Platting land using metes and bounds

This column has previously discussed the early Maryland land system and its records. This system is still in use today in Maryland, and in fact, many original patents are still called by the same names today.

Now how do you map out the land described in a patent record, certificate of survey, or deed? Most land records have a description of the land stated within them. Even those deeds that do not contain a description should provide a patented name for the tract. This should allow you to go back to the original patent, or an earlier deed, and view the description in one of those records.

Land tracts in Maryland, unlike those in most other states, often maintain the same name even through numerous transactions. This makes it immeasurably easier to follow the trail of ownership of any particular land tract within Maryland, as this name will often appear not only on land records, but also in probate records and on tax lists.

Another common occurrence in Maryland land records is the combination of parts of several tracts of land, divided through sale or inheritance, into new parcels of land. These parcels are sometimes repatented under a new name, but are just often cited using their original patented names.

The following is a typical land description from a nineteenth century deed, transferring land in Charles County, Maryland:

...all their moiety or one fourth part of all those six Several tracts or parts of tracts or parcels of land (Viz.) one tract called Williams’s Chance containing Seventy two acres one ditto called Wades Addition containing one hundred acres one ditto called Johns Chance containing one hundred acres containing one hundred acres one ditto called Galloway containing ninety Six acres one ditto called Johns Desart containing two hundred and forty five acres and one other ditto called Josias’s Help containing one hundred and nine acres all of which Said land was formerly owned and possessed by John Stromatt Sen^r. of the County and State aforesaid deceased and descended from him to his grand Son the aforesaid John S. Skinner ...[1]

This description notes that these six land tracts were formerly owned by John Stromatt, Sr., and that one fourth of the land descended to John S. Skinner, his grandson. It does not state where John Stromatt obtained the land, whether by patent or by deed, and does not state whether the six tracts lie adjacent to each other.

Using the Plats website, described in an earlier column, one can locate the original certificates of survey for each of these tracts of land. These surveys will provide the metes and bounds for the land, since this deed does not. Many deeds, however, do provide the metes and bounds within their descriptions of the land being conveyed.

The first tract, “Williams’s Chance,” was originally surveyed by the Deputy Surveyor Robert Hanson in Charles County, on 22 March 1727 for William Williams. The certificate of survey reads,

By virtue of a Warrant out of his Lordships Land office for one hundred Acres of Land bearing date ye 20^th day of October Last Granted unto William Williams of Charles County. These are to Certifye that I have Laid out for the Said William Williams all that Tract of parcel of Land Called Williams Chance Lying in Charles County aforesaid about three quarters of a mile from Potomack River—Beginning at a bounded white Oak Standing in ye given line of a parcel of Land formerly belonging to James Lindsey Runing thence East South East two hundred & fifty Eight perches then North North East forty five perches then West North West two hundred & fifty Eight perches then to the beginning Containing and Laid out for seventy two Acres to be held of Zachia Mannor.[2]

This survey describes a simple rectangular tract of land, as can be seen in the attached plat that was included with the original survey. You may notice that none of the angles appear to be specified. The directions used in this survey are the points on a 32-point compass, rather than compass degrees. For the purposes of platting, you will need to convert the points into degrees. There are conversion charts available online, such as this one from Wikipedia (on this chart the degrees that you will use are those in the “Middle” column). In this system, not only are the cardinal (North, East, South, West) and ordinal (Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest) points used, but other divisions are as well such as “North North East,” “North by East,” “East by North East,” etc. It is very important to note the specific terminology used, as this will be the only way to accurately draw your plat.

Typical of land plats of this era is the use of now-archaic units of measurement. In these surveys, use of the “perch” was common. Generally equivalent to a “rod” and a “pole”—units more common in other colonies/states—the perch was equal to one-fourth of a “chain” (sixty-six (66) feet), or sixteen and a half feet.

