The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-11-24
THE TIMEs-RICHMOND. VA SUNDAY. NOVEMBER "a 1895

Delaware portion of this grant, the POS
! session OF which was secured from the
! Dutch and Swedes by the force OF arms.
had already been cut on of virginia oy
the grant to Lord Baltimore Inc Duke
Of York afterward conveyed all MS IN
terest in what Is now the State OF Del
aware to William Penn. which Is here
after refer Grant e; TO PENN.
| 3. March 4, 1851. Penn's charter was
granted by Charles IL. notwithstanding
the "Reminiscences from the repressst a Z
| tiyeS of the Duke OF York ana LOIu DAY
! timore; IL granted:
| al that tract or part OF lard In Amer
| lea with the islands therein contained, as
the same is bounded on the east py vne
| Delaware river from twelve miles distance
northward Of New Castle town unto tne
| three and fortieth degree OF northern lat
| itude, IL the said river doth extend so TAR
| northward then by said river, SO far as II
| doth extend. and from the head of the
said river the eastern bounds are to be
| determined by d meridian line, to De
| drawn from the head OF said river unto
| the said sd degree. The said lard 10 ex-
| tend westward five degrees in Longitude.
| TO be computed from said eastern bounds,
| and the said LANDS TO be bounded on the
| north by the beginning OF the three ana
| fCrtieth degree of north latitude, and on
| the south by a circle drawn twelve miles
| distance from New Castle, northwari ana
| westward. unto the beginning i0f the
|
/ then by straight line westward to the
| limits Of longitude above mentioned.
I Poore's Charters etc)
This grant was given to Penn, In salts
| faction OF a claim of tl6.oD which was due
| his fathers estate by the British Gov ern-
| ment. on receiving IL he intended TO call
| II New Wales, but the Under-Secretary
OF State. a Welshman. objected he then
suggested Sylyania, to which the Mig
| added Penn. (Peyton's Augusta, p. lsl)
| This grant, did not In itself deprive Vir-
ginia Of any of its territory, but the dis-
| pute which arose out OF II, however, pc
| tween Penn and Lord Baltimore. and the
| settlement thereof (Which IS hereafter
| treated. to the detriment OF the latter,
| by the running OF the Mason and DIXON
| Line, enabled Penn to assert successfui-
| lv the same claim that his bounds be-
| gan just after the yth deg, y: L., was
| Complete. etc" against Virginia, as he
| did against Lord Baltimore;
| and Virginia as TO their bounds, |'rginld
| asserting its rights to as far north as
| Fort Pitt. and on May Z, lIIf, Pennsylva-
who visited Governor Dunmore, OF VIZ,
| ginia. May ~, INA, at Williamsburg, ana
| Submitted practically the following prop
Csition. on May -. ln4; ~, u,.,,,
That the Mason and Dixon Line snould
| be extended degrees west from the Del
| aware and then a line north TO the ONO,
which west line was TO be parallel 10 the
| Delaware.
This would make the western boundary
OF PENNSYLVANIA similar to its eastern one,
and was to mold good until 1t was ssttlSu
by Royal authority tChal man EslIS
Va Claims IN Pa, Magazine OF western
History, February, lsS0, p. lo', ana au-
thOrities cited). -,
Governor Dunmore refused to concede
this line but suggested practically the
present line. but the commissioners ana
the Governor failed TO agree.
THE DISPUTE SETTLED:
The dispute remained unsettled until
hon h.1
Virginia proposed line as follows:
"Extend a line northward from the
western extremity OF the Nirglnia-hary
land Tor Mason and Dixon Inc 10 t.e
10Th parallel of n. L., then due west TO
the curved line suggested by rem
Commissioners to Governor Dunmore on
Nav %, INA" which was not accepted py
the Commissioners OF Pennsylvania. Inc
disuute became serious, and commission
ers were again appointed on Dehalt. OF
Pennsylvania, who met similar coim'n,.35
sloners Oh behalf OF Virginia at Balti-
more on August 81, lu3, ana AFTER q
thorough discussion Of the subject agreed
",ro extend Mason and Dixon's Line
due west five degrees or Longitude, 10 pe
computed from the river Delaware, from
the southern boundary OF PennsylNahia,
and that meridian drawn from me
western extremity thereof TO the nortn1,
ern limit Of said State, etc. (ColoiVai
Records Vol. MI, p. 2l5.) VA.
This agreement was confirmed by VIZ
ginia June g. 1880, and by Pennsylvania'
September q lls0 Penna; AscniV cas,, , nH.
sion was appointed by both states, VINO
ran the line according 10 the agreement
tsee Code Va. 1873, p. ~, etc, ana duthVI-
tiles cted) the line being marked py
cutting trees and placing stones at GER
tain points-the stones being Marked Oh
one side with "A "P' and the Other "
(Report OF Commissioners August -,
l7S5[Code va. 1919 Vol |, p. 80; see act OF
t.ar agreements
between Penn and Va. OF August 81,
1779 and August q, lIs5; +. }. Chapinan
Early Va. claims in Penna, Nag ,s CO..
Amer. History, Feb. 1885, p. l55 10 100,
The settlement OF this dispute on this
basis deprived Virginia or an that teIil
tory now in the state OF tennSly NV ai,r Of
Maryland extended. between the iotn ces'
n /, and the Mason and Dixon Line.
MASON AND DIXON LINE. -.
The conveyance by the DUKE OF ionSS
10 Penn OF the Delaware Peninsula. ana
the disputes that arose out OF II ana tie
settlement or the bounds OF their re-
spective grants IS too Intricate a SUI so,.
iect TO be here treated az length' anu ~.
the purpose OF this article 1t Is suihcieht
(a1 That the Duke Of York convened
to William Penn the Delaware Penlnssen.lsa
by two deeds, both dated august y e, ITO TO-
convey these lands was disputed by Lord
&C., After numerous attempts TO settle
tho disputes Penn filed a bill IN chanctfS
i'm Great Britain I'm 1877. ana II was o..
cided i'm his favor by Lord Hardwicke III
l7O. s,s.,,,o, arose
u.bon I'm 1850 the representatives or the
narties In interest selected Mason ana
nixon to run a boundary line. wnlch
limo was finally run to the western nm
It's Of MARYLAND. and subsequently ,eN-
tended and adopted as a boundary line
between Pennsylvania and Virginia, as
previously stated. ,.. ~
Fror "A fun account Of the dispute Pc
tween Penn and Lord Baltimore. the
r,nnino Of the Mason and Dixon line
between Pennsylvania and MARYLAND an"
VIRGINIA. reports Of commissioners, .tc''
see pevton's History Of Augusta % VA
>, ~ 10 f2e and authorities cited: also,
-ee "Walter p Schaife on Boundary DIS
mute between Nd and Pa. M ftiida.
Magazine No g. Vol TX, october, le>'' |
and authorities cited.') ,.-....oo,,
9Th Under the Treaty OF Peace net"'th
Great Britain and France called me |
Treaty 81 Paris dated February 10 IS, |
q line drawn along the middle or tne
river Mississippi became virginia Wet
ar, boundarv. fre claUsc describing the
boundary being as follows; If,
"Tn order 10 re-estsblish neace on soiu
and durable foundations, and 70 remove
forever all subjects Of dispute with regard
lo the limits Of the British ana trrIch
territories on The continent OF FInell.a a.
I. a. agreed that for the future the con-
5res between Tho dowin'0ns Of Wis hrlt-
.anic Majesty and those Of His Most
-bris,ian Majesty I'm that part or the
,-o,id sball he fved irrevocablv by
a. drawn aIrng the middle Of the river