Survey of Section 16 in Township 17 North, Range 6 West, 10 May 18361
corners | Bearing trees |
Inches Diam[Diameter] |
Course | Links Dist[Distance] |
|
1 | W.[White] Oak | 18 | N[North] 59 W.[West] | 132 | |
2 | W. Oak | 24 | S[South] 5 W | 66 | |
3 | W. Oak | 12 | S 74 W. | 19 | |
4 | Ash | 14 | N 51 E[East] | 55 | |
5 | Post & Mound | ||||
6 | Elm | 16 | N 86 E. | 410 | |
7 | Post & Mound | ||||
8 | Elm | 16 | S 24 W | 417 | |
9 | Hick[Hickory] | 6 | S 84 W | 25 | |
10 | S. Oak2 | 36 | N 73 E | 16 | |
11 | Maple | 7 | S 60 W | 21 | |
12 | Sycam[Sycamore] | 30 | N 26 W | 47 | |
13 | Sycam | 24 | S 30 W | 15 | |
14 | Cotten[Cottonwood] | 10 | S 6 W. | 30 | |
15 | W. Oak | 10 | N 10 W | 37 | |
16 | W. Oak | 3 | N 33 E | 8 | |
17 | Hick | 12 | S 24 W | 58 | |
18 | Hick | 3 | N 66 E | 9 | |
19 | B.[Black] Oak | 32 | S 9 E | 79 | |
20 | Post & Mound | ||||
21 | W. Oak | 22 | N 88 W | 3 | |
22 | Elm | 14 | N 44 E. | 29 | |
23 | B. Oak | 22 | corner | ||
24 | Post & Mound | ||||
25 | Ash | 24 | N 80 W | 4 | |
263 | Hick | 12 | corner | ||
27 | Elm | 15 | corner | ||
28 | B. Oak | 12 | S 37 E. | 23 | |
29 | Post & Mound | ||||
30 | Lynn4 | 11 | N 50 E | 20 | |
31 | Hick | 14 | N 50 W | 17 | |
32 | Hick | 8 | N 32 W | 8 | |
33 | W. Oak | 22 | corner | ||
34 | cotten | 17 | S 25 E | 7 |
I certify that the foregoing are an accurate Plat and Field Notes for Section 16.
in Township 17 North of Range 6 West of the 3rd Principal Meridian; as surveyed by me5
A. Lincolnfor T. M. Neal. S.[Surveyor] S. C.May 10th 1836
[ certification
]
05/10/1836
05/10/1836
We certify that the forgoing is an acurrat plat and valuation of section 16 Town[Township] 17 north of range 6 west of the ^3d^ principle meridian given under our hands this 10th of may 1836—
Matthew Moorhead | } | Trustees |
Fleming Hall | ||
Benjamin Wiseman |
<Page 2>
[ docketing
]
Plat of Sec 16 Town 17. R[Range] 6 W
Entered of Record Page. 114
Entered of Record Page. 114
[ docketing
]
Boston
[ endorsement
]
30 May
Wm Strawbridge | wants | 200$ | S. F. this Week & 300$ if. |
Wm B. Brown | " | 100 | S. F.th"We" |
1This document includes a survey map, which has not been transcribed here. On the map,
all the text is in Lincoln’s handwriting, except the “valued at ___” additions, which
are written vertically. The decimal numbers written in the spaces between each lot
vertically and horizontally represent the dimensions of each lot boundary in feet.
The whole numbers 1 through 34 correspond to the landmarks laid out in the succeeding
table. The table transcribed here was written entirely by Lincoln. Lincoln also wrote
and signed Neale’s certification.
5The land described here is located in present-day southern Menard County.
In 1818, when Congress passed the act enabling the Illinois Territory to become a state, it granted to every township in the state the proceeds of the
sale of land in each township’s Section 16. This money became known as the common
school fund. Before the land in any county’s Section 16 could be sold, the county
commissioners court had to first authorize a survey.
“An Act to Enable the People of the Illinois Territory to Form a Constitution and
State Government, and for the Admission of Such State into the Union on an Equal Footing
with the Original States,” 18 April 1818, Statutes at Large of the United States 3 (1846):428-31; W. L. Pillsbury, “Early Education in Illinois,” Sixteenth Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State
of Illinois (Springfield, IL: H. W. Rokker, 1886), 106-7.
Autograph Document Signed, 2 page(s), Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (Springfield, IL).