It should be observed that the geographers of that day considered degrees of latitude as zones taking designation from their northern parallels; hence the north boundary of Pennsylvania, designated as the beginning of the 43d degree, is really the 42d parallel. The south boundary, being the beginning of the 40th degree, was really the 39th parallel, a construction for which Penn earnestly contended in his dispute with Lord Baltimore in relation to the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Cushing (1920, p. 33) says: "The idea of a parallel of latitude seems to be a band about the earth parallel to the Equator and 1° wide, with the 'beginning' newest the Equator."

The grant to William Penn included a large tract of land in the northeastern part of the present State of Pennsylvania, generally referred to as the Wyoming Valley, which was claimed by Connecticut under its charter of 1662. (See fig. 19.) The Indian title to this land was transferred to settlers from Connecticut by deed dated July 11, 1754, wherein the area was thus described (Miner, 1845, p. 69; Stone, 1844, app.):

Beginning from the one and fortieth degree of north latitude, at ten miles distance east of Susquehanna River, and from thence, with a northerly line ten miles east of the river, to the forty-second, or beginning of the forty-third degree of north latitude, and to extend west two degrees of longitude, one hundred and twenty miles, and from thence south to the beginning of the forty-second degree, and from thence east to the aforementioned bounds

This area was organized by Connecticut in 1776 as the county of Westmoreland. The conflicting claims of Connecticut and Pennsylvania to this land were for many years a cause of dispute, and several battles were fought for its possession, but a court of arbitration appointed by the Continental Congress awarded it to Pennsylvania in 1782.

For a history of the northern and eastern boundaries of Pennsylvania, see New York, page 78 and New Jersey, page 80.

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BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES PENNSYLVANIA

That part of the southern boundary of Pennsylvania which separates Pennsylvania from Delaware, as defined by the charter of 1681, is an arc of a circle of 12 miles radius, having New Castle, Del., as its center. This line was surveyed and marked in 1701 under a warrant from William Penn. (See p. 84.)

According to the original grant of 1681 the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland was to be the "beginning of the 40th degree of northern latitude," or what we would now call the 39th parallel of latitude. (See p. 80.) This boundary was for many years in dispute, Lord Baltimore claiming the country along Delaware Bay and River to the mouth of the Schuykill, which was also claimed by the Duke of York under his grant of 1664. William Penn, in 1682, obtained from the Duke of York a release of his claim, but not until 1760 was an agreement reached with Maryland. Commissioners were appointed in 1732 and again in 1739 to run the line, but they failed to agree, and chancery suits were the result. Finally a decision of Lord Chancellor Hardwick in 1750 was taken as a basis for adjudication, and an agreement was signed July 4, 1760, by which the line between Pennsylvania on the one part and Delaware and Maryland on the other was to be determined as follows:

A due east-west line was to be run across the peninsula from Cape Henlopen to Chesapeake Bay. From the exact middle of this line a line was to be drawn

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BOUNDARIES OF THE

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north which would be tangent to the western arc of a circle having a radius of 12 English statute miles measured horizontally from the center of the town of New Castle. From the tangent point a line was to be drawn due north until it intersected a parallel of latitude 15 miles due south of the southernmost part of the city of Philadelphia. This point of intersection would be the northeast corner of Maryland, and from it the line was to be run west on a parallel as far as it formed the boundary between the two Provinces.

In 1760 commissioners and surveyors were appointed; they spent several years in measuring the base line and the tangent line between Maryland and Delaware. The proprietors became wearied with the delay and sent from England two famous mathematicians, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who verified the work of their predecessors and ran the line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, ever since called the Mason and Dixon line and probably the most widely known boundary in the United States. (See fig. 19.) Mason and Dixon determined the lattitude of this line, which they located 15 miles south of Philadephia, to be 39°43'17.6" N. That they were skilled and did their work carefully is shown by the fact that by the resurvey, made 200 years later with modern instruments and methods, the position found for the line at the northeast corner of Maryland differed only 1.9" from that determined by them. The later position is 39°43'19.521" N. (See p. 85.)

