Lasting Impressions of Surveying

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Written By Kari Campbell

Blog by Emily Pierce, PLS, CFedS

National Surveyor’s Week is an opportunity to highlight the many benefits of a career in surveying and to celebrate the accomplishments of the surveying community.  Over the past year, I’ve been highlighting the work of colonial surveyors, from John Morton to Thomas Jefferson. These early surveyor’s contributions extend far beyond surveying boundaries – their background helped them to literally lay the foundation of our nation.

This week, I’m going to focus on surveying’s Lasting Impressions -- the stories in a book compiled by Berntsen’s CEO Rhonda Rushing. She worked directly with surveyors to showcase their stories and images, creating a beautiful book that captures the beauty and history of surveying.

Today, I’ve been inspired by an article on page 39 of the book, entitled “A Costly Victory,” by Mark C. Stevens, LLS of Canterbury, New Hampshire.

Image of New Hampshire/Vermont monument from Lasting Impressions, pg. 38

“Although the state boundary between New Hampshire and Vermont is the Connecticut River, a dispute broke out between the states as to whether the state line fell on the centerline of the river, or on the west bank. The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was decided [in 1934] that the low water mark on the west bank was in fact the boundary line. Congratulations to New Hampshire, who won the suit. But victory came at a high price: since New Hampshire owns the entire river, they are also responsible for all the expensive bridge maintenance. Had the centerline been held as the boundary, bridge maintenance costs would likely have been split down the middle as well.

“Because the Connecticut River meanders and changes course occasionally, these boundary reference monuments were set to permanently mark the boundary as determined by the U.S. Supreme Court.” – Mark C. Stevens, LLS, Canterbury, New Hampshire

I thought there might be a very interesting back story to this narrative, and there certainly is!

How it started

Though the original surveys of the Connecticut River are lost in the mists of time, I found some very interesting information while researching this history.

Benning Wentworth, Royal Governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766.

This mess got its start back in the early colonial days in 1741 when Benning Wentworth was appointed as the first Royal Governor of New Hampshire. Back in those days, all of the land was owned by the British Crown, but Governors had the power to issue land grants to approved buyers. Starting in 1749, Wentworth made the most of that power (and opportunity for revenue), and eventually issued 135 land grants for property west of the Connecticut River. Each land grant was generally about six square miles. Within each grant, lots were subdivided and six of the lots were set aside – one for the Church of England, one for the Society of the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (a missionary organization of the Church of England), one for the clergyman, one for a school, and two for Wentworth.

Wentworth made a tidy ₤20 for each grant  - (in today’s money, that’s nearly $5,000 per grant). Unfortunately for his buyers, the land was not Wentworth’s to sell. The Province of New York actually had title to those lands and had issued grants for the same land. An Order-in-Council was issued by King George III in 1764, setting the boundary between New York and New Hampshire was the west bank of the Connecticut River, meaning that a large chunk of land had been governed by New Hampshire was now part of New York. This set the stage for ongoing disputes that ultimately resulted in the creation of the State of Vermont in 1777. Unfortunately, Vermont was excluded from the original 13 colonies . . . until 1782 when it paid $30,000 for the disputed land grants to New York.

1796 of New Hampshire and Vermont

But wait, there’s more!

In 1895, Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire were still sparring over the state boundaries. Historically, the 200-mile Connecticut River’s west bank at the low water mark was New Hampshire’s domain and the Vermont boundary.  However, as dams were built on the river, the water height changed. The three states appointed a Boundary commission to study the problem. The solution was mark the boundary of the 3 states with a massive monument - a copper bolt set into a two-foot square granite pyramid secured in the earth to a depth of about eight feet.  This marker was known as a “Mud Turtle” and of course, since it’s buried, additional monuments were needed to point to its location.

This monument didn’t solve the rest of the border problem between Vermont and New Hampshire. Beginning 1932, A special Commissioner (Samuel S. Gannett) studied the border question over 206 miles of riverbank. “Using transit, surveying rods and chains the surveying party settled the boundary line” and placed 91 reference markers, bronze plates or granite shafts planted five feet deep.

In 1935, the legislatures of Vermont and New Hampshire created laws where the attorneys general of both states meet at the river once every seven years to reaffirm the understanding of the location of the boundary. The most recent “perambulation of the boundary” I was able to find was in 2012.

So that takes us back to Lasting Impressions – the image in the book sure looks like one of the 91 reference markers.

Stay tuned to our social channels [Facebook & LinkedIn] for most posts from Rhonda’s book!

Kari Campbell
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