Over the River, Through the woods, to Great-Great-Great-Grandma’s We Go!

1. Over the River, Through the woods, to Great-Great-Great-Grandma’s We Go! Val Swift, GISP GIS Administrator Hamilton County Surveyor’s Office

2. PUBLIC LANDS HISTORY 1783 Treaty of Paris was signed. This gave the United States over 270 million acres of lands East of the Mississippi, not including the original 13 colonies. These lands were to be used as payment for soldiers who had fought in the Revolutionary War.

3. PUBLIC LANDS HISTORY 1785 The Land Ordinance was created to handle the land growth. Public domain lands northwest of the Ohio River were to be surveyed into 36-square mile townships, and sold at no less than $1 per acre in tracts no smaller than 640 acres. The Ordinance also reserved Section 16 of each township for the maintenance of schools; set aside lands for Continental Army bounties (changed in 1796); established the minimum price per acre; and minimum land quantity which could be bought. The Ordinance further established that legal sale and settlement of the public land could not occur until the land had been surveyed and the survey accepted by the Federal Government.

4. PUBLIC LANDS HISTORY 1787-1788 • Sale of first public lands directed by Congress as soon as four of 'The Seven Ranges' in the Northwest Territory had been surveyed. At irregular, but well-advertised periods, at the office of the Board of Treasury in New York City, lands indicated on plats were offered for sale to highest bidders over the minimum price of $1 per acre. • First patent issued to John Martin on March 4th for 640 acres in what is now Belmont County, Ohio.

5. 1993: CAD Version • Drafted by Planning Department Intern • No GIS • Use Microstation to build square map of county. • Lots and lots of line segments. • Lots and lots of levels. • Designed as a printed map. • Didn’t line up with the GIS data.

7. Limited Data Sources

9. Revisions • Internet gave access to GLO Records (General Land Office at the Bureau of Land Management). • Citizen input • Other historical documents bring questions regarding name spellings.

10. GLO Records • Not a map • Need knowledge of location or purchaser name. • Spelling an issue. • There are a few bugs in the GLO database (typos and problems reading the handwritten Patents) leading to dead end searches and location errors.

12. Limited Data Sources

13. Limited Data Sources • County Recorder • Reading the handwritten pages • Spelling • Dates? • Acreage?

19. Move Project to ArcGIS • Build a new base map of sections. • Adjust section map to Section Corners where possible and best fit when no corner available • Older aerial photos a “must have” (Back to 1936) • 1993 map helpful when GLO Record searches come up blank.

20. Sections from Indiana Map (orange)Locally revised Sections (red)

21. Locally revised Sections (red)with 1956 Aerial Photography

22. Locally revised Sections (red)with current parcels

23. Locally revised Sections (red)with current centerline

24. Parcel Graphics • Sometimes a Section isn’t 640…. • Sometimes a Quarter Section isn’t 160 acres…. • Use the historic photos and the described acreages. • There are clues in the modern parcels.

26. Detective Work • Was that the NE1/4 of the NW1/4 of Section 25, 2 or 5? • What was that Range? • Look for other names that come up in that section, or on a broader search and check for database entry errors. • 11 ½ Sections with no data in GLO Records. • 119 Properties based on records in County Recorder’s Office. • Used original research to fill in the blanks.

37. Val Swift, GISP GIS Administrator Hamilton County Surveyor’s Office Noblesville, Indiana