Mason and Dixon began work on this line in 1763 but were stopped by Indians in 1767, after having run the line about 244 miles west of the Delaware (230 miles 18 chains 21 links from the northeast corner of Maryland) and thus not quite finishing the work as planned, although it has since been ascertained that they had run about 30 miles beyond the northwest corner of Maryland.88

The original stones for 5-mile marks on this line were carved in England from oolitic limestone; Lord Baltimore's coat of arms was shown on the Maryland side and the Penn arms on the Pennsylvania side. (See fig. 2D.) Intermediate milestones were smaller and were marked "M" and "P" only, on opposite sides.

Because of the removal of the stone at the northeast corner of Maryland and for other reasons, it was deemed desirable to resurvey and re-mark the State

88 For a popular description of the work by Mason and Dixon, see Luquer (1931, p. 375).

boundaries in that locality; consequently Maryland (in 1846), Delaware (in 1847), and Pennsylvania (in 1849) authorized the appointment of commissioners to undertake the task, An Army officer was delegated by them to make the surveys, which were completed in 1850. In the resurvey of the arc boundary and of the adjacent lines, the surveyor in charge unfortunately disregarded "the well-known rule that an actual line upon the ground is to be preferred to the written description of the same line in a deed." He changed the position of the arc boundary as marked in 1701 and assigned to Pennsylvania the triangular strip 31⁄2 miles in length (about 840 acres in area) west of the arc boundary, east of Maryland and south of the Mason and Dixon line, which had previously been assumed to belong to Delaware. This survey was approved by the commissioners from the three States, but no formal action regarding it appears to have been taken by the State legislatures.89

In 1889 and 1900 the Legislatures of Pennsylvania and Maryland authorized the appointment of a joint commission to "ascertain and re-mark" the boundary between the two States. The field work for this survey was commenced in 1900 and completed in 1903. No changes in the line as run by Mason and Dixon were made; straight lines were run between original monuments, and many new stones were set on the lines thus established. The report of the commission, dated January 25, 1907, was published in 1908 by authority of the Legislature of Maryland and in 1909 by Pennsylvania. These volumes contain a description of each of the 225 boundary monuments, including many of the original stones that were repaired and reset; they also contain a bibliography of manuscripts and documents relating to the line,which has more than 2,000 entries.

Positions for a dozen or more points on the Mason and Dixon line have been determined by the U.S. Geological Survey, some of which are as follows:

In 1889 the Legislatures of Delaware and Pennsylvania authorized the re-marking of the boundary between the two States. The commissioners agreed that the northern boundary of Delaware should run due east from the northeast corner of Maryland to a point 12 miles from the New Castle courthouse and thence follow a curved line passing through as many boundary marks of the 12-mile circle of 1701 as could be se For report of the surveyor, see Delaware Senate Jour. for 1851, p. 56-109. A copy of the report and a map are filed in the Maryland Land Office at Annapolis.

identified. The resurvey was made,90 and 46 marks were set on the arc boundary in 1892-93. The triangular tract assigned to Pennsylvania by the commissioners of 1849 thus reverted to Delaware. The report of the commission and the line as marked by it were "accepted, approved, and confirmed" by the Legislature of Pennsylvania by act of June 22, 1897 (Pennsylvania Laws for 1897, p. 183), but were not formally accepted by the Legislature of Delaware until March 28, 1921. The assent of Congress to the action of the States was given on June 30, 1921 (42 Stat. L. 104). The land part of the Pennsylvania-Delaware line as determined by this survey is 22.87 miles in length.

Commissioners from Virginia and Pennsylvania agreed in 1779 that the boundary between those States should be fixed as follows.91

That the line commonly called Mason's and Dixon's line be extended due west five degrees of longitude to be computed from the river Delaware, for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania; and that a meridian drawn from the western extremity thereof to the northern limits of the said states, respectively, be the western boundary of Pennsylvania forever.

In order to locate the boundaries as thus described, observations of the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites were made in 1784 at Wilmington and at a point estimated to be 5° of longitude west of the Delaware River. While this work was being done the Mason and Dixon line was extended westward by commissioners from Virginia (one of whom was Andrew Ellicott) and from Pennsylvania, and a point was marked for the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, which the astronomic computations showed should be a little more than 11⁄2 miles east of the assumed position, where the observatory had been placed. From the southwest corner of Pennsylvania the meridian boundary was run to the north side of the Ohio River. The line between the Ohio and Lake Erie was surveyed and marked in 1785 by another commission.

