were not known and praying that such measures might be taken that they might be ascertained to the satisfaction of all parties. In 1733 Lord Fairfax made a similar petition, asking that a commission might be appointed to ascertain, survey, and mark the true boundaries of his grant. An order was accordingly issued, and in 1736 three commissioners were appointed on the part of the Crown and three on the part of Lord Fairfax. The duty that devolved upon these commissioners was to ascertain by actual examination and survey the respective fountains of Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. This survey was made in 1736. The report of the commissioners was referred to the council for plantation affairs in 1738, who reported their decision as follows: The said boundary ought to begin at the first spring of the south branch of the river Rappahannock, and that the said boundary be from thence drawn in a straight line northwest to the place in the Alleghany Mountains where that part of the Potomac River, which is now called Cohongoroota, first rises. * * This report was confirmed by the King, and other commissioners were appointed to run out and mark the dividing line. The line was run in 1746. On October 17, 1746, the commissioners planted the Fairfax Stone at the spot which had been described and marked by the preceding commissioners as the true head spring of the Potomac and which, notwithstanding much controversy, has continued to be so regarded from that period to the present time. Besides limiting the Fairfax tract, this location was of greater importance as marking the southern point of the western boundary of Maryland. A description of the original Fairfax Stone, as it appeared in 1859, was given in a report by Lieutenant Michler, as follows: It consists of a rough piece of sandstone, indifferent and friable, planted to the depth of a few feet in the ground and rising a foot or more above the surface; shapeless in form, it would scarce attract the attention of the passer by. The finding of it was without difficulty, and its recognition and identification by the inscription now almost obliterated by the corroding action of water and air. When the commissioners for the Maryland-West Virginia boundary visited this locality in 1910 no trace of the original mark was found, although the mark set by Lieutenant Michler was readily identified. A large concrete monument was then built at this point. As stated on page 131, these commissioners placed the monument marking the southwest corner of Maryland on the south bank of the North Branch of the Potomac, nearly 4,000 feet north of the Fairfax Stone. 70 7 For report of the commissioners, with description and position of each of the 34 monuments, see 225 U. S. 2-30. For references concerning Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia boundaries see 217 U. S. 1-47. This tract of land was held by Lord Fairfax and his descendants for many years, but subsequent to the Revolution the quitrents and similar charges were abolished, and it became in all respects subject to the jurisdiction of Virginia. For the history and description of the boundary line between Virginia and Maryland see pages 127-131, and for the line between Virginia and West Virginia see page 145. Kentucky formed originally a part of the county of Fincastle, Va. In 1776 this county was divided into three counties, the westernmost of which was called Kentucky County, and its eastern boundary was declared to be as follows: 71 A line beginning on the Ohio, at the mouth of Great Sandy Creek, and running up the same and the main or northeasterly branch thereof to the Great Laurel Ridge or Cumberland Mountains; thence southwesterly along the said mountain to the line of North Carolina. Kentucky having been admitted into the Union June 1, 1792, commissioners were appointed in 1798 by Virginia and Kentucky to fix the boundary. In 1799-1800 the commissioners' report was made and ratified by the States. It was as follows: To begin at the point where the Carolina, now Tennessee, line crosses the top of the Cumberland mountains, near Cumberland Gap, thence northeastwardly along the top or highest part of the said Cumberland mountain, keeping between the headwaters of Cumberland and Kentucky rivers, on the west side thereof, and the headwaters of Powell's and Guest's rivers, and the Pound fork of Sandy, on the east side thereof, continuing along the said top, or highest part of said mountain, crossing the road leading over the same at the Little Paint Gap, where by some it is called the Hollow mountain and where it terminates at the West Fork of Sandy, commonly called Russell's fork, thence with a line to be run north 45° east till it intersects the other great principal branch of Sandy, commonly called the northeastwardly branch, thence down the said northeastwardly branch to its junction with the main west branch and down Main Sandy to its confluence with the Ohio." It will be seen that the northern part of this line is the present line between West Virginia and Kentucky. In 1918 the Virginia Legislature 78 authorized the resurvey and marking of the part of the Kentucky line from Russell Fork to the West Virginia line, but Kentucky has not yet (1929) made any provision for this work. The exact location of the boundary along "Great Sandy Creek" and its "northeasterly branch" (now called Big Sandy River and Tug Fork) is somewhat in doubt. The best evidence as to its proper position thus far found is that indicated on Bishop James Madison's map of Virginia, dated 1807, where it is shown as on the west bank 71 Hening, W. W., Virginia Stat. L., vol. 9, p. 257, 1821. of both streams. This evidence is in a measure confirmed by a clause in the West Virginia State Constitution of 1872, which is as follows: The State of West Virginia includes the bed, bank and shores of the Ohio river, and so much of the Big Sandy river as was formerly included in the commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia at one time owned the entire area of Kentucky and claimed territory north of the Ohio. Many court decisions have fixed the low-water line on the north bank of the Ohio as the boundary resulting from this claim. It therefore seems reasonable to assume that the Kentucky boundary should be so placed as to exclude the bed and shores to low-water mark on the west side of the two streams. For the history of the settlement of the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina, see North Carolina, pages 149–151. In 1779 Virginia and North Carolina appointed commissioners to run the boundary line between the two States west of the Allegheny Mountains, on the parallel of 36° 30'. The commissioners were unable to agree on the location of the parallel; they therefore ran two parallel lines 2 miles apart, the northern known as Henderson's line and claimed by North Carolina, the southern known as Walker's line and claimed by Virginia. In the year 1789 North Carolina ceded to the United