Sunday, June 29, 2014

February 24, 1972 Missouri State Land Survey Authority Meeting Minutes

MISSOURI STATE LAND SURVEY AUTHORITY
Minutes of Meeting
February 24, 1972

     A meeting of the State Land Survey Authority was held February 24, 1972 at the Land Survey Building, Rolla, Missouri.  Acting Chairman Willard Eckhardt called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.  Present besides Mr. Eckhardt were James Anderson, Authority Member; Larry Fellows, Assistant State Geologist; and Robert Myers, State Land Surveyor.

     The minutes of the January 25th meeting were reviewed.  A suggested change is [sic] wording of paragraph 1, page 3 was made.  Minutes were approved.

     The following items were presented by Mr. Myers for discussion and necessary action:

     1.  The 1972-73 budget and capital improvement requests have passed the House and are awaiting action in the Senate.  Mr. Myers stated that the latest report indicated the Land Survey would receive $2300 as requested from the Emergency Fund.  Further confirmation is awaited.

     2.  Trial balance sheets for the month of February.

     3.  Mr. John Flowers had been hired as a part-time employee in the position of engineering technician.  The employment of Mr. Flowers completes the roster of employees as approved for this fiscal year.

     4.  Equipment purchased to date and purchases being processed as previously approved by the Authority.

     5.  Four "requests for opinion" were submitted to the Attorney General's office.  Mr. Eckhardt stated that it was his opinion that the following question should also be submitted for an opinion:  In 3rd and 4th class counties, can we pay more than statutory fees, and if there is a county surveyor, is he required to do the work if so requested.  Requests submitted were nos. 92, 96, 97 & 98.

     6.  Missouri-Nebraska boundary dispute and the Missouri-Iowa boundary line.  It was agreed that the State Land Survey's position should be as surveying consultants only.  However it was the opinion of the Authority that the State Land Survey Authority could take part in the restoration and remonumentation of the original Iowa-Missouri boundary.

     7.  Pattonsburg new city project.  It was recommended by Mr. Myers that a pilot project be conducted in this area for corner search and evaluation.  The above recommendation was approved.  If contractural work in excess of $500 is required, further Authority action will be required.

     8.  A meeting with Mr. Louren Wood, Assistant Attorney General, to discuss the Corner Restoration Forms.  The forms were revised per Mr. Wood's suggestions and are now out for bid.  A form number and date will be added to the form before printing if possible.

     9.  Cast iron markers available from Harrison Monument Co.  Mr. Myers also reported that Buie Brass had been unable to supply acceptable brass caps as bid, and the order had now gone to Gilbert Brass Works.

    10.  Mr. Ray Ford, University of Missouri-Rolla graduate student, had prepared a trial records indexing program for the State Land Survey Authority as part of his studies.  Also, Mr. Byrd, Assistant Director of the University of Missouri-Rolla Computer Center, is preparing a cost proposal for a records indexing program.  It was suggested that Mr. Myers check on possible assistance in geocoding from Administrative Services in Jefferson City.  It was agreed that this would be discussed further at a future meeting after receipt of the cost proposal from Mr. Byrd.

    11.  No additional information was available on the Springfield Coordinate System at this time.

    12.  MARLS Legislative Committee met with Mr. Myers on February 5, 1972 at the Land Survey Building.  Proposed county surveyor legislation was discussed.

    13.  A letter from the Bureau of Land Management, concerning surveys in the Meramec Reservoir area, was read.  It was the opinion of the Authority that no action should be taken concerning this letter.

     The next meeting of the Land Survey Authority will be held March 23rd.

     Meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.


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PLAN OF SEARCH AND EVALUATION
OF GENERAL LAND OFFICE CORNERS
IN TOWNSHIP 60N, RANGE 28W of 5TH PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN
IN DAVIESS COUNTY MISSOURI
(PATTONSBURG NEW TOWN AREA)


The new town project planning has been in progress for over one year under contracts with Washington University and UMR.  Planning was previously carried out by private concerns.  Under the present setup several agencies have provided input and support for the program.

The overall program has progressed almost to the point of land acquisition but so far as can be determined no effort has been made to locate the original or perpetuated land corners in the area.  The perpetuation of these land corners is of utmost importance to avoid problem of ownership now and in the future.  If these corners are not found before construction starts all evidence of existing corners may be lost and thereby increase the costs of future surveys and also decrease the certainty with which land corners could ever be restored.

At the present time we would have the advantage of being able to tie the corners which could be found to an electronic traverse net which covers about one half the area.  With this information a mathamatical [sic] analysis of the found data and the possible location of corners not otherwise recoverable without expensive resurvey on our part.

The program required by our office would be as follows:

    1)  The compilation of GLO data for the township from the microfilm files of our office.

    2)  Obtain data of subsequent surveys of record from the court house (2 volumes record of survey and 3 other record books).

    3)  Field search of corner location areas as determined by map and airphoto interpretation.

