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Chapter 4: Township System |
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ORIGINAL
TOWNSHIPS. Before
proceeding any further, we deem it proper, since we are about
to enter upon the history of the townships, to give some explanations of the
county and township systems and government surveys, as much depends in
business and civil transactions upon county limits and county organizations. COUNTY
AND TOWNSHIP SYSTEMS. With
regard to the origin of dividing individual States into county and township
organizations, which, in an important measure, should have the power and
opportunity of transacting their own business and governing themselves,
under the approval of, and subject to, the State and general government, of
which they both form a part, we quote from Elijah M. Haines, who is
considered good authority on the subject. In his " Laws of Illinois,
Relative to Township Organizations," he says:- " The county system
originated with Virginia, whose early settlers soon became large landed
proprietors, aristocratic in feeling, living apart in almost baronial
magnificence, on their own estates, and owning the laboring part of the
population. Thus the materials for a town were not at hand, the voters being
thinly distributed over a great area. "The county organization, where a
few influential men managed the wholesale business of a community, retaining
their places almost at their pleasure, scarcely responsible at all, except
in name, and permitted to conduct the county concerns as their ideas or
wishes might direct, was moreover consonant with their recollections or
traditions of the judicial and social dignities of the landed aristocracy of
England, in descent from whom the Virginia gentlemen felt so much pride. In
1834 eight counties were organized in Virginia, and the system extending
throughout the State, spread into all the Southern States and some of the
Northern States; unless we except the nearly similar division into '
districts ' in South Carolina, and that into ' parishes' in
Louisiana, from the French laws. ' Illinois, which, with its vast additional
territory, became a county of Virginia, on its conquest by Gen. George
Rogers Clark, retained the county organization, which was formerly extended
over the State by the constitution of 1818, and continued in exclusive use
until the constitution of 1848. Under this system, as in other States
adopting it, much local business was transacted by the commissioners in each
county, who constituted a county court, with quarterly sessions. '
During the period ending with the constitution of 1847, a large portion of
the State had become filled up with a population of New England birth or
character, daily growing more and more compact and dissatisfied with the
comparatively arbitrary and inefficient county system. It was maintained by
the people that the heavily populated districts would always control the
election of the commissioners to the disadvantage of the more thinly
populated sections--in short, that under that system ' equal' and exact
justice ' to all parts of the county could not be secured. The
township system had its origin in Massachusetts, and dates back to 1635. The first legal enactment concerning the system provided that, whereas,
' particular townships have many things which concern only themselves and
the ordering of their own affairs, and disposing of business in their own
town, ' therefore the ' freemen of every township, or a majority part of
them, shall only have power to dispose of their own lands and woods, with
all the appurtenances of said town, to grant lots, and to make such
orders as may concern the well ordering of their own towns, not repugnant to
the laws and orders established by the general court.' "They might
also, " says Mr. Haines, "impose fines of not more than twenty
shillings, and ' choose their own particular officers, as constables,
surveyors for the highway, and the like.' "Evidently this enactment
relieved the general court of a mass of municipal details without any danger
to the power of that body in controlling general measures of public policy.
" Probably, also, a demand from the freemen of the towns was felt for
the control of their own home concerns. " The New England colonies were
first governed by a general court or Legislature, composed of a Governor and
a small council, which court consisted of the most influential inhabitants,
and possessed and exercised both legislative and judicial powers, which were
limited only by the wisdom of the holders. "They made laws, ordered
their execution by officers, tried and decided civil and criminal causes,
enacted all manner of municipal regulations, and, in fact, did all the
public business of the colony." Similar provisions for the incorporation of towns were made in the first constitution in Connecticut, adopted in 1639, and the plan of township organization, as experience proved its remarkable economy, efficiency and adaptation to the requirements of a free and intelligent people, became universal throughout New England, and went westward with the immigrants from New England, into New York, Ohio and other Western States. Thus we find that the valuable system of county, township and town organizations had been thoroughly tried and proven long before there was need of adopting it in Missouri, or any of the broad region west of the Mississippi river. But as the new country began to be opened, and as Eastern people began to move westward across the mighty river, and formed thick settlements along its western bank, the Territory and State, and county and township organizations soon followed in quick succession, and those different systems became more or less improved, according as deemed necessary by the experience and judgment and demands of the people, until they have arrived at the present stage of advancement and efficiency. In the settlement of the Territory of Missouri, the Legislature began organizing counties on the Mississippi river. As each new county was formed, it was made to include under legal jurisdiction all the country bordering west of it, and required to grant to the actual settlers electoral privileges and an equal share of the county government with those who properly lived in the geographical limits of the county. The counties first organized along the eastern borders of the State were given for a short time jurisdiction over the lands and settlements adjoining each on the west, until these localities became sufficiently settled to support organizations of their own. GOVERNMENT
SURVEYS. No
