Milford chronicle., 1931-05-29
The Mason Dixon Line
BY Elizabeth Lee Murray
3 SelbyVille, Delaware
10 Years OId-Sixth Grade


Boundary lines have always been
more or less matters to cause disputes
between individuals, states and ma
tions. Rights claimed to portions OF
land seem to overlap so often, especi-
ally when one tries to claim more than
his due share of land. Some of these
disputes became historic. So it is with
the subject of this sketch. The bound
ary dispute which resulted in what IS
called the Mason and Dixon Line Is
one of the landmarks of our history be-
cause it is forever associated with the
slavery question as marking the bound
ary between the slave and Tree states
before the Civil War
So strongly is the idea fixed, of the
Mason and Dixon Line being the divid~
ing point in the minds of the people
that they call the present Maryland
PENNSYLVANIA Line the true and only
Mason and Dixon Line. They forget
that this line is only part of the hne.
Even the Encyclopedia Britannica
makes this mistake. To see the error
we must look back on a little colonial
Delniar in spite of what critics may
deny, is on the Mason and Dixon Line.
When the Mason and Dixon Line
was run there was no Delaware. What
is now Delaware was then only q part
of Pennsylvania. Penn's lower three
counties on the Delaware" as ne loVeu
to call them.
The charter for the Virginia Colony
did not include the territory which is
now Maryland and Delaware. Mary
lands charter. granted i'm 1888 gave
Lord Baltimore the land north of the
Potomac River and up to the 4Oth par
alleA of latitude Some years later VIM
Penn secured his charter Tor Pennsyl-
Vania through the influence OF his IA
ther who was a great faVOIite OF the
King Penn selected the site for his
city of brothelly love as he called it
Philadelphia. A survey showed that
Philadelphia was just little south Of
the 4Oth parallel and Penn saw that
something had to be done. Through his
influence with the King he had the
words of Lord Baltimore'S charter re-
fcrring to the 10th parallel, made to
mean the beginning of the 40th par
allel. But Lord Baltimore disputed TINS.
After years of compromise resulted i'll
fixing the line at 80 degrees, AZ min
lit5s and 1868 seconds N. Latitude,
which Mason and Dixon ran out as part
of the line called by their name. An
other reason that Penn tried to push
the line farther south was that he hop
ed finally to get it down far enough
that it would cross the upper part OF
the Chesapeake Bay and allow Penn
sylyania TO- have a claim to that body
of water But i'm this he did not slIc-
ceed, for the line is 10 or Is miles up
from the head of the bay.
Now as to Delaware Lord Baltimore
claimed it all under the charter of
Maryland. There seemed to be nothing
to keep him out of it. But Penn looked
to find a flaw in Lord Baltmore's S
charter in its claims to the territory
that is now Delaware. 1t was a land
then with only streams. wild animals
and a few Indians. Baltimore himself
might have had IL settled. but he was
slow i'm doing it. But Penn learned
that colony of Dutch had made a
settlement years before, at what is now
few months, before a trouble arose and
the whole band of settlers were mas
sacred by the Indians. 1t was enough
for Penn. Penn. had influence enough
with the King to make it-his.
After a lot of disputing it was agreed
somehow that the southern boundary of
the three lower counties and Mary
land should run westward from Cape
l1enlopen to halfway across the PEN
insula to Chesapeake Bay
But when they first wen to fix the
line, the story goes, that the surveyors
got drunk and went down to FenWiCIs
Island and started the line.
The work of surveying the land was
difficult, swamps, fevers and Indians,
always to be recl5oned with in their
days journey The halfway points
caused another dispute. When they
went across the peninsula they reached |
the bay, and saw Taylor's Island right
close by with the water between shall |
low. They waded across and because
of this they insisted on calling the wes-
tern side of Taylor's Island the bay
started to wade across This resulted !