Reading historic land surveys...

[Gromatici]

The description can be drawn using coordinate geometry. Basically a line with a direction and distance has a corresponding Latitude and Departure (not necessarily coincident with Geodetic Latitude and Longitude). These form a triangle from which you derive coordinates. There were various efficient methods before AutoCAD for drawing lines from deeds, but today we use expensive ($2,000-$7,500) AutoCAD programs to do our boundary lines.

On a side note, any of the calls such as "running thence ... along the line.. by Thompson" or " to a stone" or "at the end of the 3rd line of Adam Molls land" means that all those dimensions will yield to the said calls in the deed. If it’s really old, those dimensions are likely to only be a guide to the actual dimensions of your boundaries.

A surveyor will actually pull all the deeds adjacent to the subject property (or at least he is supposed to) and compare them for any gaps, overlaps or other title issues there may be. It's his job to resolved them, and show a single boundary line between owners, barring unusual circumstances that may arise from faulty deeds that were written by land owners or attorneys before the industry was regulated like it is today. It could be that this deed has been surveyed years ago and now there is a map showing what the surveyor retraced. All this is done at the County Surveyors Office, Recorders Office and even local Title Companies well before any field crew is sent out to do the survey.

[pls7809]

I would recommend this book to help you get started. There should be chapters in there about how to work the math.

http://www.amazon.com/Elementary-Survey ... 313&sr=1-1

Elementary Surveying by Paul Wolf, Charles Ghilani

I also advise you to consult with a licensed surveyor if you are really serious about laying out your property lines. A PLS will be more than able to help determine how the boundaries will be established according to calls in the deed. Also he will compare your deed to adjoining deeds to make sure there are no conflicting calls (for example, your deed calls to center of creek, adjoiners' deed calls to a stone near the creek). If your just looking to get a general location you are probably fine, but definitely consult a surveyor if you are looking to erect fencing.

[Ian Wilson]

You don't mention in your profile where you are located.

If you were to contact one of the older surveyor's in your area who specializes in boundary surveying, you'll likely find a treasure trove of histrocial information of the sort you are seeking.

We tend to collect anecdoatl stroeis that may well be the key to a boundary issue a few years down the road.

Find the right surveyor, buy him lunch and sit back and listen to the stories.


Ian