Special thanks to Norman Caldwell, Professional Surveyor #12018, who supplied portions of the following information.
Michigan's early farm plots looked like a patchwork quilt with fence row stitching. This was the result of the Ordinance of 1785, which divided the land into squares before it was sold.
A committee, chaired by Thomas Jefferson, proposed the rectangular system of survey, with boundaries that ran north and south, east and west. Each survey township was subdivided in thirty-six sections of 640 acres, when practical.
The required procedure of placing any excess or deficiency into the northern and western sections of a township, is apparent in the significant "deficiency" of Fairfield, Middlebury, Sciota and Woodhull townships which are narrower than normal.
Shiawassee County was surveyed by government appointees, (U.S. Deputy Surveyors) Joseph Wampler, Sylvestor Sibley, William Brookfield and John Mullett, who, with their compasses and chains marked the way for the pioneers.
When Joseph Wampler completed subdividing Bennington Township, a task which lasted from the 22nd to the 30th of April, 1826, he found he did not have enough time to evaluate all the sections. Instead, he merely noted that the land was "rolling, generally timbered, fertile tracks".
Wampler forgot to mention how many times in the course of walking 140 miles within the township, he had been mired in the swamps. As a result, Bennington was among the earliest townships, in which land not on a major trail, was purchased for settlement.
William Brookfield's 1823 notes on Owosso township include these remarks for sections 24 and 13: "first rate, good soil, not large timber - it was long ago burnt off (by the Indians). Undergrowth, white and prickly ash, thorns and briers; all in abundance...good and principally high ground with poplar and hazel."
The first land entered in this township was in these two sections by fur traders Alfred and B.O.Williams.
Over one hundred and seventy years later Brookfield's jottings are still interesting.
He measured a white oak that stood near the present farm of Richard Zemcik, on Mason Road. The surveyor estimated that the tree would make a thousand rails. He judged section 32 to have the best soil and timber, section 7 and 8 contained a "wretched swamp" with tamarack, ash and adler. According to Ellis' history, "The height of his wretchedness was reached when running the line west between sections 6 and 7, for here he ejaculated, 'Land miserable; not fit for even wolves to inhabit.'"
On Ruess Road between M-21 and Krouse road, and on Delaney between Dewey and Krouse roads he noted tracts of Indian orchards. Brookfield concluded that there were extensive mineral deposits in sections 16, 21, 28, 32 and 33, as he was unable to control the needle on his compass. He lost half a day in that area "to ascertain our corrections."
According to Norm Caldwell,
"I think his problem was not with the compass, but rather resulted from a
large deflection in the southern boundary as surveyed previously by Joseph Wampler.
At one point, it appears
that Wampler intersected a stream and possibly after crossing it, did not line up correctly when he resumed surveying.
There remains a 5 degree deflection error today.
Since Wampler was paid to survey the county by the mile,
even if he had eventually noticed any errors, he most likey would have not wanted to re-survey that area".
Brookfield reported that most of the surveying was done while the leaves were off the trees, as the sightings required clear visibility. This meant that much time was spent trying to stay warm. Young men were hired to transport the provisions of the surveyor, and to set up camp.
A pioneer described another problem: "...millions of mosquitos pounding upon them and bleeding them at every pore where they could find an unprotected spot of skin large enough for a mosquito to stand on one foot. As a means of protection the surveyors provided themselves with veils made in the form of a flour sack, sufficient in size to drop around their shoulders.....for the protection of their hands they used gloves."
The surveyors had to cope not only with mosquitos, but with Mother Nature, who did not always provide the best weather. It was usually cold and when it rained or snowed they were chilled to the bone. The rivers had to be crossed several times each day, and there were no bridges. The hours were long and their work was not always appreciated. John Mullet was threatened with rifles, not only in civilized Detroit where irate Frenchmen did not want Jefferson Avenue running through their farms, but also in the wilderness of Michigan where Indians continually pulled up the survey stakes and threatened his life.
For the most part, the surveyors' reports showed Shiawassee to be hardly more than a succession of swamps and marshes, unfit for cultivation and with "pestilence vapors". When the Military post at Saginaw was abandoned in 1823 because of Typhoid Fever, the commanding officer reported that in the Saginaw Valley "nothing but Indians, muskrats and bullfrogs could possibly exist."
The surface is rolling in the central and southeastern part, but in the western part and northern part it is level. The soil is admirably adapted for agriculture, in the southeast and central part, consisting of oak and timbered openings, of a superior quality.
In the southwest is a large prairie, called Looking-Glass Praire; and in the north, a large body of flat somewhat swampy country, well adaped to the raising of cattle.
Large crops of corn, rye, oats, barley and potatoes are raised, especially on the bottom lands of the Shiawassee river and its branches.
There is good quarry of stone near the center of the county, and a mine of the stone coal which may be valuable.
Mills of various kinds have been and still are erecting in different parts of the county. A great number of excellent mill sites are to be found on the Shiawassee, Looking-Glass and Maple rivers, which could be profitably employed either in the manufacture of flour or lumber.
For two or three years past, there has been a great flow of emigration to this county. There is yet much excellent land, which is not yet entered. The southern tier of townships belongs to the Detroit - the balance to the Saginaw land district. Population 1,184.
A land description is a description of a tract of land in legally acceptable terms, so as to show exactly where it is located and how many acres it contains.
The U.S. General Land Office (GLO) originally subdivided Michigan and most of the U.S under the U.S. Public Land Survey. This office organized land descriptions into a series of townships, ranges and sections. The original 13 colonies, Texas and Hawaii were not surveyed with the "rectangular survey system".
Basically, a township is a square tract of land with sides of six miles each and containing 36 sections of land. Many county court houses keep transcribed copies of the original surveys. The original field notes are stored in the Library of Michigan Archives at Lansing, Michigan.
When Michigan was first surveyed, the surveyors knew that it was impossible to keep true north and south direction of township lines and still keep getting township squares of 36 miles.
Because of very large tracts of land, like the size of Michigan, as it was surveyed toward the North Pole, engineers were constantly running out of land as the township lines were converging toward the North Pole.
Have you ever noticed a road which runs through the county, at the township line, which does not line up exactly with the road in the next township? There sometimes is a "jog" of a few feet to several hundred feet.
Government surveying of townships is run from starting lines called base lines and principal meridians.
The above map shows the Base Line....
running east and west.
And it shows the Meridian.....running north and south.
Each township has a township number, which is the number of rows or tiers of townships that a township is either north or south of the base line. Each township also has a range number which is the number of rows or tiers of townships that a township is either east or west of the prinicpal meridian.
The sections within a township are numbered in a serpentine manner (s fashion), always beginning in the township's northeast corner and ending in the southeast corner of the township.
A congressional township contains 36 sections of land one square mile. A civil or political township may be larger or smaller than a congressional township.
The best way to read land descriptions is from the rear or backwards. Descriptions of land are always read first from either the North or South. Every description of land should show the section, township and range it is located in. Townships may be located either north or south of the base line, and ranges may be either east or west of the principle meridian.
Each township contains 36 sections and each section contains 640 acres or one square mile.
For example, in Figure 6, below, description No. 1 reads SE 1/4, SW 1/4, SW 1/4. The last part of the description reads SW 1/4, which means that the tract of land we are looking for is somewhere in that quarter (shown in Figure 4.) Next back, we find the SW 1/4, which means that the tract is in the SW 1/4 of the SW 1/4. And next back, we find the SE 1/4, which means that the tract is in the SE 1/4, SW 1/4, SW 1/4, as shown in Figure 6 below, and contains 10 acres "according to the government survey thereof."
Finally, township, range and the section number should be added to the land description to make it correct or proper legal description of a tract of land.
Federal Statute requires that government corners (ie; section and quarter corners) as placed by the U.S. Deputy Surveyor are unchangeable and must be left in the original position. Dimensions between the markers may, or may not, conform to the normal 40 chains (2,640').
Each Michigan county is currently performing a "Re-monumentation Program" to recover, verify, place a modern monument and file a record of evidence with the county for government corners. As of 1 January 2001, Shiawassee County has completed 367 of approximately 2000 corners in this program.
The Owosso Community Airport is approximately 736' above sea level.
Shiawassee County's Highest Point is believed to be approximately 1.5 miles east and 2 miles south of Morrice near an intersection of section 19 and 30 in Antrim Township. Near this area is a gravel pit and you will notice that Beard Road curves around north of this point.
Shiawassee County's Lowest Point could be at the exit point of the Shiawassee River near M-52 at Johnstone Road or at the exit point of the Maple River in Middlebury Twp., approximately 1 mile south of Ovid or the exit point of the Looking Glass River in Sciota Twp., approximately 1 mile southwest of Laingsburg.
It is also interesting to note that the "Michigan Divide" actually transverses Shiawassee County. This is a ridge line or dividing line from which Michigan streams and rivers flow basically east or west. This line is evident from the fact that the Shiawassee River flows north and easterly to Saginaw Bay/Lake Huron. The Maple River and the Looking Glass River basically flow in a northwesterly direction toward Lake Michigan.
The dividing line in Shiawassee County enters the county at approximately the Antrim/Burns Township line north to about a mile west of Bancroft, continuing north through Shiawassee Township it curves westerly through Caledonia Township, passing the southern edges of Corunna and Owosso.
It continues northwesterly through Owosso Township and passes approximately straight north through the west side of Rush Township where it exits Shiawassee County into Saginaw County, about two miles east of Chapin, Michigan.
To learn more about the Surveyors of Shiawassee County
Pick up a copy of
Norman Caldwell's book.