The southern part of the west boundary was again surveyed and marked in 1883 by commissioners representing the two States. The survey was commenced at the Ohio, and the line was run south to the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, a measured distance of a little more than 631⁄2 miles. Twenty-three of the old monuments were found, and 48 new ones were established. Astronomic positions of several marks on this boundary were determined in 1883 in connection with the resurveys. Two of these positions are as follows: Southwest corner of Pennsylvania, lat 39°43'18.2'' N., long 80°31'08.2" W.; near Smiths Ferry on the Ohio River, lat 40°38′27.2'' N., long 80°31'07.5'' W.

For a report of this survey and a historical sketch of the Mason and Dixon line, see Hodgkins (1895).

1 Pennsylvania Dept. Internal Affairs (1887, p. 293); a separate volume of boundary maps accompanies this report. See also Hening (1822, v. 10, p. 519-537).

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BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES PENNSYLVANIA

The Ohio-Pennsylvania boundary was resurveyed and re-marked between 1878 and 1882, commencing at a granite monument 6 feet high and 3 feet square at the base, which was erected by the commissioners at a point 2,400 feet south of the edge of Lake Erie. The position of this monument is lat 41°58′15.23" N., long 80°31'10.60'' W. (1927 N.A.D.). From this point the line was run south to the Ohio River, a distance of 92 miles.92

The monument established in 1785 on the north bank of the Ohio in the west boundary of Pennsylvania is of considerable historical importance, for it marks the point from which the first surveys for dividing public land in the United States into ranges and townships were commenced (Peters, 1918, p. 33, 67; Sherman, 1916-33, v. 3, chap. 14).93 This general system of surveys has been extended over all the public-land States and has even been adopted by some foreign countries. The original marker used as a point of departure has long since disappeared. The location of this marker is referred to as the "point of beginning." A large granite monument was erected by Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1881 for the purpose of remarking the State line. This monument was near the original stake. It was moved to a more conspicuous position in 1961, and a bronze plaque was added commemorating the 175th anniversary of the establishment of the "point of be ginning." (Popp, 1960, p. 229.)

By the formation of the State of Ohio from lands ceded to the United States by Virginia in 1784 and by Connecticut in 1800 and by the separation of West Virginia from Virginia in 1862, the above-mentioned meridian line became the boundary between Pennsylvania on the east and Ohio and West Virginia on the west.

The cession of 1781 by New York to the United States included a triangle of land, about 324 square miles in area, bounded by New York, Pennsylvania, and Lake Erie. In order to give Pennsylvania a larger outlet to the lake, this tract, known as the "Erie triangle," was sold by the General Government to that State for $151,

03 For other details concerning the survey of the west boundary of Pennsylvania, see report of Pennsylvania Dept. Internal Affairs (1883), which contains a description of each mark and a plat of the line; see also report for 1887. A historical sketch of the original surveys of the west boundary of Pennsylvania of 1785 and 1786, the report of the resurvey of the Ohio part of this line in 1878 to 1882, descriptions of the boundary, and plats of the line were published by the State of Ohio in 1883 (Joint Commission on Pennsylvania and Ohio boundary line, 1883).

83 See plat of the seven ranges of townships, Ohio Surveys, 1785-1787; U.S. General Land Office file 57, Ohio.

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BOUNDARIES OF THE

UNITED STATES AND THE SEVERAL STATES

previously been known as "the Government of the counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, upon Delaware," and declared that thereafter the Territory should be called "Delaware State." The boundaries then were substantially as at present. (Thorpe, 1909, v. 1, p. 561562.)

For a history of the boundary between Delaware and

The east line of the Erie triangle, being part of the west boundary of New York, was first surveyed and marked in 1790. (See p. 78.) In 1869 a new granite monument was placed on this boundary near the lake. In 1885 this monument was repaired, and the boundary was rerun to the south line of New York, a distance of a little more than 18 miles. In all, there were then 51 marks on the line. (See Pennsylvania Dept. Internal Affairs, 1887, p. 590, 592.)

