The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-24
TIE LINE OF MASON AND DIXON
An Ola boundary Nearly Century
and n HnIf Ago.

tETpin the hansls lily St4i-l
Delaware. Maryland. and Pennsylvania
have each appropriated money for a re-
survey of Mason and Dixon's line and for
the restoration of the ancient landmarks.
many Of which have been removed The
old line Was run $40 years ago TO mark the
boundary between Pennsylvania and Deia-
ware. Maryland. and Virginia 1t was rot,
as has often been supposed the parallel
OF 96's degrees fixed by the Missouri Com
premise as the northern limit for me ex-
tentioa OF slavery into the territories.
Furthermore, Mason and Dixon's line had
nothing 10 DO with the name of Dixie.
When Gen. Albert Pike wrote
eouthrans. hear your country call you,
Up lest worse than death befall YOU
To arms. To aruis To arms in Dixie.
he was not referring to the small strip Of
country bounded On the north by the ia
nous lire. Charles Mason and jeremiah
Dixon, who made the survey, were English
civil engineers, who had no suspicion of
the Significance that later generations
would attach TO their work.
The original grants to William Penn and
Lord Baltimore fixed the boundary between
their colonies at the fortieth parallel.
This line was later found to pass north Of
Philadelphia Negotiations followed for
thirty years and then commission began
a. new survey. Its progress was so SLOW
that the proprietors of the colonies hired
the two English engineers 20 complete the
work. They arrived in Philadelphia in
November, 1894. and began operations the
following spring. Through the forests they
cut vista" eight feet wide, and at the
END sGfgevery mile they set up stone
Every fifth milepost in this long pro-
icession through the wilderness was larger
than the ether four and bore on the north
lace the arms OF Thomas and Richard Penn
and on the south the shield of Frederick
Lord Baltimore. The intermediate stones
were engraved with ''P'' on the north and
an NJ, on the south face. One of the
large monuments is preserved in Balti-
more by the Maryland Historical Society,
and some Of them stand in their accustom-
ed places.
The removal OF many OF these marks has
left the boundary line in doubt in places.
and the new survey is to remedy this rs
well as 10 psrpetuate the historic line BY
the summer of 1857 Mason and Dixon had
reached a point 24I miles west Of the Del
aware and were within thirty-six miles OF
their projected terminus when Indians
stopped their operations. So accurate was
their work that when the United States
had the line resuryeyed fifty years ago
Maryland gained less than two acres.
AS the southern boundary of Pennsyl-
vania marked the northern limit Of slay-
cry in the East, all the Southern and
slave-hoIding States came to be generally
referred TO as south of Mason and Dixon's
line At the same time the South WAS
gradually becoming known as Dixie. The
name was popula-izei by the familiar min
strel song:
Den wish was in Dixie. hoo-ray. hoo-rayi
in Dixie land. wen took stand,
To lib and die for Dixie.
Away. away, away down south IL Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie.
But, while the words are much alike
there IS no connection between Dixon
and Dixie The latter name came FROM
the SO notes of the famous Citizens Bank
OF New Orleans. on which the denomina-
tier was printed in French, as dix (ten).
These notes were widely circulated as
''dixies." and so the South became known
along the whole Mississippi and Ohio riy-
eTs, as Dixie land"