Government Land Office Survey Notes

Before the government could sell land to aspiring pioneers or speculators the land had to be surveyed.  It was this survey that placed the one-mile square grid over Iowa's landscape. The grid itself was the brainchild of Thomas Jefferson, who believed that distributing land in 40 or 80 acre parcels to yeoman farmers, would be the best way to build his idea of a civil society. His system was adopted exactly as designed except the measurements were not metric.

The tools used to conduct the survey were a compass, a Gunter's chain, and a jacob's staff. Each chain consisted of 100 links, each link was 7.92 inches, and 80 chains equaled a mile. As the land was surveyed, the crew would set posts at the half-mile and at the end of the mile. If in a wooded area the crew would set the post in the ground and mark two trees. If no trees were available to mark, they built a large mound of earth and sod and placed the post in the center. As the survey was completed, the deputy surveyor would take notes. He would note the context in which the posts were placed in addition to landscape changes, location and size of streams, location of roads, and the existence of any trees that happen to be located exactly on the line being surveyed. At the end of every mile he would describe the topography, soils, and tree species present. When the entire township was completed, a summary of the township was included as well.

In the Summer of 1839, John Frierson received the contract to survey Township 79 North, Range 6W, th 5 principal meridian. He hired three assistants, Jacob Way and Layman Dillon, to be chainmen, and Cyrus Sanders to be the marker. On July 29, 1839 they began to survey north between sections 11 and 12, which is their first encounter with a section containing the future Hickory Hill Park.

Beginning at the SE corner of section 11 (Entry #1 on the aerial and topographic maps in Appendix II) the crew began to survey north. At 25 chains (2), the crew entered scattering timber. At 38 chains (3) they encountered a Wild Cherry five inches in diameter. At 40 chains (4), they set the quarter section post. They marked two Black Oaks, the first 18 inches in diameter located 88 links away at a bearing of 77.5 degrees east of north. The second was also 18 inches in diameter located 68 links away at a bearing of 12.5 degrees west of north. They also stated that at this point they entered heavy timber. At 59.34 chains (5), they encountered a White Oak 3 feet in diameter. At 76.10 chains (6), they crossed a small stream 6 links wide coursing west. At 80 chains (7), they set the corner section post. They again marked two Black Oaks. The first was 18 inches in diameter located 27 links away at a bearing of 55.5 degrees east of south. The second was 20 inches in diameter located 105 links away at a bearing of 76.5 degrees west of north.

At this point Deputy Surveyor Frierson described the last mile as "land first rate, first 25 chains prairie, next 15 chains thick hazle underbrush and scattering Oak, last half mile heavy Black and White Oak timber". The next mile surveyed which involves a section containing Hickory Hill Park, was between sections 1 and 2.

At the SE corner of section 2 (7), the crew began surveying north. At 22.58 chains (8), the crew encountered a White Oak 16 inches in diameter. At 40 chains (9), they set the quartersection post. They marked one Black Oak and one White Oak. The Black Oak was 14 inches in diameter and located 57 links of south. At 65 chains (10), they crossed the road from Dubuque to Iowa City. At 79.37 chains (11), the crew intercepted the township line 33 links east of the already established post. They set the corner-post and marked two White Oaks. The first was 28 inches in diameter located 14 links away at a bearing of 15.5 degrees west of south and the second was 26 inches in diameter located 87 links away at a bearing of 55.5 degrees east of south. Frierson described the land as second rate, consisting of Oak openings with White, Black, and Burr Oak of excellent quality.

The next survey of interest is between sections 10 and 11. They began at the southwest corner of section 11 (12). They headed north and at 11.7 chains (13), they crossed a creek 15 links wide with a sluggish current coursing southwest. At 22 chains (14), they crossed the road to Bloomington. At 40 chains (15), they set the quarter-section post and marked two Black Oaks. The first was 18 inches in diameter located 148 links away at a bearing of 64 degrees 45 minutes east of south. The second was 14 inches in diameter located 153 links away at a bearing of 29.25 degrees west of south. At 80 chains (16), they set the corner post which was also the northeast corner of Iowa City. They marked two White Oaks, the first was a "twin" White Oak 24 inches in diameter located 25 links away at a bearing of 45 degrees west of south. The second White Oak was 14 inches in diameter located 62 links away at a bearing of 62.5 degrees east of north. The mile was described as "land first rate prairie with a few scattering oaks".

The crew then turned east to survey between sections 2 and 11. East-west surveys were always twice, first a "random" survey east to find the pre-established post. Once survey line to the east was found, they corrected their path to ensure a true due west survey, and re-surveyed the mile. So the crew began at the southwest corner of section 2 (16) and began heading east. At 40 chains (17), they set a temporary quarter-section post. At 47 chains (18), they crossed a brook 10 links wide coursing southwest. At 49.75 chains (19) they re-crossed the brook this time coursing northwest. At 55 chains (20), they crossed the brook again this time links south of the post. Frierson described the land as "land good. scattering oaks". They then corrected their line and headed west. At 39.79 (17) they set the permanent quarter section post in a mound. At 79.59 links (16) they reached the corner post.

The final mile of interest was the survey north between sections 2 and 3. They began at the southwest corner of section 2 (16) and headed north. At 22.50 chains (21), they crossed the road from Dubuque to Iowa City. At 40 chains (22), they set the quarter-section post and marked a Black Oak and a White Oak. The Black Oak was 12 inches in diameter and located 20 links away at a bearing of 45 degrees west of south. The White Oak was 18 inches in diameter and located 15 links away at a bearing of 78 degrees east of south. At 43.12 chains (23) the crew encountered a White Oak 14 inches in diameter. At 80 chains (24) they intersected the township line and set the corner post. They marked one Burr Oak 10 inches in diameter located 100 links away at a bearing of 5 degrees east of north. No other tree was near enough to mark. The mile was described as "land 2nd rate undulating oak openings, timber was white, black and burr oak".

When the crew completed surveying the entire township, Frierson described the township as follows: This township lies on both sides of the Iowa River, and is diversified by timber and prairie. Most of the land is first rate, generally undulating though very little can be called broken. It has many springs of good water and abounds with excellent timber, with inexhaustible quarries of Limestone and grey marble. The banks of the river are generally low- from 10 to 15 feet above the bed of the river and generally sandy though in a few places they are rocky. The river has usually a gentle current and shallow bed exceedingly choked up with sand bars- Iowa City is locate on Section 10 of this township, but there are as yet few permanent settlers- Two or three roads have been laid out through this township but as they have not been worked upon and are little traveled, they would hardly be noticed by a person crossing them.

The survey notes kept by the deputy surveyor and turned into the Land Office are still available. These survey notes describe every mile surveyed. Consequently, they offer a great snapshot of what a local landscape looked like in the mid-1800's. Interpreting these notes for a given piece of land offers the landowner a fair representation of the pre-settlement condition of their land. In addition to the natural history information offered by these notes, the survey crews were often the first european-americans to set foot on this land. The story of these surveyors, are an important component of the story of that particular piece of land.