Surveying Bennington

Theodolite at Bennington Museum (Photo from Wikipedia)

A couple of months ago I became interested in the equipment and techniques used by colonial surveyors. I don't recall what spurred me to start looking into them, but I've been studying some period books and journals regarding the subject, and began looking into recreating replicas of some of the tools so that I can use them in the future to demonstrate 18^th century surveying to the public.

Field Notes of an Unkown Surveyor from New York, 1765

During my high-level online research, I found that the Bennington Museum in Bennington, Vermont has, in its collections, a few original 18^th century surveying items, including a field book from an unknown New York surveyor from 1765. The field book is not on display, but I was able to make an appointment to view the item at the museum's library and archive. In addition to being able to view it, the curator there allowed me to take photos and later emailed me a transcript of the book. I've been reading, re-reading, and studying the book over the last few weeks. It's really sort of fascinating.

The first thing that I came across of interest was a statement by the surveyor regarding the temperament of some of the people who lived in the area that he was surveying. He was working on land that was contested by the colonies of New Hampshire and New York, and not all of the settlers were friendly. Having purchased their land from New Hampshire, many people in the Bennington area were not happy to see a New Yorker who was trying to claim the land for someone else. On the second page of his field book, the unknown surveyor states:

"Going North a Little to the S there Lives one Wickwire & on[e] Pratt I did the Same manner Demand the Possesion of that House & Lot in your Name, here I had like to have had my head broke, & he forwarned me Running across his Inclosion I told him Shurely Would & the, he might Sue for a Trespass of [if] Chose-"

Knowing the history of the New Hampshire Grants, and the residents border dispute with New York, it was pretty neat to see a literal first-hand account from someone who was there, in the midst of it.

Danby, New Hampshire Grants, Land Survey, 1775

Another item that I was able to look at was an original survey of land in Dorset, Vermont, dated 1775. The survey was a single page, and outlined a plot of land that I was later able to draw a map of. I haven't tried placing it within the town lines yet, but based on the survey notes, it was on the northern town line.

After spending an hour or so in the archives, I took a look around the museum. They have a really great collection of items from the area, including a lot of artifacts from the Battle of Bennington. Back to the topic of surveying, one item on display was a theodolite captured after the battle, thought to belong to a local Tory by the name of Colonel Francis Pfister. Pfister and Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum, leader of the German troops at Bennington, were both mortally wounded during the battle, passing away at a house where they were taken after the battle.