-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first thing to catch the eye are the words "SEE NEW PLAT" scrawled in pencil across the middle of the document. The thought enters the mind, "Who would do that?" The next thought that enters the mind might be, "If there is a new plat, is this old one of any value?"
The old plat referred to here is a Missouri township plat from the period of 1816 to 1824. During this period, William Rector served as Principal Deputy Surveyor of the Territory of Missouri (Act of February 28, 1806, chapter 11, U. S. Statutes at Large, Volume 2, page 352), Surveyor of the public lands for the Territories of Illinois and Missouri (Act of April 29, 1816, chapter 151, U. S. Statutes at Large, Volume 3, page 325) and Surveyor of the public lands in the States of Illinois and Missouri and the Territory of Arkansas. The contracts into which he entered with deputy surveyors for the subdivision of townships required the contractors to "make out three neat and accurate plats and descriptions" and to calculate the quantities of each fractional section, which were to be shown on the completed plats. It appears that this practice was abandoned as a quality control measure, beginning in 1825, by the succeeding Surveyor of the public lands, William McRee (American State Papers, Public Lands, Volume 6, page 402, Number 1033). The township plats were thereafter prepared by clerks within his office. The old plats prepared by the deputy surveyors remained in use until new plats were prepared in the 1840s, 1850s and 1860s prior to the closure of the office of the Surveyor of the public lands on October 31, 1867 (MoDNR microfiche location: 720/3375A04).
So now that there is a new plat, is the old one of any value? The answer is ... maybe. There are some seventeen volumes of old plats and most of these do not contain any more than what can be found on the new plat. Some, however, contain interesting information that may provide insight on how to deal with many of the "oddities" of the Public Land Survey System in Missouri.
The old plats appear to have served as a record of activity within some of the townships. Confirmed private claims were added as the surveys were completed and the northern and western tiers of sections were protracted into lots as laws changed to provide for the sale of land in smaller units. The Act of February 11, 1805, chapter 14, (U. S. Statutes at Large, Volume 2, page 313) only anticipated the sale of public lands in tracts as small as the quarter section. The Act of April 24, 1820, chapter 51, (U. S. Statutes at Large, Volume 3, page 566) provided for the sale of public lands in half quarter sections. Then the Act of April 5, 1832, chapter 65, (U. S. Statutes at Large, Volume 4, page 503) provided for the sale of public lands in quarter-quarter sections.
Township plats returned by the U. S. Deputy Surveyors prior to April 1820 would only have been subdivided into quarter sections as the smallest unit with the protraction of "80 acre" tracts being added later. Likewise, township plats returned by the U. S. Deputy Surveyors after April 1820 and prior to 1825 would only have been subdivided into "80 acre" tracts as the smallest unit with the protraction of smaller units being added later. Those plats that contain later subdivisions into lots usually contain notations indicating the date on which they were protracted and the date on which a copy was sent to the Register of the district land office and/or the Commissioner of the General Land Office.
The majority of notations of protraction begin to appear on the old plats after April 1832. The general form of the notation is as follows:
"Subdivided under the Act of Congress of the 5th of April 1832 and sent a copy
of the plat to the Register and to the Commissioner of the General Land Office."
In some instances parts of the northern and western tiers of sections, where lotting is expected, were protracted into aliquot parts, creating one of the "oddities" of the Missouri system. The following notation on the old plat gives insight into the reason why this was done:
"Subdivided under the Act of 1832 so as to conform
to previous sales as reported by the Register ..."
It appears that in these cases the district land offices were selling the tracts as aliquot parts, as authorized by the Act of April 5, 1832, before the clerk in the Surveyor's office protracted them into lots. The Register of the district land office reported the sales as made and the clerk, then, adjusted the plat accordingly and made the area computation.
How the clerk was instructed in the task of protracting the northern and western tiers of sections into lots is not known to the author, but the method seems to have differed either by time period or by the particular clerk performing the calculation. In many of the cases where protraction was performed prior to about 1843, the lot area of those lots not adjoining the township or range line was held fixed at 80 acres and the unknown lot dimensions were calculated accordingly, resulting in different distances on each side of section lines and center of section lines. In cases where protraction was performed after about 1843, the distance on each side of these lots was fixed at 20.00 chains and the lot area was simply labeled as a nominal "80 acres." These are not absolute rules, however, because in some cases the lot distance was fixed at 20.00 chains and the lot area was computed as something other than 80 acres.
An example of an old township plat on which two different methods of protraction appear side-by-side on the same plat is Township 42 North, Range 10 West (Missouri Plats Volume 9, page 13, MoDNR microfiche location: 720/0123A03). See figure 1. The northwest quarter of Section 3 was subdivided on February 18, 1839. The North half of Section 2 was subdivided on May 27, 1845. A look at the handwriting between the two sections reveals that each was subdivided by a different clerk. In Section 3 that clerk held the area of Lot 1 of the northwest quarter fixed at 80 acres and then calculated the north-south lot distance to be 18.95 chains. In Section 2 the other clerk set the north-south distance of Lots 1 in the northeast and northwest quarters at 20.00 chains and simply labeled the lots as being a nominal "80 acres."
 |
| Figure 1 Sections 2 and 3, T42N R10W, 5th PM image courtesy of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources |
See figure 2 for another example from Township 48 North, Range 3 West (Missouri Plats Volume 12, page 27, MoDNR microfiche location: 720/0168B03). The northwest quarter of Section 4 was subdivided on April 17, 1839. The northeast quarter of Section 4 was subdivided on October 6, 1840 to conform to a previous sale as reported by the Register. The north half of Section 5 was subdivided on September 27, 1841.
 |
| Figure 2 Sections 4 and 5, T48N R3W, 5th PM image courtesy of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources |
See figure 3 for an example from Township 39 North, Range 6 East (Missouri Plats Volume 3, page 44, MoDNR microfiche location: 720/0043A01). The north half of Section 3 was subdivided on July 13, 1839.
 |
| Figure 3 Section 3, T39N R6E, 5th PM image courtesy of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources |
Was it simply up to the clerk to decide or were there explicit instructions on how to proceed? It's hard to know. That's why it is important to examine all of the available information ... including the old township plats. Most of the notes and calculations that appear on the old plats were not transferred to the new plats, so this information would be missed if only a new plat was used.
As Missouri Surveyors we have all been taught protraction procedures that are consistent with the Bureau of Land Management's Manual of Surveying Instructions. The fact is, however, that the clerk in the office of the Surveyor of the public lands may not have actually done it that way. So, if there is an old plat, it's worth a look. You may find the answer to your "oddity." Another point to remember is that the plat in effect at the time that the patent was issued is the one that will control. In many cases that's the old plat!
----------------------------------------
Original composition by Steven E. Weible