    4)  Tie corners found in "3" to survey net.

    5)  Evaluate total area for general fit and probable location of corners not found.

    6)  Field search of critical areas with information gained from "4".

    7)  Monumentation of verified corners and recommendation as to further required work in the area.


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Transcribed by Steven E. Weible

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Analysis of Section 3, Township 31 North, Range 2 East, 5th Principal Meridian, Missouri

At a recent surveyor's workshop one speaker presented Section 3 in Township 31 North, Range 2 East of the Fifth Principal Meridian in Missouri as an interesting example.  The speaker posed the question: How would you establish the corners of the subdivided Northeast quarter of Section 3 in accordance with the official Township Plat?  The speaker left the question unanswered, so let's see what we can find.

The speaker presented the following image of the section in question:

Image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey
This image comes from the Township Plat for Township 31 North, Range 2 East of the Fifth Principal Meridian found in Missouri Plats Volume 36, page 44 (Missouri State Land Survey document name: Y9901072).

This Township Plat is dated March 4, 1853

Image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey

and is signed by D. A. Spaulding, at that time the Surveyor General for Missouri and Illinois.

Image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey

This plat is the latest version in the custody of the Missouri State Land Survey and is regarded by nearly everyone as the "official" government plat.  It lacks some critical details, however, which lead to the initial question to which we seek an answer.

As I discussed in my article, entitled "See New Plat?"
(http://www.atnhayseed.blogspot.com/2012/02/see-new-plat.html),
there is sometimes an older Township Plat available, depending upon when the township was subdivided into sections.  These older plats often have more information on them that was not copied over to the newer plats.

If we check the Missouri Land Survey Index (https://apps.mda.mo.gov/molandsurveyindex/), we find that for this township there is indeed an older plat in Missouri Plats Volume 1, page 46 (Missouri State Land Survey document name: Y9903817):

Image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey

This Township Plat is dated September 16, 1822

Image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey

and is signed by Joseph Barton, the Deputy Surveyor to whom the work was contracted.

Image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey

If we examine the two plats side by side, we see that the northeast quarter of Section 3 is depicted essentially the same in each plat ... except for one detail (disregarding the differing location of Black River in each as, basically, a guess).  You will notice on the 1822 Township Plat that the tract in the southwest part of the quarter section has a red letter "S," indicating that the tract had been sold.  Often this indicates a sale that disrupted the standard scheme of protracting into lots.

To find out more about what may have been sold, let's go to the U. S. Bureau of Land Management's Official Federal Land Records Site (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/) to look for the land patents that were issued.

When we "Search Documents" for Township 31 North, Range 2 East, Section 3 in Missouri, we find three patents issued in the northeast quarter, as follows:

- Certificate # 4748 to Pate Buford, dated November 14, 1837, for

"the South West quarter of the North East quarter of Section three, in Township thirty one North, of Range two East, in the District of Lands subject to sale at Jackson, Missouri, containing thirty three acres and seventy one hundreths of an acre"

- Certificate # 22019 to Henry Coil, dated October 10, 1856, for

"the North West quarter of the North East quarter of Section three, in Township thirty one North, of Range two East, in the district of lands subject to sale at Jackson, Missouri.  Containing thirty three acres and ninety six hundreths of an acre."

- Certificate # 36023 to John Stubbs, dated March 1, 1860, for

"the West half of the Lots numbered One and two of the North East quarter, and the lot numbered two of the North West quarter of section two, and the East half of the Lots numbered One and two of the North East quarter, and the North East quarter of the South East quarter of Section three, in Township thirty One North, and the South West quarter of the South East quarter of Section thirty-five, in Township thirty-two North of Range two East, in the district of lands subject to sale at Jackson, Missouri, containing two hundred and seventy-eight acres, and sixty nine hundreths of an acre."


Before we proceed further, it may be instructive to review the development of laws that affected the sale of the public lands.

First, the Act of February 11, 1805, chapter 14, (U.S. Statutes at Large, Volume 2, page 313) anticipated the sale of the public lands in units of half sections and quarter sections, but no smaller.

Next, the Act of April 24, 1820, chapter 51, (U.S. Statutes at Large, Volume 3, page 566) allowed the public lands to be offered for sale 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.

Now, let's examine the chronology of our situation:

- 1821 - Joseph Barton was awarded a contract that included the subdivision of Township 31 North, Range 2 East.

- 1822 February - Charles Lockhart, working under the contract of Joseph Barton, completed the subdivision of Township 31 North, Range 2 East into sections.

- 1822 September - a Township Plat (which we have previously identified as the old Township Plat) was prepared and signed by Joseph Barton.  At the time it was signed by Joseph Barton this Township Plat would not have shown parts of sections smaller than a quarter section.  The quantity of the Northeast quarter of Section 3 was computed and shown on the plat as 134.84 acres.

- 1832 April 05 - Act of Congress provides for the sale of the public lands in quarter-quarter sections.