One of the other tracts in this survey, “John’s Chance,” was patented by John Stromatt, and surveyed on 10 September 1741. The 100-acre warrant was assigned to Stromatt by Bayne Smallwood, and was part of a larger warrant for 250 acres of land granted to Smallwood. This tract is rather simple, but is not rectangular, and so it serves as a better example. The description reads,

…Johns Chance lying in the County afores^d between a tract of land Called Frankoma and another Called Galloway begining at a stone marked [“IS” over “1741”] lying in a branch that falls into Lawsons Marsh running thence North twenty six deg^rs. East one hundred and four perches then North sixty five deg^rs.east ninety six perches then south forty eight degrees east Eighty perches then south thirty five degrees west ninety six perches then with a straight line to the first begining Containing and laid out for One hundred Acres to be held of Panguiah Mannor.[3]

This can be understood more easily by organizing the courses into a chart. A simple organizational chart, used in the “Metes and Bounds” form, included in The Family History Research Toolkit CD-ROM (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2008), creates columns for the corner marker and the neighbors (when noted), a column for the direction, and a column for the distance, as follows:

Corner	Neighbor	Direction	Distance

In this case, because the description does not name any of the neighbors, this column was omitted. The chart below shows the organization of the survey:

Corner	Direction	Distance
Beginning:
Marked stone lying on a Branch that falls into Lawsons Marsh	N 26° E	104 perches
	N 65° E	96 perches
	S 48° E	80 perches
	S 35° W	96 perches
Straight line to the beginning

To plat these courses, you will need a protractor to measure the angles, and a ruler with millimeter markings.

First, draw your first marker, in the form of a dot. Place the protractor with this dot at the center of the cross. The “0” will represent due North, the “90” due East, and the “180” due South. Find the line on your protractor representing “26°” and draw another dot. Place your ruler connecting the two dots, and draw a line 104 mm long. This will be your first bound.

Now, place your protractor with the end of this line at the center of the cross. It is very important that your protractor maintains the same angle for due North as you used in the first step. Find the line representing “65°” and draw another dot. Again, use your ruler to connect the end of the first line with your new dot, and draw a line 96 mm long. This will be your second bound.

It is easiest to draw South-oriented directions by converting them to North-oriented directions. Remember, due South is 180° when oriented to due North. South 48° East is 48 degrees closer to due East (90°), so South 48° East would be equal to 180°minus 48°, or equivalent to North 132° East.

So, to draw the third bound, you will position the center of the protractor’s cross at the end of the second line, being careful to keep the same bearing for your 0°/due North, and look for the line representing 132°. Draw a dot here, use your ruler to connect the end of the second line with your new dot, and draw a line 80 mm long. This will be your third bound.

When drawing Western directions, there are two ways to do it. If you have a full-circle protractor, you can simply convert the angle to orient North, which would be 180° plus 35°, or 215°. Draw a line 96 mm long at the 215° mark, and you have your fourth bound. If you have a semi-circle protractor (the most common kind), then you will turn it around, with the 180° mark pointing due North, the 90° mark pointing due West, and the 0° mark pointing due South. From this angle, to draw a South 35° West line, you will place your mark at the 35° mark, and draw a line 96 mm long.

The final bound omits both direction and distance, instead citing, as many deeds do, “a straight line to the first begining.” Using your ruler, draw a line to close the tract, from the end of the fourth line to the original beginning marker.

Now, to see how you’ve done, compare your drawing to the plat included with the survey, attached to this article below. Don’t worry if you don’t do it perfectly the first time – practice makes perfect!

And if you simply don’t feel like doing it yourself, there are several great platting software programs. The most popular among genealogists, which allows you to import USGIS survey maps, plat multiple tracts, and place the plats directly on the map, is a program called Deedmapper, available directly from the manufacturer, Direct Line Software.

Check out more forms from The Family History Research Toolkit CD-ROM, either individually or the whole disc!

[1] Charles County Court (Land Records) John S. and Sophia Skinner, deed to Adam Posey, 6 Nov 1839, Liber IB 24, ff. 85-87, MSA CE 82-61; Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland.

[2] Land Office (Certificates, Patented, CH) “Williams Chance,” patented certificate 195, 22 Mar 1727, MSA S1195-1208; digital image, Plats.net (http://www.plats.net : accessed 17 Mar 2010).

[3] Land Office (Certificates, Patented, CH) “Johns Chance,” patented certificate 596, 10 Sep 1741, MSA S1195-606; digital image, Plats.net (http://www.plats.net : accessed 17 Mar 2010).