States all territory west of her present boundaries, and as Tennessee was formed from the ceded territory, this question became one between Virginia and Tennessee. Commissioners appointed by Virginia and Tennessee to establish the boundary adopted a compromise line. Their report was made in 1803 and was as follows: 74 A due west line equally distant from both Walker's and Henderson's, beginning on the summit of the mountain generally known as White Top mountain, where the northeast corner of Tennessee terminates, to the top of the Cumberland Mountain, where the southwestern corner of Virginia terminates. This line, which is about a mile north of the Walker line, was marked on trees by five notches arranged in the form of a diamond and is often called the "diamond line." It was adopted by the legislatures of both States in 1803. In 1871 Virginia passed an act for appointing commissioners to readjust this line. Tennessee the following year passed an emphatic resolution refusing to reopen the question regarding a boundary which she considered "fixed and established beyond dispute for ever." 75 74 Haywood, John, The civil and political history of Tennessee, p. 9, Knoxville, 1823; reprint, p. 23, Nashville, 1891. For report to the legislature by the Virginia commissioners, Thomas Walker and Daniel Smith, regarding the survey of this line, see idem (reprint), pp. 487-489. The report by the committee of the legislature is on page 497. 75 Tennessee H. Jour. for Mar. 23, 1872, p. 71. In 1889 Virginja took the matter to the Supreme Court of the United States, which in 1893 decreed that the line as surveyed and marked in 1803 is the true boundary." Until 1784 Virginia exercised jurisdiction over a large tract of country northwest of the Ohio River, but by a deed executed March 1, 1784, she ceded to the United States all that territory, thus making the northern part of her western boundary the north and northwest bank of the Ohio. On December 31, 1862, the State of Virginia was divided, and 48 counties, composing the western part of the State, were made the new State of West Virginia. By an act of Congress in 1866 consent was given to the transfer of two additional counties from Virginia to West Virginia. The Legislatures of Virginia in 1873 and West Virginia in 1877 authorized the appointment of commissions for "ascertaining and locating" the boundary between the two States wherever it was in dispute. Commissions were appointed, and an officer from the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, was detailed to aid in the work. So far as can be learned the survey and marking of this boundary have not been undertaken, and its location can be found only by following the old county lines, descriptions of which are given in the Virginia statutes. References to the statutes by which the counties of Virginia and West Virginia were created can be found in an article by Morgan P. Robinson." Most of the counties were created prior to 1800, and the references are to Hening's Statutes at Large of Virginia, but there have been many changes since that year. The Grand Assembly of Virginia, in 1660, enacted that For the prevention of frequent suits and differences all counties shall * be limited within certaine naturall bounds * and where naturall bounds are wanting to supply that defect by marked trees, which are to be viewed and renewed every three years by the neerest bordering inhabitants of each county and parrish in Easter week." WEST VIRGINIA The separation of West Virginia from Virginia was approved by act of Congress of December 31, 1862,79 and the new State was admitted to the Union by presidential proclamation dated April 20, 76 See 148 U. S. 528. For historical description and plat of the line consult records of the court for the October term, 1891; for geographic positions on the line see p. 184. For report of commissioners who surveyed the line in 1901-2 see 190 U. S. 64. For original maps of this survey see register No. 2634 of the archives of the Supreme Court. For reference to the Bristol cession see p. 184. 77 Virginia counties-Those resulting from Virginia legislation: Virginia State Library Bull., vol. 9, Nos. 1, 2, and 3, January-July, 1916. 78 Hening, W. W., op. cit., vol. 2, p. 18. 79 12 Stat. L. 633. 1863, effective June 19, 1863.80 It is of historical interest that the name proposed for this State by the convention of 1861 was Kanawha. It originally contained the following counties: Barbour, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Kanawha, Lewis, Logan, McDowell, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Mercer, Monongalia, Monroe, Morgan, Nicholas, Ohio, Pendleton, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie, Roane, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Upshur, Wayne, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, Wood, Wyoming. In 1866, with the consent of Congress,81 West Virginia was enlarged by the two counties of Berkeley and Jefferson, transferred from Virginia. The boundary between West Virginia and Virginia is made up of boundary lines of the counties above enumerated that border on Virginia and can be defined only by reference to the laws by which these counties were created.8: In the constitution of 1872, after a recapitulation of the counties that were transferred from Virginia to West Virginia, is found the following clause defining the boundaries upon the south and west: 83 The State of West Virginia includes the bed, bank, and shores of the Ohio River and so much of the Big Sandy River as was formerly included in the Commonwealth of Virginia; and all territorial rights and property in, and jurisdiction over the same, heretofore reserved by and vested in the Commonwealth of Virginia, are vested in and shall hereafter be exercised by the State of West Virginia. And such parts of the said beds, banks, and shores as lie opposite and adjoining the several counties of this State, shall form parts of said several counties, respectively. For a history of the boundaries of West Virginia, see Pennsylvania, pages 122-123; Maryland, pages 120, 122; and Virginia, page 144. NORTH CAROLINA In the year 1663 the "first charter" of Carolina was granted, which in 1665 was followed by the "second charter." The following extracts from these two charters define the boundaries. all that territory or tract of ground scituate, lying and being within our dominions of America, extending from the north end of the island called Lucke island, which lieth in the southern Virginia seas, and within six and thirty degrees of the northern latitude, and to the west as far as the south seas, and so southerly as far as the river St. Matthias, which bordereth upon the coast 80 13 Stat. L. 731. 81 14 Stat. L. 350. See 11 Wallace, 39, for a historical sketch of this addition and court decisions relating thereto. Hening, W. W., Virginia Stat. L. from 1619 to 1792, vol. 2, p. 184, 1821. 83 Thorpe, F. N., op. cit., vol. 7, p. 4034, Idem, vol. 5, p. 2744. |