person can intelligently understand the history of a country without at the
same time knowing its geography, and in order that a clear and correct idea
of the geography of Monroe county may be obtained from the language already
used in defining different localities and pieces of land, we insert herewith
the plan of government surveys as given in Mr. E. A. Hickman's property map
of Jackson county, Missouri - "Previous to the formation of our present
government, the eastern portion of North America consisted of a number of
British colonies, the territory of which was granted in large tracts to
British noblemen. By treaty of 1783, these grants were acknowledged as valid
by the colonies. After the Revolutionary War, when these colonies were
acknowledged independent States, all public domain within their boundaries
was acknowledged to be the property of the colony within the bounds of which
said domain was situated. "Virginia claimed all the north-western
territory, including what is now known as Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio,
Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. After a meeting of the representatives of
the various States to form a Union, Virginia ceded the north-west territory
to the United States government. This took place in 1784; then all this
northwest territory became government land. It comprised all south of the
lakes and east of the Mississippi river and north and west of the States
having definite boundary lines. This territory had been known as New France,
and had been ceded by France to England in 1768. In the year 1803, Napoleon
Bonaparte sold to the United States all territory west of the Mississippi
river and north of Mexico, extending to the Rocky mountains. "
While the public domain was the property of the colonies, it was
disposed of as follows: Each individual caused the tract he desired to
purchase to be surveyed and platted. A copy of the survey was then filed
with the registrar of lands, when, by paying into the State or Colonial
treasury an agreed price, the purchaser received a patent for the land. This
method of disposing of public lands made law suits numerous, owing to
different surveys often including the same ground. To avoid the difficulties
and effect a general measurement of the territories, the United States
adopted the present mode or system of land surveys, a description of which
we give as follows:-" An unsurveyed region, a point of marked and
changeless topographical features is selected as an initial point. The exact
latitude and longitude of this point is ascertained by astronomical
observation, and a suitable monument of iron or stone, to perpetuate the
position, is thus reared. Through this point a true north and south line is
run, which is called a principal meridian. This principal meridian
may be extended north and south any desired distance. Along this line are
placed, at distances of one-half mile from each other, posts of wood
or stone or mounds of earth. These posts are said to establish the
line, and are called section and quarter section posts. Principal meridians
are numbered in the order in which they are established. Through the same
initial point from which the principal meridian was surveyed, another line
is now run and established by mile and half mile posts, as before, in a true
east and west direction. This line is called the base line, and like
the principal meridian, may be extended indefinitely in either direction.
These lines form the basis of the survey of the country into townships and
ranges. Township lines extend east and west, parallel with the base line, at
distances of six miles from the base line and from each other, dividing the
country into strips six miles wide, which strips are called townships. Range
lines run north and south, parallel to the principal meridian, dividing the
country into strips six miles wide, which strips are called ranges. Township
strips are numbered from the base line, and range strips are numbered from
the principal meridian. Townships lying north of the base line are
'townships north;' those on the south are ' townships south.' The strip
lying next the base line is township one, the next one to that,
township two, and so on. The range strips are numbered in the same
manner, counting from the principal meridian east or west, as the case may
be. " The township and range lines thus divide the country into six
mile squares. Each of these squares is called a congressional township. All
north and south lines north of the equator approach each other as they
extend north, finally meeting at the north pole; therefore north and south
lines are not literally parallel. The east and west boundary lines of any
range being six miles apart in the latitude of Missouri and Kansas, would,
in thirty miles, approach each other at 2.9 chains, or 190 feet. If,
therefore, the width of the range when started from the base line is made
exactly six miles, it would be 2.9 chains too narrow at the distance of
thirty miles, or five townships north. To correct the width of ranges and
keep them to the proper width, the range lines are not surveyed in a
continuous straight line, like the principal meridian, entirely across the
State, but only across a limited number of townships, usually five, where
the Width of the range is corrected by beginning a new line on the
side of the range most distant from the principal meridian, at such a point
as will make the range its correct width. All range lines are corrected in
the same manner. The east and west township lines on which these corrections
are made are called correction lines, or standard parallels. The surveys of
the State of Missouri were made from the fifth principal meridian, which
runs throughout the State, and its ranges are numbered from it. The State of
Kansas is surveyed and numbered from the sixth. Congressional townships are
divided into thirty-six square miles, called sections, and are known
by numbers according to their position. The following diagram shows the
order of numbers and the sections in congressional townships:- is
8 17 I - 16— 15— —14— —13 19-
20 - 21 -22- - 1 - 2 30-
-29-- -28- -27 -26 25 1-_32---33--
34- -35--3 "
Sections are divided into quarters, eighths and sixteenths, and are
described by their position in the section. The full section contains 640
acres, the quarter 160, the eighth 80, and the sixteenth 40. In the
following diagram of a section, the position designated by a is known as the
north-west quarter; i is the north-east quarter of the north-east
quarter; d would be the south half of the south-east quarter, and
would contain 80 acres. ¼
Sec. post. Sec.
