Why not
all join together and do the survey I
ing for all and for your descendants
in a thorough and durable manner ,
and at comparatively little cost.
Let the corners be marked with suit :
able rocks properly marked and nc =
led with reference to witness trees