Evening journal., 1922-06-14
CHANGES IN
!. DEL.-PENNA.
fNr
J. BOUNDARY


The general public.
Even should the two Legislatures
decide to appoint a new Commis-
sion. however, would 1t be able to
run the boundary in accordance
with the "old line" as demanded
hy these few protesting land-own-
ers? Mr.. VIM. A. KINNEY. your
local surveyor, says he thinks IT
possible, but the Commission of 1897
and Capt. Hodgkins, of the U. ).
Coast and Geodetic Survey, who ran
The new line, say otherwise. am
not surveyor. but l should like TO
Know what higher authority can be
found in the country on this sub
ject than the L. S. Coast Survey I,
and whatever they say would nat
uraiiy be accepted as authority. And |
so too, with the judgment of men
nof such conspicuous ability as the
late Senator Bayard. EX-Attorney-
General Wayne MacVeagh and the
others of that Commission. DID
they have any bias, as between the
two States or their respective land
owners? They were named
equally from the two States and
tneir very names bear the seal
OF truthworthiness and impartiality.
Where Trouble Lies.
where does the whole trouble
lie? Merely in the fact that the line
had never been run since 1901, was
then run with primitive instruments
aand was not marked with stones or
any kind of permanent markers
Whatever, but simply by slashes on
the trees. The western end Of the
line. where all the trouble now is,
was then wild forest land, unsettled,
and in a very few years no earthly
man could tell where that part of the
the ran As the land at this western
end came gradually TO be taken up
the settlers had no way of knowing
which side Of the line they were on,
and when Mason and Dixon came
aleng. in 1854. and established the {
northeast corner Of Maryland. the
landowners some how naturally I
enough perhaps) got the idea that
the circular line ended at or near
that corner. This no doubt accounts
for the fact that the Delaware set V
tiers occupied what is known as V
the wedge and always retained juris- :
diction over It. though on the ,,
maps II was shown as part of Penn =
sylvania.
ss.If the circular line did not end
a4 this corner of Maryland. where
did it end? No man today can tell. =,
The commission of 1892 therefore 9
had nothing to go by at that end of :,
the curve. with all their efforts :
they could find only three points on a a
the entire curve that could still be =,
identified. y
II. The site OF Lamplugh's house "
on the Delaware.
"2. The great curve in the Bran =,
dywine near Cossart.
f.S The stump Of the old hickory v
tree at the south corner OF Kennett .
ard Pennsbury townships.
"Ali OF these three points were q
on the eastern half OF the curve. !,
Along the western half there was =
nothing remaining TO guide the Com :. =
mission. True a few deeds did ',
nention certain stones as being on =,
he. State line, but these deeds date ~ ~
ong since the 1901 line was run and ~ ~
merely represent where the settlers :,
& they later took up their lands -,
60
hission could in no way connect
hese deeds up with the line Of 1901 W,
nd so had 10 reject them as evil ce
ence. w
"The statutory instructions 10 the ra
'onmission OF 1892 were to ere 80
stabllsh" the old boundary line and n
Of run a new one. They wished b,,
borrower TO disturb as few of the wI
md d-owners as possible. T ey ne
lerefore adopted the above three ~,
oints which alone could be verified. is
inning the new curve through these IN.
,ree points and so disturbing prac- lar
cally no land owners along this
lstern half OF the line. This was act
Try much in Delaware's favor. for do
they had adopted a true twelve i'm
lie radius from New Castle, as was hic
rovided in Penn's order to run the tin
irve. II would have been run al il
ost a mile farther south. so in me
.curate was the measurement OF pu
-01. and would have given to Penn She
lvania some 5000 acres Of land
hich had always been recognized lar
being in Delaware. Very Few col
en- TO realize this fact. sioi
Curve of Two Acres. rep
$50 much for the eastern half OF aDC
e curve. When It came to the anC
estern half. as above stated, there viii
ere no controlling landmarks TO
tide the Commission. Now a true one
rcle can of course be run through tina
ny three points that are not in wal
.raight line. Had the commission Coz
xtended to the westward this curve l
hitch they had adopted through not
hese three points. it would have apr
AIKEN them over into Maryland. rur
his manifestly could not be done. tire
eWhat then were the Commission sid
0 do2 In order not to encroach to
IN Maryland territory the radius OF in
he western half Of the curve must
vidently be shortened, and that was tor
rhat was done. The new circular not
-cundary was thus made up OF two aid
eparate arcs having different Co
rntres. and this was absolutely nee Pc
ssary from the conditions imposed il
pom the Commission and from the
,nditions on the ground. But how in
< the ends of this western arc? an
anifestly its eastern end must be OF
the stump of the old Kennett- of
,nnsbury Hick ory. where the east ge,
n arc ended. so as to connect with RI,
e latter. As to its western end 90
Is was controlled. in the opinion of tbe
e Commission, by the circum- 90
tnces that must now be explained. r-s
Some time before 1S49 the stone err
by Mason & Dixon at the north 80
l.. 4 f--