The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-09
FAMOUS BOUNDARY.
Mason and Dixon's Line Remarked
with Original stones.

New York Post.
Mason and Dixon's line has just been
surveyed for the first time since the scient-
lists whose names ii commentaries traced
ii, 40 years ago. The work now completed
was done under the direction of a joint
commission representing Pennsylvania and
Maryland. This line, which became historic
az the division between the slave States and
the free States, was originally marked by
stones or other designa tons placed one mile
apart. But in the course of time many OF
the markers disappeared. and disputes as to
the local boundaries arose. Pennsylvania
and Maryland each appropriated 5000 for a
new survey of the line, and work was be-
gun in April, 1901 w. G. HOdgkins, of the
United States coast and geodetic survey.
being in charge of the corps of engineers.
AS was the case with most of the land
grants made by the British crown in the
seventeenth century. William Penn and Lord
Baltimore found that their respective prov
inces of Pennsylvania and Maryland appar-
emily oyerlapped each other, For nIty years
mucn lawiessness prevailed along the DOT,
der because of the boundary disputes, ano
| the settlers did not know TO whom they
| owed allegiance. Finally in 116O, the pro-
! prietaries of the two provinces employed
| Charles Mason and jeremiah Dixon, TWO
celebrated astronomers of London. TO TX
1853 In June. 1866, when the party had
! reached the top of the Little Allegheny
| mountains, 160 miles from the starting point,
| the Indians assumed threatening attitude.
Although the surveyors seemed 10 pc
| peaceable, the red men could not under
| stand why the paleface should cut this
road through the forest, or why. some OF
| them spent much of the night in gazing
! at the stars through brass cylinders. FINALLY
| the Indians forbade further progress. Then,
at a cost of $500, a council of the Six Ma
4 in 81
| 1867, and permission was secured 10 con-
| tinue the work. The council sent party
| of braves to act as escort to Mason and
Dixon. and the survey was resumed; but in
| September, when the Monongahela was
| reached the Indians grew restless, and Ma
son and Dixon We're Obliged 10 aoanSo in
| goal In 1913 other engineers completed thar
| Part of the line between Pennsylvania and
what was then Virginia, but is now West
| Virginia,
Mason and Dixon were both elected mem
| bers of the American Philosophical Society
They returned to England, and later Were
| sent to Cape of Good Hope to observe the
| transit of Venus. Dixon died in England
| in Ill., but Mason came to Philadelphia,
| where he died in 1877.
line that extends as far as the western
limits of Maryland, which has just been
surveyed. Some of the original boundary
| stones were found to be still in place. They
| had been chiseled in England from lime
| stone, and weighed 800 pounds each, being
four and one-half feet high and one fooi
| square. On side is the letter Up" ano
| on the other the letter M. Every fifth
| stone bore the coat-of-arms or the two
| proprietaries.
the stones that were missing, and succeed
ed in recovering a large number Some
were doing duty as doorsteps' some were
in bakeovens, one served as curbstone IL
Clearspring, Nd, and two had been usec
in building a church along the nationa
pike. The old markers, in many instances
s,,co nnr xraH hx
soldiers of the Federal and Confederat,
armies during the campaigns of the civi
war Every one of these stones that coulC
be secured was placed in position on thu
boundary line. If broken the pieces wer
clamped together. The stones were set il
| bed of concrete to guard against futur
removal.
In a few localities a half dozen or NOR
of these stones We're found in proximity
This leads to the belief that possibly the,
were not put to actual use as boundar.
markers. 1t is known that the full humble
of stones required by Mason and Dixol
was imported, but in conveying them west
ward through the forests many Difficult
ties were encountered, it is supposed tina
portion of the consignment was aban
doned along the road; and in the course o
years settlers found these stones useful 70
| a variety of purposes other than that TO
which they were intended. This theory 1
substantiated by the fact that the western
part of Mason and Dixons line was foun'
TO be marked principally by mounds O
, wooden posts. few stones being discovered
| Sufficient of the original stones were re
| covered to mark the line, with the excep
ton of about seventy-five miles. Wher
) none of the old markers was available ne,
| marble monuments were erected.
During the survey many interestin
stories came to light in connection wit
Mason and Dixons line. In Hartford coun
ty Maryland, where one of the stones wa
found to be broken, 1T is generally believe
by the people that the stone was suddenl
, severed on the day When South Carolin
seeded from the Union.