The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-04-24
EARLY COUNTY HISTORY.
Mason and Dixon's Line Established and
the boundary Fixed Between Penn
sylyania aai Maryland.

the Boundary Fixed Between Penn
sylyania aad Maryland.
Mason and DiNon's line established and
| fixed the boundary between the provin-
ces Of Pennsylvania and Maryland about
which there had been a long dispute be
tween the two provinces The country
was claimed by England. 1t would seem
TO have been considered as a royal per-
| quisite pertaining 10 the British crown,
| the wearer of which might dispose of it
at pleasure.
Two hundred and seyenty-five years
| ago American geography was very inn
perfectly known in England. it being
confined u the great headlands, bays and
| rivers, the true position of which were
very indefinitely known.
Them too, these Kings caring little
about their American possessions, assum-
ing that they knew all about il and, per-
haps, acting on the theory 'that the King
can do no wrong,r were sometimes care
less in describing the metes and bounds
of their grants with the result that there
one of them. The province of Mary land
was granted 20 Lord Baltimore in I652 10y
| Charles (he who later on in some dis
| pute with his subjects al home lost his
| head This was an older grant than that
OF the province of Pennsylvania made
| by Charles II. to William Penn in I6si.
The grant of Lord Baltimore reads:
4 ha =.
north latitude unto that part of Delaware
bay which lieth under the fortieth degree
of north latitude. and all that tract of
land from the aforesaid bay of Delaware
in right line by the degree aforesaid to
the true meridian of the first fountain Of
the river Potomac"
The fortieth degree of north latitude is
really north OF Philadelphia, aud it is al
50 twenty miles, or very nearly 80, north
of the line - Mason and Dixon located
it.
The grant 10 Penn fixed the southern
boundary at point on the Delaware riv-
e:, twelve miles north of Newcastle town
by a circular line uniil unto the begin
ming OF the fortieth degree Of north Iati-
| iuIe''
The Maryland grant, which IL the old
est, is explicit in saying ii should extend
to the fortieth degree north starting on
the thirty-eighth north, and, excepting
tAe one point that Il might haze been
nude under q misrepresentation as 10
where the fortieth degree north was locs-
tel, the equities of the ease would seem
to have been in favor Of Maryland. The
later grant TO Penn fixing the town of
New Castle As the starting point, At once
raised dispute to q strip of territory
about twenty miles wide and extending
over I've degrees Of longitude II tie
claims OF the pcoprietory government OF
Maryland had prevailed, the line between
| the two states would have been twenty
miles further north than it j.. This strip.
| extending the entire length of the state,
would have included the city of Phila-
delPhia and part of every county bor-
dering on the Maryland line would ROW
be part of The state Of Maryland.
With regard TO Somerst county, It's ei-
fe-t would be this: According 20 our bcS.
maps on line drawn from the Maryland
would terminate aboat one mile north Of
| Somerset and more than oEc-half its AREA
would have fallen in this disputed strip
and would therefore have baen a par. Of
Maryland.
1t is claimed that in making these
tain John Smith was used, and that in
this map the forlieih degree j. laid as
| crossing the Delaware river shor. dist
ance below New Castle town, whereas il
crosses at a point much farther north and
cinnct possibly be reached i'm the man
ner called for in the Penn grant. The
controversy between Penn aud the Lords
Baltimore was long aad bitter, but in l752
the parties reached compromise a
TO where the line should be locate I, ANA
under this agreement a temporary line
was run in 1879 between the two provin-
ces as far a. the western boundary of
Franklin county. The matter then rest
ing until 1853, when a new agreement
was made and four Surveyors chosen to
do the work-John LGkens and Archi-
bald Mclean representing Pennsylvania.
They began the work, bat they cncoInt-
| cred so many difficulties and their prog
ress was 80 slow that the proprietories i'm
London became impatient and in August
of 1863 employed Charles Mason an d Jer-
emiah Dixon, astronomers and survey
| ors, 10 complete the work. They spent
nearly two years in preliminary work,
but by the end OF l765 they had reached
the terminus of the line of I7j9. In the
| spring of l7tG they again began work and
by the 4ih of June they had reached the
top of the little Allegheny moIRtain-
this is at the eastern boundary of Soner-
| set county-at this point the survey
stopped, the party being fearful of the
Indians, who had become threatening.
These Indians were ID Dslawares and
shawnees. No further progress was
made until in Jane i7dl. The Indians of
the Six Nations really claimed title in this
region. and party of their warriors
then acted as an escort II the surveyors
and held the Dclawares and Siawnees in
oh eek.
Tho point where Braidocks Road en-
ters Pennsylvania FROM Maryland into
Somerset county was reached on the 2lth
of August Of that year. This must bo
about three miles east Of Petersburg.
The point where the present National
road crosses the line is now marked by an
iron post. The writer does not know how
near the old BrIldock road IS to the Ma
tlonal road AT this point. Cannot some Of
oar Addison friends, who are familiar
with the ground, tell us how near it is to
where this iron post is sc; aud on which
side.
At this point the IroloIis escort left
che surveying party bat they proceeded
with their work for some time. The date
at which they crossed the river at the
great crossing which marks the western
boundary of the county is not known To
us, but by October they had reached Il