Land Surveys
On May the twentieth, 1785, the Continental Congress passed what is known as the "Land Ordi- nance of 1785." It provided for the survey of lands in the territory northwest of the river, Ohio. The surveys were made under the direction of the Geographer of the United States. The lands were to be surveyed into townships six miles square, bounded by east and west and north and south lines, crossing each other at right angles. The ranges of townships were to be numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. from the Pennsyl- vania line westward, and the townships in the ranges 1, 2, 3, etc. from the Ohio river northward. Further- more, the townships should be cut up into lots one mile square, each numbered from one to thirty-six, beginning in the south east corner and running north to sixth; then beginning the next range with seven and running to twelve, etc. The lines were to be suitably marked by blazed trees and notches cut into their trunks. In many of the woods of Perry county can yet be seen the marks of the original surveyors.65
The first "Seven Ranges" were surveyed as above, but the remaining fifteen are different in the number- ing of the sections. Our section numbers begin in the north-east corner and run west to six; begin in the next row of sections and run east to twelve, etc. The surveying began in 1786. The Ranges only extend to the Scioto River, for west of that stream Virginia had retained the land for her Revolutionary soldiers and it was never surveyed. The land in Perry county was not ordered platted till May 18, 1796. In 1799 General Rufus Putnam was made surveyor- general and the work began at once. The land of the Ohio Company had been surveyed before. None of our county was in this Company's purchase. But their tract did extend to the southern boundary of Perry and joined the townships of Coal and Monroe. In the first surveys, the variation of the needle, which at that time was about two degrees east, was seldom corrected. The result was that the north and south lines would deviate to the west in going south- ward. This would cause a section to be larger than its northern neighbor. By the time the survey reached Perry county, it was necessary to frequently correct by starting from new bases, that the sections might be kept something near the required size. The line between Hopewell and Reading, and Madison and Clayton was such a correction line as can be seen on the map. There is similar correction between Clayton and Pike and between Harrison and Bearfield. It is the most noticeable, however, between Jackson and Mondaycreek. The first five rows of sections in Mon- daycreek are each exactly a mile square, but the west- ern row contains over seven hundred acres in each sec- tion. This irregularity in the lines was corrected by66
a "correctional meridian" running north from the Ohio river, to the northern boundary of Perry county. The line on the west of Thorn township is this meri- dian. But our county got none of its benefits. In Vinton county the correction amounted to a mile in many places. The northern boundary of Perry county was the northern limit of Congress Land. Licking county belongs to the Military Bounty Lands, which was set aside for Revolutionary soldiers. This Congress Land was at once set up for sale. The most of it sold for $1.25 per acre in half or quarter sections. The Land Offices for the sale of land in this county were located at Zanesville and Chillicothe. The line separating Madison, Clayton, Pike, Saltlick and Coal from Hope- well, Reading, Jackson, and Mondaycreek divided the two Land Districts. The Ordinance of 1785 further provided that, "There shall be reserved for the United States out of every township the four lots, being numbered 8, 11, 26, 29 for future sale. There shall be reserved the lot No. 16 of every township, for the maintenance of public schools within the said township; also one- third part of all gold, silver, lead and copper mines, to be sold, or otherwise disposed of as Congress shall hereafter direct." In Perry county none of these reservations were made, with the exception of Section 16. In the Ohio Company's Purchase, Section 29 was kept for the support of a minister, and was known as Ministerial Lands.67