The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, Volume II

545

PAPERS OF l\IIRABEAU BUONAPARTE LAMAR

mediately issued instructions to the County Surveyors of either coumty requiring of them a cessation of operations by their deputies within the disputed tract, until the line should be run, at the same instructing them to meet & run the line- of these orders copies with the sPal of the Gener·al T,and offir.e ,vere by me posted up, at Deckers the headquarters of these deputies and within the land in dispute- So that ignorance, or want of Knowledge might not-con- tinue the evil, To these prohbitions no regard was paid by the Deputies-and many surveys afterward made--The county sur- veyor of Montgomery addressed a letter to that officer of Harrisburg asking for a day of meeting-examination and adjustment of bounds- to which he received a reply that their views would proba- bly be so dissimilar that no satisfactory conclusion could be attained. l\Ir Trott a Deputy of I-Iarrisburf! shortly after the reply above men- tioned tan a line- (we learn without any authority,) as the divi- sional line- between the counties- marking the, same as such- About the same time our County surveyor in conjunction with the county surve.vor proceeded of Austin proceeded to adjust 65 the mutual boundary of Austin & ::\fontgomery-at a point some 6 miles rnuth of the beginning place of Mr. Trotts line,- who in preference of a well known lake of water, the head of 8pring Creek chose a small pond which goes dr:v in summer- and which does not indicate by by f sic] any channel from the place-that it is even one of the sources of S'pring Creek. At what appeared to these Surveyors by close examination- and bv reference for information to the older settlers- the proper sonrde of· Spring- they established the N E corner of Austin County upon the South line of l\Iontgomery- At the last Session of Congress a bill passed the representative branch for the rendering more clear the matter-but which did not pass the Senate (we are so informed)- There are being now returned to the General Land office the notes of surveys made from Harrisburg, but upon surveys previously made, for within-our county and many of which were probably made by the present County surveyor of Har- risburg when a Deputy-knowingly Perceiving by the prints that patents may soon issue, and unless your Excellency was in posses'lion of ~ome information on our part, patents mights issue to those who have really no claim, has induced me to enter into a detail of the facts as they exist, appealing to your Excellencys Justice and wisdom for such action as. may protect our rights- without our being compelled to incur expensive heavy and protracted snits at law- at the ;;;ame time refering myself to your Excellencys known goodness to excuse by troubling you therein- ,v e have been all along in hopes that the commissioner General would have enforced the running of the boundary line which should have been ordered previous to the commencement of surveys near the boundary- and much difficulty thereby prevented- and now were he to cause the same to he run it would give to either party such knowledge as would prevent much contention- I believe that he does not conceve himself competent to adjust or order the adjustment of "'The writer evidently confused himself here. The sentence probably should read, "our County surveyor in conjunction with the county surveyor of Aus• tin proceeded to adjust . . . ." 35-Library.

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