- 1837 November 14 - Pate Buford is issued a patent for "the South West quarter of the North East quarter of Section three, in Township thirty one North, of Range two East, in the District of Lands subject to sale at Jackson, Missouri, containing thirty three acres and seventy one hundreths of an acre."  The computed quantity of the quarter section is 134.84 acres.  Taking this number and dividing by 4 gives a result of 33.71 acres, which is the quantity patented to Buford, an aliquot part of the northeast quarter of Section 3.  So, the "S" shown on the 1822 Township Plat corresponds with the purchase of Pate Buford.  You will note, however, that the quantity for the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter shown on both Township Plats is 33.46 acres.

- 1848 August 01 - A clerk in the Surveyor General's office protracts the northern and western tiers of sections into lots and calculates the quantities of each, as evidenced by a notation on the 1822 Township Plat as shown below.

Image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey

The standard practice, as can be seen from the rest of the sections that were protracted, was to create standard lots of 80 acres each and irregular, or remainder, lots along the township line on the north and the range line on the west.  In this case, however, there had been a previous sale for an aliquot part of the quarter section (as authorized by the Act of April 5, 1832), so it could not be lotted in the same manner as the other quarter sections.  (Please, note that the previous sale of the aliquot part in 1837 took place before the protraction into lots in 1848.)  Recalling that Pate Buford's patent was for 33.71 acres, we must wonder where the 33.46 acres came from that is shown on both Township Plats.  Curiously, if we multiply 33.46 by 4, the result is 133.84.  The acreage on the plat for the quarter section is shown as 134.84 acres.  In his calculation could the clerk have miswritten the quantity of 134.84 as 133.84?  Remember, he would have been calculating long-hand without the aid of a calculating devise.  Is it possible that the clerk miscalculated the area of the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter at one time and wrote it on the plat with the letter "S" and then at some later time he (same clerk, same handwriting) correctly calculated the remainder of the northeast quarter?  At any rate it appears that the clerk made a mistake in labeling the quantity for the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 3, which resulted in a miscalculation of the quantity of the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 3.

Continuing our chronology:

- 1853 March 04 - A new Township Plat is copied from the 1822 Township Plat with the 1848 calculated quantities and is signed by D. A. Spalding, Surveyor General of Missouri and Illinois.

- 1856 October 10 - Henry Coil is issued a patent for "the North West quarter of the North East quarter of Section three, in Township thirty one North, of Range two East, in the district of lands subject to sale at Jackson, Missouri. Containing thirty three acres and ninety six hundreths of an acre."  We see that the quantity (incorrect as it is) quoted in the patent comes from the 1848 calculations that were copied to the 1853 Township Plat.

- 1860 March 01 -John Stubbs is issued a patent for "the West half of the Lots numbered One and two of the North East quarter, and the lot numbered two of the North West quarter of section two, and the East half of the Lots numbered One and two of the North East quarter, and the North East quarter of the South East quarter of Section three, in Township thirty One North, and the South West quarter of the South East quarter of Section thirty-five, in Township thirty-two North of Range two East, in the district of lands subject to sale at Jackson, Missouri, containing two hundred and seventy-eight acres, and sixty nine hundreths of an acre."  Interestingly, the tract of interest in this patent is described as the east half of lots 1 and 2 of the northeast quarter of Section 3, even though neither Township Plat shows the northeast quarter protracted into "lots."  The result, really, is no different than if it had been described as the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 3.  Also, considering that the west half of the northeast quarter had already been sold, only the east half remained for sale, so there's really no question about the intent, when the history is taken into account.  Just for good measure, let's check the total of the quantities covered by this patent as shown on the 1853 Township Plat:

     Township 31 North, Range 2 East
        W 1/2 Lot 1 NE 1/4 Sec 2       40.00
        W 1/2 Lot 2 NE 1/4 Sec 2       31.69
        Lot 2 NW 1/4 Sec 2             59.58
        E 1/2 Lot 1 NE 1/4 Sec 3       33.71 (or 40.00)
        E 1/2 Lot 2 NE 1/4 Sec 3       33.71 (or 27.42)
        NE 1/4 SE 1/4 Sec 3            40.00

     Township 32 North, Range 2 East
        SW 1/4 SE 1/4 Sec 35           40.00
                                      ======
                                      278.69 acres


Having examined the evidence, can we now answer the question that we began with:  How would you establish the corners of the subdivided Northeast quarter of Section 3 in accordance with the official Township Plat?  Taking the chronology of events into account, including the Township Plats, patents and protraction into lots, I believe that it is clear that the intent was to create aliquot parts in the northeast quarter of Section 3 in conformity with the initial sale in 1837.  Therefore, the northeast quarter of Section 3 should be subdivided by intersecting straight lines, one from the midpoint of the south line of the northeast quarter to the midpoint of the north line of the northeast quarter and the second from the midpoint of the west line of the northeast quarter to the midpoint of the east line of the northeast quarter.


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Original composition by Steven E. Weible