I've just finished reading "Measuring America", by Andro Linklater, recently published by Walker Books. Anyone who likes history and who is interested in how the U.S. came to be surveyed will find this to be a great read, well researched, and very informative. Linklater, who turns out to be a Englishman who has spent a lot of time in the U.S., was fascinated by the regularity of the public land one mile grid that he saw while flying cross country, and wondered how it came to be. The book spends a lot of time on the history of measurements and surveying, the English transition from the feudal system to private land ownership, the difficulties faced by surveyors in the wilds of America, and more. An interesting note for Virginia researchers: in some areas of Virginia the surveys were "large", as if the surveyor used a longer chain than normal. According to the book an early American surveying manual said the chain should be 22 yards (the standard length) for open land, 24 yards for woodland, and up to 32 yards in forest. It sounds strange to us today, but a strongly entrenched idea of those times was that an acre's size (and sizes of many other things) depended on how useful the land (or thing) was. Steve Broyles

How interesting. Thanks for sharing that, Steve. JoLee At 09:29 AM 7/19/2003, you wrote: >I've just finished reading "Measuring America", by Andro Linklater, recently >published by Walker Books. Anyone who likes history and who is interested >in how the U.S. came to be surveyed will find this to be a great read, well >researched, and very informative. Linklater, who turns out to be a >Englishman who has spent a lot of time in the U.S., was fascinated by the >regularity of the public land one mile grid that he saw while flying cross >country, and wondered how it came to be. The book spends a lot of time on >the history of measurements and surveying, the English transition from the >feudal system to private land ownership, the difficulties faced by surveyors >in the wilds of America, and more. > >An interesting note for Virginia researchers: in some areas of Virginia the >surveys were "large", as if the surveyor used a longer chain than normal. >According to the book an early American surveying manual said the chain >should be 22 yards (the standard length) for open land, 24 yards for >woodland, and up to 32 yards in forest. It sounds strange to us today, but >a strongly entrenched idea of those times was that an acre's size (and sizes >of many other things) depended on how useful the land (or thing) was. > >Steve Broyles > > >============================== >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, >go to: >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237

I too read this book and found it fascinating. Rick Sayre ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Broyles" <steve.broyles@attbi.com> To: <DEED-MAPPER-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 8:29 AM Subject: [DMU] "Measuring America" > I've just finished reading "Measuring America", by Andro Linklater, recently > published by Walker Books. Anyone who likes history and who is interested > in how the U.S. came to be surveyed will find this to be a great read, well > researched, and very informative. Linklater, who turns out to be a > Englishman who has spent a lot of time in the U.S., was fascinated by the > regularity of the public land one mile grid that he saw while flying cross > country, and wondered how it came to be. The book spends a lot of time on > the history of measurements and surveying, the English transition from the > feudal system to private land ownership, the difficulties faced by surveyors > in the wilds of America, and more. > > An interesting note for Virginia researchers: in some areas of Virginia the > surveys were "large", as if the surveyor used a longer chain than normal. > According to the book an early American surveying manual said the chain > should be 22 yards (the standard length) for open land, 24 yards for > woodland, and up to 32 yards in forest. It sounds strange to us today, but > a strongly entrenched idea of those times was that an acre's size (and sizes > of many other things) depended on how useful the land (or thing) was. > > Steve Broyles > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >