Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-12-04

George +. Ross. search clerk in
the Department of Internal Affairs,
was requested by b. M. Mead, presl-
dent of the Dauphin County His
torical Society, to prepare the fol-
lowing paper on the Land Records
of Pennsylvania" which was read
at recent meeting of the society:
"But comparatively few people
in this state are familiar with the
fact that, filed away in the Depart
ment of Internal Affairs at the Capt.
tol, are so many priceless and in
teresting records pertaining to the
land grants from the time of VIII
liam Penn down to the present day.
As a matter of fact the legal fra
ternity, surveyors, historians ana
professional genealogists are largely
those who find these records so es-
sential in their lines of work and re-
search, while the general public
knows little about them, or even or
their existence. They are in a large
room especially designed for them'
which is of fire proof construction.
State Land Given to Penn
AT the outstart 1 beg to assure
you that it is not my purpose TO
weary you with a mass of dry de-
tails concerning these records, but
rather, in a general way, to refer
10 some of the more interesting ones
with the hope that this article may
be worth while and not overtaX your
forbearance. With this end in view,
first of all let me say that the Royal
Chapter of 1851, as is generally
known, vested in William Penn and
his heirs the absolute ownership OF
the soil of Pennsylvania, and to thelr
credit it must be said that any land
acquired by them from the Indians
was by purchase and not by force.
The State of Pennsylvania, by
an act passed November "a, l1I9,
commonly known as the 'DiVestlnS
Act, vested the Penn proprietary
interests in this Commonwealth,
paying the family $65O,OOO for them
and allowing them TO retain their
manors, forty-four in moer, worth
probably as muh more, also their
private estates. In the case OF the
Penn estates this act was n gener-
Gus one. John and Richard Penn
had remained here during the Revo-
lutionary War and their sympath-
les were known to be with the moth
er country. They well knew that
plenty of precedents existed to war
rant the contiscation of all their
proprietary rights and estates,
hence they gladly accepted this ten
der by the Legislature, which had
passed numerous acts forfeitlng the
estates of those whom it called tor
les and traitors. 1t is proper to
say that the titles to lands from the
Penns prior to the taking over Of
A.. lRT
monwealth, were confirmed.
Garden Spot of State
Incidentally let me say that in
the selection of their manors the
Penns appear to have had n vision
of the possibilities of the land en-
braced within their boundaries, for.
generally speaking, it is the most
fertile within the confines of the
Commonwealth. To bear out this
statement. it is only necessary to
mention their manor of Lowther,
containing 1851 acres, which was
situated between the Conodoguinet
creek on the north, and the yellow
Breeches creek on the south, and
extended for a considerable distance
up the Cumberland Valley. This
land, in our day, is frequently re-
ferred to as The garden spot of
Pennsylvania
The surveys of these manors
clearly demonstrate that those who
made them were skilful in their pro-
fession and l pay tribute to the
deputy surveyors who, in the early
history of this Commonwealth, sur
veyed it's lands. Their letters to
the surveyor general, among the
archives, graphically describe the
hardships they endured and the
dangers encountered by them, not
only from the wild amin ais that
infested the forests, but from the
Indians as we'll. 1t goes without
saying that they were courageous
and sturdy characters.
Il cannot, however, say as much
for the photography of some OF
them, for in several instances that
| have come under my observation
their spelling was notoriously bad
| To illustrate, there is a survey OF
I175j to which this assertion is espe-
cially applicable, and some one, pre-
sumably an attache of the surveyor
generals office at the time, with a
sense of humor, wrote on the face
of it the following:
My dear Billy Brown, oh hone
1