Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-04
Review Of the Dispute Between Mary.
land and Pennsylvania.
CLAIMS OF THE TWO STATES
Several Surveyors Had Given Up the
Work When Mason and Dixon
Were Engaged-The Task.


Dixon line. DR.. Mathews went into an
elaborate explanation Of the conflicting
claims Of different nations to territory in
the North American continent and brought
out in clear relief the controversy between
William Penn and Lord Baltimore over
grants resulting in the order Of the King
Maryland to the fortieth degree, with Cape
Henlopen as base. The lecturer contin-
ued:
The gentlemanly old colonist, Lord Bal
timore, unfamiliar with the political in
trigues and out of touch Nth the religious
views of the court, attempted now and then
to have this order, reversed without sue
cess before his death In TIA.
During the same year William Penn be-
came harassed by financial difficulties, and
was compelled to mortgage his interests in
Pennsylvania, and the later years of his
lifetime was marked by a decadence of
mental strength prior to his death in 171S.
The subsequent contests over his Will ana
the rapid changes in the proprietorship of
Maryland all conspired to prevent the &C
tual settlement Of the boundary for many
years.
In 1924 agreement was reached by
Hannah Penn and Lord Baltimore to settle
the boundary, but this was not carried out
on account Of the early death of Mrs Penn.
In 1852 an agreement was reached,
signed by Charles, fifth Lord Baltimore, In
which all of the claims Of the Penns were
conceded. According to this agreement the
boundary line of Maryland was to be as it
now is, and commissioners were to be ap-
pointed within two months to run and
mark the boundary. which had to be fin
ished by December in the same year.
Under this agreement commissioners
were appointed, who met at New Castle, but
they were unable to come to satisfactory
common ground either there or at their
,1cn ,av,t Of md ocyntY q
New Castle. There were mutual recrimina-
lions that the Pennsylvanians were trying
to farce more than their rights, and that
the Marylanders were not ready to go Tor
ward in the fulfllment of their principal
agreement.
Lord Baltimore Yielded.
Lord Baltimore seems to have recog-
nized his serious error in signing the agree
ment of 1882. and brought the question of
his rights before the privy council in an
attempt to gain a confirmation Of the char
ter rights which would have nullifed this
agreement The privy council in turn rec
commended that the controversy be settled
in the courts, and accordingly the Penns,
in 1875. filed bill in chancery against
Lord Baltimore praying for decree of
specific performance Of the agreement of
1872. This case dragged through the courts
until 1850, when Lord Chancellor Hard
wicke decreed that the agreement must be
carried out.
while the proprietors were attempting
to settle their contest by wordy discus
sions and tedious cases in court in Europe,
their adherents in America were using the
forceful wea pons of the frontiersman to
determine the limits of their respective
Jurisdiction.
Border conflicts became so serious that
in 1877 the king in council ordered the
to grant no lands in the disputed territory
and to establish a temporary line during
the tendency Of the chancery .uit. The
running of the temporary line was COM
menced late in 1873 and finished in the fol-
lowin5 year. This line, which has been
known temporary line, extended 81
miles westward from Philadelphia and
consists of several parts
Surveyors Abandon Work.
1.-THE decision in the chancery case in
1850 occasioned renewed surveying activ-
ity in America. The problems presented
were exceedingly difficult, but the survey
ors undertook the work with will. Be-
ginning at the Penwicke Islands, the point
supposed to be intended to represent Cape
Henlopen, which was enormously placed in
the old Dutch map used at the hearings OF
1855, the surveyors ran their line due west
across the peninsula of the eastern shore.
The question arose regarding the west
ern end of the line. and this was referred
to the lord chancellor.
"a year or two later through the activ-
ity of the Penns and the resistance of
Frederick, Lord Baltimore, the settlement
was again delayed until on the 4th of July,
17O0, voluntary agreement was reached
between the contending proprietors. In
accordance with this agreement, commits
sioners and surveyors took up the work of
running the boundaries in the fall of the
same year.
beginning at the middle point of the
trans-peninsula line, the surveyors ran due
north as far as the Nanticoke river. when
year. During 1851 meridian line was
pushed up the peninsula to Chrstiana and
an intersecting line was run to New Castle.
1.-THE angle between these two lines aided
the surveyors in determining the onset nee
essary to run line tangent to the New
Castle circle, as required by the decision
of 1850
1.-The spring and summer Of 1852 was
spent in running the tangent line approx
mately as 1t Is today.
ION September 8. after having extended
the line over eighty-one miles, the sur
veyors found that their line was not cor
rect. and they repaired. after receiving
further Instructions. to the middle point to
revise their line. BY the time twenty-five
miles had been run the deviation was SO
great that some OF the surveyors refused
to continue and the work was dropped UNI
til the succeeding year. On the last Of
March, 1853, the surveyors again attempted
to continue the line, but were obliged to
desist on account Of the hard conditions OF
the sWamDS
Mason and Dixon Employed.
"All of these delays were source OF ir-
ritation to the proprietors, and they de-
cided to employ Messrs. Charles Mason and
jeremiah Dixon, two well-known surveyors
and astronomers Of England. Messrs. Ma
son and Dixon arrived in Philadelphia in
the middle of November, 1853, and at once
took up the work of locating the southern
most point in Philadelphia and determining
accurately it's latitude. From this point
they proceeded west and south to determine
the northeast corner of Maryland; thence
they ran the well-known line westward IA
miles from the Delaware river.
by November 9, 176s. the entire line was
certified to be marked. and on the 26th Of
December following the surveyors were
honorably discharged, after having spent
trifie less than four years in locating and
marking the boundary line between the ter
ritories of the Penns and the Baltimores,
which. within a decade, were to be lost to
the proprietors who had spent so much
thought and energy in their attempts to
preserve or acquire small strip along their
borders"