I've had a number of situations like this, either with creek meanders or "up the road" to someplace or "along so-and-so's fence" or something similar. The problem is that the DM plot stops when it doesn't have both a direction and a distance, a shortcoming that I hope will be addressed in future versions. I've started drawing out the separate sections by hand on graph paper at the topo map scale of 2000 ft/in. Equipment is fairly inexpensive and it's something to do on a rainy day. You will need (1) a protractor. I use a round one with degree scales running in both directions. This kind of protractor lets you read direction directly. (2) an engineer's scale in 10ths. You will need to convert chains, poles, rods etc to feet and it's easier to work in decimals. (3) some clear plastic. Overhead projector material is too expensive. I bought a pack of clear plastic report covers, not the thin ones for documents but the thicker ones suitable for bound reports. You can cut them to any size, but I've found that quarter sheets work well. (4) A pack of water soluble fine tip colored pens like Stanford Vis-a-Vis. (5) some masking tape. Draw what you can of each side of the unknown lines at different places on the graph paper. Remember that you can plot in reverse just by using reciprocal directions (N5E = S5W). The grid lines are your indexes for N-S and E-W. Trace your lines for each piece of the plot on to separate pieces of plastic w/the markers, making whatever notes you need and using whatever colors you need. (I trace hard lines in black, meanders in blue and conditional lines in green) Make sure to put a N arrow on your tracing. You need this to keep your drawing oriented properly as you move around the topo. Now you have two separate plots. Move them around on the topo until it looks like you have a fit that meets all the conditions of the deed. This is easier of course if you have some identifiable point like a creek mouth, ford etc. somewhere on at least one of them. Once you have something that looks good to you, tape them in place. Connect the dots to make the plot. Using your protractor and scale, measure the direction and distance of the new lines. These will be very approximate, but close enough to get started. Plug these computed lines into DM as conditional lines and see how close the plot matches to the deed acreage. This can be very tedious, and it doesn't work every time. I've done some that were w/i a few acres and others that were off by hundreds of acres. When it does work, however, you have an approximate plot that is good enough to get an idea of the property. You may improve the plot if/when adjoining landowners are located. I usually color code plots that are as iffy as some of these turn out to be and add remarks to the text for explanation. Costs: about $5 for a good protractor; $5-7 for a scale, $3 for a couple of pads of ¼" grid paper; $5 for a set of 5 colored pens; <$10 for a pack of 25 clear plastic cover sheets; $3 for a roll of masking tape. You could probably do this in DM by setting up dummy deeds for the parts on either side of the unknown lines, but it has seemed easier for me to just do it by hand. Barry Clark Fredericksburg, VA Plotting & plodding in Elbert & Hart Co., GA

There are two options plat as two separate pieces with one meander per piece and then "fit" them together or estimate one of the meanders based upon a "guesstimate." ----- Original Message ----- From: "William B Clark" <dadster3@juno.com> To: <DEED-MAPPER-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 6:02 PM Subject: [DMU] Plotting w/two meander lines ( DEED-MAPPER-USERS-D Digest V04 #26) > I've had a number of situations like this, either with creek meanders or > "up the road" to someplace or "along so-and-so's fence" or something > similar. The problem is that the DM plot stops when it doesn't have both > a direction and a distance, a shortcoming that I hope will be addressed > in future versions. > > I've started drawing out the separate sections by hand on graph paper at > the topo map scale of 2000 ft/in. Equipment is fairly inexpensive and > it's something to do on a rainy day. You will need (1) a protractor. I > use a round one with degree scales running in both directions. This > kind of protractor lets you read direction directly. (2) an engineer's > scale in 10ths. You will need to convert chains, poles, rods etc to feet > and it's easier to work in decimals. (3) some clear plastic. Overhead > projector material is too expensive. I bought a pack of clear plastic > report covers, not the thin ones for documents but the thicker ones > suitable for bound reports. You can cut them to any size, but I've found > that quarter sheets work well. (4) A pack of water soluble fine tip > colored pens like Stanford Vis-a-Vis. (5) some masking tape. > > Draw what you can of each side of the unknown lines at different places > on the graph paper. Remember that you can plot in reverse just by using > reciprocal directions (N5E = S5W). The grid lines are your indexes for > N-S and E-W. Trace your lines for each piece of the plot on to separate > pieces of plastic w/the markers, making whatever notes you need and using > whatever colors you need. (I trace hard lines in black, meanders in blue > and conditional lines in green) Make sure to put a N arrow on your > tracing. You need this to keep your drawing oriented properly as you > move around the topo. > > Now you have two separate plots. Move them around on the topo until it > looks like you have a fit that meets all the conditions of the deed. > This is easier of course if you have some identifiable point like a creek > mouth, ford etc. somewhere on at least one of them. > > Once you have something that looks good to you, tape them in place. > Connect the dots to make the plot. Using your protractor and scale, > measure the direction and distance of the new lines. These will be very > approximate, but close enough to get started. > > Plug these computed lines into DM as conditional lines and see how close > the plot matches to the deed acreage. > > This can be very tedious, and it doesn't work every time. I've done some > that were w/i a few acres and others that were off by hundreds of acres. > When it does work, however, you have an approximate plot that is good > enough to get an idea of the property. You may improve the plot if/when > adjoining landowners are located. I usually color code plots that are as > iffy as some of these turn out to be and add remarks to the text for > explanation. > > Costs: about $5 for a good protractor; $5-7 for a scale, $3 for a couple > of pads of ¼" grid paper; $5 for a set of 5 colored pens; <$10 for a pack > of 25 clear plastic cover sheets; $3 for a roll of masking tape. > > You could probably do this in DM by setting up dummy deeds for the parts > on either side of the unknown lines, but it has seemed easier for me to > just do it by hand. > > Barry Clark > Fredericksburg, VA > Plotting & plodding in Elbert & Hart Co., GA > > > ==== DEED-MAPPER-USERS Mailing List ==== > Send all messages and replies to <DEED-MAPPER-USERS-L@rootsweb.com>. > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 >