DELAWARE

The area now forming the State of Delaware was originally settled by Sweden. In 1655 it was surrendered to the Dutch, who in turn, in 1664, surrendered it to the English; the Duke of York then took possession of it.

William Penn, who had received in 1681 a grant of the Province of Pennsylvania, bought or leased from the Duke of York the territory included in present-day Delaware, which was conveyed to him by two deeds of "feoffment" dated August 24, 1682. One conveyed a tract of land within a 12-mile circle about New Castle; the other was for "all that tract of land upon Delaware River and Bay beginning 12 miles south from the town of New Castle and extending south to the Horekills, otherwise called 'Lopen.'" Both leases were for a period of 10,000 years, but they conveyed land to which the Duke of York then had a very uncertain title. A better title was obtained by royal grant soon afterward and immediately transferred to William Penn (Mathews, 1909, p. 150). Lord Baltimore vigorously opposed William Penn's claim, and the matter was settled in 1685 by a royal order to divide the territory equally between the two claimants. For a description of the line as marked, see pages 81, 82. (Dallas, 1797, p. 24).

In 1701 William Penn granted a charter under which the Province of Pennsylvania and the territories (as Delaware was then called) were authorized to act as separate governments, though both were still under the proprietary government of William Penn.

Acting on the advice of the Continental Congress, the people of Delaware called a convention, which met at New Castle in August, 1776, and on September 10 adopted a constitution for the three counties that had

This is at the rate of 75 cents an acre for an estimated area of 202,187 acres (315.92 sq. mi.). The area scaled from the most recent maps (including Presque Isle, 3 sq. mi.) is 324 sq. mi.

between Delaware and New Jersey, see New Jersey, pages 79, 80.

From 1732 to 1769 there was a controversy between the proprietors of Pennsylvania and Maryland in regard to boundaries. The boundaries of Delaware on the south and west were determined as follows:

Beginning at Cape Henlopen and running due west 34 miles 309 perches; thence in a straight line 81 miles 78 chains and 30 links up the peninsula until it touches and makes a tangent to the western periphery of a circle drawn at the horizontal distance of 12 English statute miles from the center of the town of New Castle. From this tangent point a line was run due north till it cut a parallel of latitude 15 miles due south of the most southern part of the city of Philadelphia. This point of intersection is the northeast corner of Maryland. As the tangent line bears a little west of north, the due-north line from the tangent point cuts off an arc of the 12-mile circle. The narrow segment thus formed is a part of Delaware and has an area of less than 20 acres. The boundary line follows the arc of the circle from the tangent point around to the point where the due-north line intersects the 12-mile circle, then follows this due-north line to the northeast corner of Maryland. The length of this due-north line, as given by Mason and Dixon, is 5 miles 1 chain and 50 links.

In 1961 and 1962, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey resurveyed the north-south boundary between Maryland and Deleware. The length of this line, from "Middle Point" where the boundary turns north, to the northeast corner of Maryland, is approximately 87 miles. Stone markers had been established at 1-mile intervals by Mason and Dixon. In the resurvey of the 81 monuments established on the tangent line, 15 were missing and 5 were considered as having been displaced. These five points were more than four feet from a smooth curve passing through the end points and the new values of the intermediate points. The maximum displacement from a straight line is 18 feet, and is to the east.

The 20 missing or displaced monuments along the north-south tangent line are being replaced (1975).

The east-west boundary was resurveyed in 1974. The 5-mile markers established in the original survey were recovered and accepted. The posts that had been set at 1-mile intervals were presumably temporary and were not found. The bearing of this line from the

coast to monument 10 follows the parallel of latitude. From monument 10 to the midpoint, the line bears a little north of west. The midpoint is the initial point of the 1961-62 survey and was held fixed. Its 1927 N.A.D. position is lat 38°27′35.869'' N., long 75°41'38.456" W. (Written commun., 1974, B.K. Meade, National Geodetic Survey).

The boundary north of the tangent point follows an arc of a circle. The radius of this circle from Newcastle was determined to be 12 miles plus 108 feet. The five monuments recovered were found to be within 4 feet of the circle.

Engineers making the new survey consider that Mason and Dixon determined the alinement of the markers with an amazing degree of accuracy in view of the instruments available in the 18th century. The distances were consistently short by about 10 or 12 feet per mile. This may indicate that the foot was a little longer than it is today. (For a description of this survey, see Meade, 1964, p. 33.)

