Description

Colored manuscript map. Pen-and-ink and pencil. Shows sections, quarter sections, hydrography, "South Boundary of Michigan," etc. Located in Berrien County, Michigan. Facing the map is a table of courses and distances, 32 x 39 cm. Title from table.This group of seven maps and accompanying detailed notes on the -Interior Quarter Section Corners" was compiled by Lucius Lyon, who began as a field surveyor in Michigan in the late 1820's when he made these surveys, became one of the first senators from Michigan in 1837, and served as Surveyor General for Michigan from 1845 to 1850. Lucius Lyon signed and dated one of the maps in 1829. The maps and sheet notes are sewn together with original sheep skin covers and rolled into a surveyor's copper canister. The maps show the first two tiers of townships (T. 7-8 S., R. 19-22 W., Michigan Meridian) on the Michigan and Indiana border running east from Lake Michigan for about 19 miles. It is probable that these surveys were carried out in part to further define the Michigan Indiana border in preparation for Michigan's entry into the Union as a State in 1837. They are also of great interest as examples of the documents and methods of the field surveyors in the early years of the General Land Office.Biographical Directory of the American Congress p. 1246; Boundaries of the U.S., p. 115; Campbell, Political History of Michigan, pp. 399, 469; Karpinski pp. 25, 432, 470, 472; cf Claussen & Friis 13; Stewart, Public Land...

Record Contributed By

David Rumsey

Record Harvested From

David Rumsey