Section 6, Township 34 North, Range 6 West, 5th Principal Meridian, Missouri
The following image is from the township plat dated 1861, the "new" plat.
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| image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey |
An examination of Section 6 of this township reveals that the lots in the northwest quarter of the section are shown as being 80.00 acres, but the lot corners along the north-south centerline do not coincide with the corners of lots in the northeast quarter of the section. This would imply that the north-south lot dimensions of lots in the northwest quarter are something other than 20.00 chains. What these lot distances are, however, is not indicated on this "new" plat. So, how will we solve this mystery? If this township was surveyed during the time that William Rector was Surveyor General for Missouri, there should be an "old" township plat that may have additional information. So, let’s look to see if there is an “old” General Land Office (GLO) township plat for this township.
To look for the "old" GLO township plat, we'll go to the Missouri Land Survey Index: https://apps.mda.mo.gov/molandsurveyindex/
Selecting "GLO Plats and Notes" from the menu bar brings us to the "GLO Search" page:
If we enter the township and range and select "GLO PLATS" for the Type, we get the following search results:
We see from the results that there are two GLO township plats available. One dated 1822 and one dated 1861. We already have the 1861 plat, so the 1822 plat is the one that we are looking for, since it falls within the 1815 - 1824 time period in which William Rector was Surveyor General for Missouri.When we open the image of the “old” township plat, the words “See New Plat” are scrawled in pencil across the middle of the township. I’m speculating that this was not added by the Surveyor General’s office, but more likely by someone in the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I do not believe this note was added to indicate that the plat was void, but, rather, to draw attention to the fact that a new copy had been prepared. When a township plat was voided, a note to that effect was stated on the plat by the Surveyor General’s office and reference was made to a corrected plat.
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| image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey |
This “old” township plat for T34N R6W is dated January 1, 1822
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| image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey |
and is signed by Elisha Sims for Wm H. Ashley
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| image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey |
Looking at Section 6, we find that the protracted distances have been included on this "old" township plat. Mystery solved.
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| image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey |
Looking closer, we notice something peculiar about Lot 2 of the Northwest Quarter of Section 6. There is a red letter "S" in the east half:
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| image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey |
A note in the margin of the “old” township plat provides an explanation:
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| image courtesy of the Missouri State Land Survey |
Now, for further diligence, let’s look for GLO patents to see if there are any time sequence considerations:
Bureau of Land Management website: www.glorecords.blm.gov
Click on “Search Documents” and enter search criteria on the search page:
Search Results:
If we weed through the results, the information for the northwest quarter of Section 6 is as follows:
Location Patentee Date of Patent
East 1/2 Lot 2 David Reddick 1848 Sep 01
East 1/2 Lot 3 Thomas Welch 1854 Nov 15
West 1/2 Lot 3 Ransom Reddick 1854 Nov 15
East 1/2 Lot 1 Ransom Reddick 1856 Jan 03
East 1/2 Lot 4 Ransom Reddick 1856 Jan 03
West 1/2 Lot 2 James Herod 1856 Oct 10
West 1/2 Lot 4 Ransom Reddick 1856 Oct 10
East 1/2 Lot 5 John E. Inman 1856 Oct 10
East 1/2 Lot 6 John E. Inman 1856 Oct 10
West 1/2 Lot 5 John E. Inman 1857 Mar 10
West 1/2 Lot 6 John E. Inman 1857 Mar 10
West 1/2 Lot 1 James W. Herod 1857 Apr 15
Now, notice that the first patent issued in the northwest quarter was the East half of Lot 2, as previously indicated. (The difference in the patent issue date of September 1, 1848 and the previously mentioned September 1847 date of protraction on the plat represents the time lag between purchase of the land and the issuance of the patent.) Also notice that the last patent issued in the northwest quarter was dated April 15, 1857. That means that all of the northwest quarter of Section 6 was sold before the "new" plat of 1861 was prepared. The pressing question, then, is "which plat will control: the one that existed at the time the land was sold or the later newer one?" It is my contention that the plat in effect at the time the patent was issued is the plat that will control. In this particular case, that's the "old" township plat for all of the northwest quarter of Section 6.
For years the only township plat that had been recognized as valid and made available to Missouri Surveyors was the "new" township plat. Both "old" and "new" township plats have since been scanned, first in grayscale and later in color, and are all now readily available through the Missouri Land Survey Index. Professional Land Surveyors in Missouri need to realize that they need to be looking for these "old" township plats that have additional information that was not copied over to the "new" township plat.
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original composition by Steven E. Weible
