Subseries II: Surveys and Grants, 1739-1952
Sub-Series
Dates
- 1739-1952
Disclaimer for Name and Subject Authorities
Some of the name and subject authority tags have been assigned by educated guessing and estimation of persons and subjects by region, age, profession, and familial relationships. They have been thoroughly researched by using primary and secondary sources available digitally, and named in each description, or in some cases linked directly to the person tag.
Access:
All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.
Extent
From the Collection: 17 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
General
Subseries II: Surveys and Grants, 1739-1952, is categorized by county, and arranged by townships alphabetically. If there are more than one item per township, those items are arranged chronologically. The items included are surveys, survey returns, and grants written to various parties for lands in various regions. These items usually contain a hand-drawn map of the survey in question, with some legal script attesting to the boundaries of the tract named and the designation of sale to a certain party. Some of these surveys were obtained through a foreclosure by the county, while others are being granted to settle a whole township.
A land survey is a professional assessment of a specified parcel of land. In the process, the surveyor traverses the land, writing field notes to identify the locations of the corners, any abutting lands, and making markers of any physical or natural occurrences on the land, such as species of trees, the condition of the soil, and where the degrees of altitude change. Field notes offer the raw data of the traverse, offering the specific measurements and observations found during the survey, which are used in manifesting the official record.
In the latter seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this process became easier with the invention of the Guntar’s Chain, a 66-foot measuring tool. A researcher on the American Philosophical Society’s website explained the process, where the surveyors work in tandem. “The two chain carriers would take hold of either end while the surveyor used a compass or theodolite to mark the distance along a particular line of latitude. As they moved along, the leader marked the ground with an “arrow,” or metal pin, and the follower walked in that direction. Upon reaching the leader, the follower picked up the “arrow” and replaced it with a wooden stave. Together, they would determine if their line was straight, and if not, with the help of the surveyor, they would adjust it before moving forward” (American Philosophical Society). When they had reached less than “one chain’s length” from the final corner of the tract, the links within the chain remaining were counted for an “exact measurement” (American Philosophical Society).
The practice includes specific shorthand and terminology related to the survey field, in particular the use of IB to mark the corners of the tract. This shorthand stands for Iron Bar, which is marked on three sides of the corner to mark where the boundary of the tract meets, indicating the bar be placed on the unmarked side. On the current Protect Your Boundaries’ surveying website, they explain this marker is utilized alongside other acronyms to act as physical markers indicating each tract’s perimeters. T. A. Bunker Limited’s website, they compiled a comprehensive glossary of the terminology used within the field for centuries. Other materials concerning the language and techniques of surveys can be found in the Glossaries of Bureau and Land Management, BLM, Surveying text.
A land survey is a professional assessment of a specified parcel of land. In the process, the surveyor traverses the land, writing field notes to identify the locations of the corners, any abutting lands, and making markers of any physical or natural occurrences on the land, such as species of trees, the condition of the soil, and where the degrees of altitude change. Field notes offer the raw data of the traverse, offering the specific measurements and observations found during the survey, which are used in manifesting the official record.
In the latter seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this process became easier with the invention of the Guntar’s Chain, a 66-foot measuring tool. A researcher on the American Philosophical Society’s website explained the process, where the surveyors work in tandem. “The two chain carriers would take hold of either end while the surveyor used a compass or theodolite to mark the distance along a particular line of latitude. As they moved along, the leader marked the ground with an “arrow,” or metal pin, and the follower walked in that direction. Upon reaching the leader, the follower picked up the “arrow” and replaced it with a wooden stave. Together, they would determine if their line was straight, and if not, with the help of the surveyor, they would adjust it before moving forward” (American Philosophical Society). When they had reached less than “one chain’s length” from the final corner of the tract, the links within the chain remaining were counted for an “exact measurement” (American Philosophical Society).
The practice includes specific shorthand and terminology related to the survey field, in particular the use of IB to mark the corners of the tract. This shorthand stands for Iron Bar, which is marked on three sides of the corner to mark where the boundary of the tract meets, indicating the bar be placed on the unmarked side. On the current Protect Your Boundaries’ surveying website, they explain this marker is utilized alongside other acronyms to act as physical markers indicating each tract’s perimeters. T. A. Bunker Limited’s website, they compiled a comprehensive glossary of the terminology used within the field for centuries. Other materials concerning the language and techniques of surveys can be found in the Glossaries of Bureau and Land Management, BLM, Surveying text.
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu