MDGenWeb Archives; Somerset and Worcester Surveyors of Record 1662 – 1867 Contributed to the USGenWeb Archives by John C. Lyon Copyright. All Rights Reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/md/mdfiles.htm ********************************************************* Somerset and Worcester Surveyors of Record 1662 - 1867 Information prepared and C 2005 John C. Lyon. Following is a complete chronological list of the Deputy Surveyors (and a few others used in special circumstances) on the Lower Shore before Wicomico County was created in 1867. Until the creation of Worcester on 10 Dec 1742, this territory had been all Somerset. Afterwards there were designated surveyors for each of the two counties, and after 1867, of course, for all three. The first Maryland survey in this region - MANNINGS RESOLUTION, for Capt. Thomas Manning - was run by John Elzey on 16 Oct 1662, though Somerset was not actually created until 1666. A few tracts may have been surveyed by Virginia in southeastern present-day Worcester even earlier, and novated to Maryland in 1668, as shown on the Early Somerset map. The Deputy in the position title, granted by the Province, meant "for the county". Much later, the title was changed to simply "County Surveyor". These are all of the men who submitted signed survey descriptions to the Provincial (later, State) Land Office, as recorded on the original certificates of survey and other surviving copies/transcripts. Those not otherwise annotated in the list had been authorized and appointed Deputy Surveyor for the county (as attested on the original records), though there is some unexplained overlap in service dates. It is imaginable, as implied, that more than one individual at a time held an official commission as Deputy Surveyor for a county. The dates of appointment are sometimes seen in the county Judicial records. For a period between about 1670 and 1674, there was some irregularity, with the Dorchester Deputy County Surveyor and others all performing this function in some parts of Somerset. No provincially-approved surveys were recorded during the 1689-96 governmental crisis. There is clear inferential evidence in the source records that other (unnamed) surveyors often carried out the actual surveys, which were then reviewed and approved for submission by the County Surveyor. Many of the early certificates are prepared in different hands, surely private surveyors given contract for the assignment. This is unsurprising, given the size of the region and the number of surveys conducted to fill the landscape in the early days. The list is chronological by first survey entered for the party. The number is the total count of the certificates of survey recorded for him and retained in the Land Office, whether ultimately patented or not. This number does not include other surveys made for property conveyances through deed or probate division, etc. The number of surveys gradually diminished with time, as new (vacant) lands were taken up. Resurveys made up over half of all Land Office-approved surveys after the 1760s. SOMERSET All provincial surveys performed in the area of present-day Somerset, Worcester and Wicomico, and part of modern Sussex, before 1742, tabulated by surveyor. After 1742, Worcester designated its own surveyors separately. SURVEYOR . . . . . . # OF SURVEYS . . . . . . DATES . . . . . . COMMENTS John Elzey . . . . . . 33 . . . . . . 16 Oct 1662-20 Mar 1664/5 . . Stephen Horsey . . . . 112 . . . . . . 20 Feb 1662/3-20 Feb 1669/70 . . . . Jenkin Price . . . . . 57 . . . . . . 01 Mar 1663/4-21 Dec 1665 . Francis Jenkins . . . . 681 . . . . . . 17 Jul 1665-15 Jul 1684 . . . . . . George Johnson . . . . 70 . . . . . . 05 Jan 1666/7-04 Dec 1671 . . . . . . Thomas Walker . . . . . 6 . . . . . . 