Milford chronicle., 1921-10-28
RESIDENTS OF
NO MANS LAND
this FAMOUSE WEDCE-SHAPED PLOT
BETWEEN THREE STATES NOW The
BLUE HENS CHICKS.
BYRECENT ACT OF CONGRESS
The OFFICIAL STATUS OF TINY SECTION
FORMED BY JUNCTION OF l2-MILE
CIRCLE FIXED FOR ALL time.

ers living in No Mans Land, that lit
tie Wedge-shaped strip of land lying
between the three states, Delaware,
Maryland and Pennsylvania, has been
definitely and for all time settled by
the passage of an Act of Congress.
Henceforth, there will be no more
questions of payments of taxes, no
more election day disputes, and no
more setting the dog on assessors
from neighbOring states, but these
Ishmaclites, as it were, are now full
fledged Blue Hens Chickens.
The Act of Congress, which really
bears date of June 80 last, ratities
the new line which was laid down by
the PennsylVania-Delaw Commits
sion of 1889, and establishes a perma
nent boundary line. This line follows
the large stone markers set by that
Commission, starting at the northeast
corner of Maryland and extending
due east 4169 feet. 1t then curves
northeastward joining the former cir
cular boundary at the southern cor
ner of Kennett and Pennsbury town.
ships, Pennsylvania. This gives to
Delaware the wedge-like strip shown
on the present maps as extending
down between Delaware and Mary
land, and it gives to Pennsylvania a
narrow, curving strip extending
thence to a point at this southern cor
ner of Kennett and Pennsbury. 1t is
in shape somewhat like lunette.
Circular Boundary Unique
A circular boundary line is extreme
ly rare; indeed this is the only one
in existence so far as is known. 1t
owes it's origin to the fact that the
Duke of York afterwards James ID,
who was then proprietor of the pres
ent Delaware, wished to keep at dis
tance from his capital of New Castle
the occupants of the new province
about being granted to William Penn
by Charles IL.
In the charter to Penn, it was pro-
vided, at the request Of the Duke, that
the southern line of Pennsylvania
should be a circle with 12-mile ra-
dius from New Castle, thus giving the
Duke, so to speak, elbow room for II
miles on all sides of his capital. In
accordance with this provision, the
line was run in 1901 by Isaac Taylor,
surveyor for Chester county, and
Thomas Pierson for New Castle. The
survey being made with the cruder
instruments and methods then in use,
it was naturally far from accurate,
and as the line was marked only by
slashings on the trees, its exact loca-
ton came in time to be matter of
uncertainty.
In 1852, Penn acquired from the
Duke of York the three lower coun-
ties on the Delaware, as Delaware
was then called, and so long as the
territories on both sides of the circle
belonged to a single proprietor the
line was not of great importance, be-
ing then only an inter-county bound
airy. But when later a separate leg
islature was granted to the three low
er counties, it became of greater i'm
portance, and still more so when Del
aware, at the time of the Revolution,
became a separate State entirely.
AS all evidence of the boundary be-
came obliterated, the line became a
mere traditional one. There was moth
ing whatever to indicate to traveller
when he had left one state and en-
tered the other. The supervisors OF
the respective townships simply re-
paired the roads up to a certain ira
ditional point, as handed down to them
nv their predecessors in office. And
the same with assessments, payment
of taxes, attendance at schools, Yot-
ing, etc.
Strange Oversight
What seems the strangest thing is
that this uncertain and anomalous
state of things should have lasted so
long. as between two important states.
Finally, in 1889, the two states pass
ed acts, creating a joint commission
to examine, survey and re-establ1sh
the line" This commission was COM
posed of such able men as Wayne
MacVeagh, Senator Bayard, Robert E.
Monaghan and others, and experts
from the United States Geological
survey did the actual work in the
field in 1892 and 1898.
This commission found, on making
their surveys, that only three points
could at that late date be identified
with those on the line of the original
eurvev-the site of Nathaniel Lamp
lugh's house on the Delaware, the
great bend in the Brandywine and the
stump of the old hickory tree at the
southern corner of Kennett and
Pennsbury townships.
The commission also found that
correct 12-mile measurement fell oV-
or 5000 feet short of the traditional
line, and would cut off from Delaware
nearly 5000 acres of land. 1t was also
found that curve line passing
through the three identified points |
would, when prolonged westward, en-
croach a considerable distance into |
pennsylvania, and even into Mary
land.
The "COmprOmise"
It was therefore impracticable to
"reestablish" the original line pre-
cisely. The best policy seemed to be
to disturb as little as possible the cit
izenship of the present landowners.
The Commission therefore adopted
compromise line, made up of the arcs
of two circles, one running through
these three identified points, and the
other (the western part) with short
err radius, starting at the southern
corner of Kennett and Pennsbury |
townships and ending at point 4169
feet due east of the northeast corner
of Maryland.
This new line gives Delaware, on
the one hand, the wedge-shaped ter
ritory, and gives Pennsylvania, on the
-1.a NDI ILL