Collections

This collection contains around 100 land surveys pertaining to property along the southern Mississippi River in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

This collection contains around 100 land surveys with maps pertaining to property along the southern Mississippi River in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Many of the items are signed by William Dunbar, Valentine Layssard, and Carlos Trudeau, surveyors under the Spanish government in West Florida and Louisiana. The collection contains petitions, grants, and other documents, many of which are in French or Spanish. The lands fell under the jurisdiction of several administrative districts, including Natchez, Baton Rouge, Feliciana, Rapides, San Bernardo, and Galveston.

The New York Surveyors collection is made up of documents, notes, and maps related to property ownership. The bulk of the material is comprised of surveyors' notes and manuscript maps of private properties.

The New York Surveyors collection is made up of documents, notes, and maps related to property ownership. The Documents series (21 items) has indentures and other items pertaining to ownership of real property in the state of New York, particularly in Albany and Greene Counties. The Field Notes series (4 items) contains 3 sets of notes by unidentified surveyors and a field book that belonged to H. A. [Whitlock?]. The notes concern surveys of farms and other properties in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The Surveys series (140 items) comprises the bulk of the collection and consists of notes and maps of surveys conducted between 1794 and 1821; one item is dated April 20, 1831. The surveys, which relate to private property, often have descriptions of the area, and some items have notes about the reasons for conducting the surveys, usually related to sales. Some of the material pertains to members of the Ten Eyck family.

A Philadelphia surveyor recorded methodological information, distances, and other measurements pertaining to the city's streets in this 176-page volume, dated 1795-1802.

A Philadelphia surveyor recorded methodological information, distances, and other measurements pertaining to the city's streets in this 176-page volume, dated 1795-1802.

The surveyor typically recorded distances from a specified starting point, usually an existing street. Many of the entries adhere to the following form: "From [street] along [street or direction] to [location or street] is [number] feet." The volume also includes tables of distances and several maps.

The surveyor sometimes noted the dates on which he took his measurements, and occasionally shared the names of his fellow surveyors. Entries often include lot and house owners' names, or identify commercial properties, such as the "Survey of the Brew House" (p. 38). Measurements related to waste disposal include "field notes of a Survey of the natural chanel of Peggs Run as it appears at the present time" (1798, pp. 59-61a) and a description of the "common sewer" (62a).

The author also occasionally wrote about his methodology; in one entry, he noted, "In order to set the two pair of sights to my surveying instruments at right angles to each other the Meridian of the Box or Card plate makes an angle to the right hand of the Meridian of the Index plate of 7½ minutes" (December 3, 1799, p. 13a). The notebook contains 1 personal entry; on September 24, 1795, the author "Paid to Mrs. Lehnyder 6 Dollars to give to my Wash woman for a Quarter's washing" (p. 1).

• Brooke, Robert, 1770-1821
• Forepaugh, [George?]
• Huston, [John?]
• Kessler, John
• Miller
• Sowder
• Story