20 Aug 1667-4 Nov 1679 . . John Senger . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 12 Mar 1669/70 . . . . . . unknown authorization James Weeden . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 27 Mar 1670-10 Apr 1671 . . Philip Shapleigh . . . 10 . . . . . . Nov 1670-4 Dec 1671 . . Dorchester County Surveyor Charles Hutchins . . . 4 . . . . . . 08 Apr 1674 . . . . . . Dorchester County Surveyor Samuel Cooper . . . . . 114 . . . . . . 20 Mar 1679/80-24 Nov 1686 . . . . . . William Whittington . . 389 . . . . . . 3 Apr 1683-10 Nov 1707 . . . . . . no recorded surveys between 1689-1696 John Osborne . . . . . 19 . . . . . . 17 Jan 1684/5- 06 Jan 1686/7 . . . . . Samuel Wilson . . . . 18 . . . . . . 15 Feb 1687/8-2 Jun 1688 . William Whittington, Jr. 208 . . . . . . 14 Jan 1707/8-4 Mar 1724/5 . . . . . Southy Whittington . . 194 . . . . . . 14 May 1714-26 Dec 1724 . . . . . . William Lane . . . . . 51 . . . . . . 30 May 1725-22 Aug 1726 . . David Wilson . . . . . 937 . . . . . . 10 Jul 1725-2 Nov 1750 . . Worcester separated during his term David Polk . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 5 Sep 1734 . . . . . . Special appointment Littleton Dennis . . . 757 . . . . . . 2 Jan 1750/1-21 Dec 1770 . . . . . . Ephraim King . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 10 Aug- 2 Oct 1749 . . . . . Special appointment William Winder . . . . 5 . . . . . . 26 Oct 1751-9 Sep 1762 . . Supervisor of His Lordships Manors for Somerset Co. Arnold Elzey . . . . . 309 . . . . . . 18 Feb 1769-21 Apr 1777 . James Polk . . . . . . 282 . . . . . . 28 May 1777-26 Nov 1794 . . John Landreth . . . . . 224 . . . . . . 28 Aug 1793-16 Dec 1805 . John Wilkins . . . . . 47 . . . . . . 21 Feb 1806-24 Sep 1810 . . Jacob Morris . . . . . 58 . . . . . . 21 Jun 1810-15 Nov 1817 . . Beacham Acworth . . . . 14 . . . . . . 20 Feb 1818-24 Jan 1819 . . . . . . John N. Bowland . . . . 65 . . . . . . 6 Feb 1819-14 Feb 1850 . not active 1840-47 James S. Pollitt . . . 18 . . . . . . 13 Aug 1821-15 May 1828 . . . . . . Levin W. Dashiell . . . 36 . . . . . . 20 Dec 1831-16 Oct 1855 . . . . . . intermittent John Laws . . . . . . 17 . . . . . . 13 Feb 1840-13 Feb 1845 . . . Levin P. Bowland . . . 41 . . . . . . 15 Oct 1852-12 Nov 1873 . . . . . . William F.W. Miles . . 7 . . . . . . 14 Feb 1857-1 Nov 1862 . . . . . . C.C. Donoho . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . 11 Feb 1863-10 Oct 1867 . . . Richard P. Darby . . . 1 . . . . . . 1 Apr 1864 . . . . . . William Polk . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 1857, 1877 . . . . . . Special Assistant Surveyor WORCESTER John Henry . . . . . . 848 . . . . . . 11 Dec 1742-18 Apr 1760 . . James Round . . . . . . 1121 . . . . . 10 Jul 1753-11 Jun 1772 . Josiah Mitchell . . . . 385 . . . . . . 2 Apr 1770-9 Aug 1777 . Joshua Mitchell . . . . 917 . . . . . . 9 Apr 1782-3 Nov 1802 . Mitchell Gray . . . . . 112 . . . . . . 2 Apr 1800-24 Dec 1821 . George Bell . . . . . . 52 . . . . . . 21 Dec 1802-09 Jan 1804 . . (d. 31 Jan 1804, noted on his last survey) Littleton R. Purnell . 240 . . . . . . 29 Mar 1804-2 Feb 1815 . . . . . . Johnson Gray . . . . . 101 . . . . . . 20 Oct 1820-27 Sep 1836 . David K. Hopkins . . . 46 . . . . . . 20 Jun 1821-1 Nov 1826 . . . . . . Powell Pattey . . . . . 35 . . . . . . 08 Feb 1837-04 Apr 1848 . Charles Parker . . . . 74 . . . . . . 22 Aug 1839-1 Nov 1854 . Seth M. Whaley . . . . 3 . . . . . . 6 Jun 1848-2 Sep 1848 . . George B. Gray . . . . 9 . . . . . . 29 Jan 1849-22 Sep 1850 . Eli W. Gordy . . . . . 19 . . . . . . 8 Mar 1854-30 Mar 1865 . . William G. Gordy . . . 6 . . . . . . 6 Nov 1856-1 Oct 1857 . William Shockley . . . 74 . . . . . . 18 Mar 1858-15 Jul 1868 . . . . . . George P. Brown . . . . 23 . . . . . . 01 Jan 1862-31 Dec 1863 . . . . . .