The northeast corner of Maryland is at lat 39°43' 19.521" N., long 75°47'20.172" W. (1927 N.A.D.).

The southeast corner of Delaware is at lat 38°27' 04.082'' N., long 75°03′19.185" W.

The terminal monument on the Delaware River on the Pennsylvania-Delaware line is at lat 39°48′27.92" N., long 75°25'31.53" W.

By the survey of 1849 the distance between the tangent point and the north end of the curve on the Maryland boundary is 7,743.7 feet, which would make the latitude of the latter point 39°40'13.47'' N. The stone set in 1849 at this point, was thus described (Delaware S. Jour. for 1851, p. 102):

At the point of junction of the three States, a triangular prismatic post of cut granite, 18 inches wide on each side, and 7 feet long was inserted 42 feet of its length into the ground. It occupies the exact spot on which the old unmarked stone was found. It is marked with the letters M. P. and D., on the sides facing, respectively, towards the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. On the north side, below the letter P., are the names of the commissioners, in deep cut letters, namely: H. G. S. Key, of Md., J. P. Eyre, of Pa., G. R. Riddle, of Del., Commissioners, with the date 1849.

This post is still in place, but now it is a mark on the boundary between Delaware and Maryland only, not a tri-State monument.

There was some confusion regarding the location of Cape Henlopen. The place chosen as the starting point for the south boundary line of Delaware is not the same as the present cape of that name. Lord Chancellor Hardwick said regarding its position. that Cape Henlopen ought to be deemed at the place where

laid down on the map or plan annexed to the said articles.

William Penn directed that Cape Henlopen be called Cape James or Jomus (Hazard, 1850, p. 606). The present Cape Henlopen was then called Cape Cornelis (Hazard, p. 5).

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BOUNDARY LINES OF THE STATES MARYLAND

The foregoing statements explain the discrepancy between the base line across the peninsula and the position of Cape Henlopen on modern maps.

MARYLAND

The territory embraced in the present State of Maryland was included in the previous charters of Virginia, but nevertheless, in 1632, Lord Baltimore received a royal charter of the Province of Maryland, whose boundaries are defined in the following extract, translated from the original charter, which was in Latin (Thorpe, 1909, v. 3, p. 1678):

all that part of the Peninsula, or Chersonese, lying in the Parts of America, between the Ocean on the East and the Bay of Chesapeake on the West; divided from the Residue thereof by a right line drawn from the Promontory, or Headland called Watkins Point, situate upon the Bay aforesaid, near the River Wigloo on the West, unto the main Ocean on the East; and between that Boundary on the South, unto that part of the Bay of Delaware on the North which lieth under the fortieth degree of north latitude from the Equinoctial, where New England is terminated; And all the Tract of Land within the Metes underwritten (that is to say), passing from the said Bay, called Delaware Bay, in a right line, by the Degree aforesaid, unto the true meridian of the first fountain of the River Pattowmack; thence verging towards the South unto the farther Bank of the said River, and following the same on the West and South unto a certain Place called Cinquack, situate near the mouth of said River, where it disembogues into the aforesaid Bay of Chesapeake, and thence by the shortest Line unto the aforesaid Promontory or Place, called Watkin's Point, so that the whole tract of land divided, by the Line aforesaid, between the main Ocean and Watkin's Point unto the promontory called Cape Charles, may entirely remain forever excepted to Us.

A comparison of the limits laid down in this charter with the several charters of Virginia and the charter and deeds to William Penn shows that there was a conflict of boundaries on both sides of the Maryland grant. The history of the long controversy with Pennsylvania has already been given. (See Pennsylvania, p. 82, and Delaware, p. 84.) Virginia claimed the territory under her charters and for a time seemed disposed to assert her claim, though in 1638 a proclamation by the governor and council of Virginia recognized the Province of Maryland and forbade trade with the Indians within the limits of Maryland without the consent of Lord Baltimore previously obtained (Bozman, 1837, p. 586). Virginia's claim was finally given up by a treaty or agreement made in 1658, and her relinquishment was reaffirmed in the constitution of 1776 (Thorpe, 1909, v. 7, p. 3818).