The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1876-02-02
An cid L.auduarker.

Somsrset County 10 Be Ee1 rsprose,'.ta
at TIE CsHtszEia,-Mdsoa dng 49,;
Line-A Leaf from HistoTy-ine men
cnI compass used in the orgunai sui,ey
of HE southern boundary oil iehnsyiSa-
MA. According TO the grant hiAee 70 vi
liam Penn. Is nog in the Posoh u ~
William Collins. OF Somerset
Nas-l, he entirc southern boundary OF
80 So = he farnols Mason and Dix
60 Tne description os which may be
;,tor.e,i,~ 10 many of our readers Ii IS
,I,o rsrsIlsl OF latitude 80 deg. - min 26.3
CO North. which separates Pennsylvania
EN- MARYLAND. drawn under the superln-
,a,Seuce of Charles Mason and Jeremiah
Dixon. two distinguished English. mafhe-
maficians and astronomers. As tie north
ern limit with the exception Of small pOr-
tons Of Delaware and Virginia. OF the
original slave States. il was prominently
mentioned in the eontroyersies concerning
slavery. Il begins n the northeast corner
of MARYLAND. and runs due West. Inc
wears from 1881 10 1868 were marked Win
constant discussion and conflict beiWeen
the rival proprietaries OF Penass wanna
and MARYLAND and their psrtisans on me
suhieet of their e0mmoa boundary, and
the vicinity of this line was The theatre OF
riot invasion. and bloodslIed. Mason and
! Dixon arrived in Philadelphia on Noyem-
her u. 1868. and commenced their WORK
in December. which was continued 10 4
a point IA miles from the Delaware river.
and within &c mics Of the whole distahce
10 be run, where they were eoinpelled o
SUSPEND operations IN consequence Oh op,
position by the Indians. They returned
10 philadelphia, and were discharged on
: December &c. 1861. ~ the end OF every
fnh mile 4 stone was planted, craven Win
The arms OF the Penn family on one side
and of Lord Baltimore OF the oIhei The
intermediate miles were marked VITA
smaller stones having . J. on on side and
an VI Ga the other. The rlllcs were All
sent from England.
The corps Of surveyors OF tie original
boundary line before the selection q Jere-
miah Dixon and Charles Mason consisted
LOT the following persons Archibald, Alex
ander. Moses. asd Samuel Mclean, broth
ers. John Lukens. jonathan Hall, Thom-
as Garnet. John Z. 4. Priggs. and Archi-
bald Emory. Moses Mclean died daring
the survey, on the Allegheny Mountains,
and was buried near the iiGe. and no man
knows lis sepulchre TO this day.
IN November. 1872. the remaining 5o
miles OF the line were rnl by Col. Alexsn-
der Mclean, of Pennsylvania l6f The for
mer corps, assisted by Joseph Neville, OF
/ Virginia. This part 81 the line was test
ed 10y Astronomical observations, aud per-
msaently marked in 1884.
Both surveys were revised and found
correct in all important points in 1919.
The names Of RitieahOGse & Potts are
craven on the compass. The senior men,
Der of this firm Was one Of the most re-
markabie men good old state has pro
duced. Il short Biography Of this disiln-
/ guished individual is annexed.
David Rittenh0use, 4 noted matbeUa,i-
clan. WAS born at Germantown, Pa, near
which his grandfather had established the
first paper-miil in America AprilS, 1872.
During his youth lie came into possession
Of the tools and mathematical books OF a
deceased uncle, made clocks without IN
stfuction, and followed the occupation OF
Of ~clcekElakiDg. He was commissioned
By the proprietary government in 1863 to.
determine the initial portion Of the boun-
diary line since known AS Mason aai Dix
on S; and although his instruments were
all Of his own construction, the official
ia z nAgANA'A 10 ANA-A LA+-AAAEEs =
was subsequently employed in determin
ing the boundaries between New York.
New Jersey. PENNSYLVANIA, and other
States He calculated the transit Of Venus
June ,. L69. and December 5. I114, and
made ! successful observation Of the for
mer from his observatory at Norriion. In
1110 he removed 10 Philadelphia, and in
1915 vas elected 10 the provincial lsgisla-
ture. He was = member cfthe convention
called 10 form q State constitution, State
treasurer from 1916 10 1889, and director
OF the United States mint from 1892 to
10 1875. Ia 1891 he succeeded Franklin
Is president OF the American Philosophical
Society, 10 whose Transactions he had
Contributed many important papers. and
in 1875 be was chosen a fellow OF the Roy
al Society. Of london. He died June 20,
1896.
The compass vas made b. Mr.. Riiten-
house and sold to the Mclean brothers
who 1t viii be seen above were members
of the original corps of survey of Mason
and DixOa's line1 and was used by Ar
chibald Mclean, the practical engineer
who conducted the survey. AZ his death
the instrument fell into the hands of his
brother Alexander. Fer many years he
employed the compass IN Surveying lands
in Fayette, Westmoreland, and Washing
ton counties. He also often assisted John
Wells, Esq, in running boundaries in this
county. When Col. Mclean became too
old To use the instrument, he disposed of
il 10 Bernard Connolly, jr., then living in
Turheyfoot township. Mr.. Connolly sold
it some years after TO his son in law, Henry
L. Hol6rook, ESD, decd. From him the
present prophet r procured it.
All the facts stated herein are susceptible
of abundant proof. II challenged, the
evidence viii be forthcoming.
The compass is in a good state of pres
erYation, in perfect working order, but OF
course shows some marks OF use and age.
In this connection it would be well
enough to state that the wife of DR.. Col
lins is a great grand daughter ofCOl. Alex
ander Mclean. and that the Doctor has
been at no little labor and expense in Sc
curing this valuable relic Of Pennsylvania :
The compass will be placed on exhibit
ton at the Centennial in Philadelphia,
where, we have no doubt. it will excite
much interest not only on account Of lis
historic importance, but because il is the
cunning habdiwogk Of one of her illustri
Gus .