post. a h Sec. post. 160
acres Sec.
post. See post_ Sec.
pos ic Sec.
post. ___ _ Sec. post. ¼
Sec. post. Congressional
townships, as we have seen, are six-mile squares of land,
made by the township and range lines, while civil or municipal townships are
civil divisions, made for purposes of government, the one having no
reference to the other, though similar in name. On the county map we see
both kinds of townships -the congressional usually designated by numbers and
in squares; the municipal or civil township by name and in various forms.
" By the measurement thus made by the government, the courses and
distances are defined between any two points. St. Louis is in township 44
north, range 8 east, and Independence is in township 49 north, range 32
west; how far, then, are Independence and St. Louis apart on a direct line?
St. Louis is 40 townships east-240 miles -and 5 townships south- 30 miles;
the base and perpendicular of a right-angled triangle, the hypothenuse being
the required distance." ORGANIZATION
OF TOWNSHIPS. The I' township," as the term is used in common phraseology, in many instances is widely distinguished fiom that of " town," though many persons persist in confounding the two. " In the United States many of the States are divided into townships of five, six, seven, or perhaps ten miles square, and the inhabitants of such townships are vested with certain powers for regulating their own affairs, such as repairing roads and providing for the poor. The township is subordinate to the county." A " town " is simply a collection of houses, either large or small, and opposed to " country." The most important features connected with this system of township surveys should be thoroughly understood by every intelligent farmer and business man; still there are some points connected with the understanding of it, which need close and careful attention. The law which established this system required that the north and south lines should correspond exactly with the meridian passing through that point; also, that each township should be six miles square. To do this would be an utter impossibility, since the figure of the earth causes the meridians to converge toward the pole, making the north line to each township shorter than the south line of the same township. To obviate the errors which are, on this account, constantly occurring, correction lines are established. They are parallels bounding a line of townships on the north, when lying north of the principal base from which the surveys, as they are continued, are laid out anew; the range lines again starting at correct distances from the principal meridian. In Michigan these correction lines are repeated at the end of every tenth township, but in Oregon they have been repeated with every fifth township. The instructions to the surveyors have been that each range of townships should be made as much over six miles in width where it closes on to the next correction line north; and it is further provided that in all cases where the exterior lines of the townships shall exceed, or shall not extend, six miles, the excess of deficiency shall be specially noted, or added to or deducted from the western or northern sections or half sections in such township, according as the error may be in running the lines from east to west, or from south to north. In order to throw the excess of deficiencies on the north and on the west sides of the township, it is necessary to survey the section lines from south to north, on a true meridian, leaving the result in the north line of the township to be governed by the convexity of the earth and the convergency of the meridians. Navigable rivers, lakes and islands are " meandered " or surveyed by the compass and chain along the banks. " The instruments employed on these surveys, besides the solar compass, are a surveying chain 33 feet long, of 50 links, and another of smaller wire, as a standard to be used for correcting the former as often at least as every other day; also 11 tally pins, made of steel, telescope, targets, tape-measure and tools for marking the lines upon trees or stones. In surveying through woods, trees intercepted by the line are marked with two chips or notches, one on each side; these are called sight or line trees. Sometimes other trees in the vicinity are blazed on two sides quartering toward the line; but if some distance from the line, the two blazes should be near together on the side facing the line. These are found to be permanent marks, not wholly recognizable for many years, but carrying with them their old age by the rings of growth around the blaze, which may at any subsequent time be cut out and counted as years; and the same are recognized in courts of law as evidence of the date of survey. They can not be obliterated by cutting down the trees or otherwise without leaving evidence of the act. Corners are marked upon trees if found at the right spot, or else upon posts set in the ground, and sometimes a monument of stones is used for a township corner, and a single stone for a section corner; mounds of earth are made when there are no stones nor timber. The corners of the four adjacent sections are designated by distinct marks cut into a tree, one in each section. These trees, facing the corner, are plainly marked with the letters B. T. (bearing tree) cut into the wood. Notches cut upon the corner posts or trees indicate the number of miles to the outlines of the township, or, if on the boundaries of the township, to the township corners." |
