Solution 2 Plot:
Bill, the crossing is about where it's been for a long time, though there is an 1853 map of the county (by Yardley Taylor!) that shows the road taking a different route out of Lincoln and running almost exactly North-South when it crosses the stream.
I'm not too sure about the geodetic/magnetic question here. I can tell you this: the intersection of three treelines at N 39 06 51.86, W 077 41 07.55 is, within the normal limits, a perpetuation of an ancient corner first established about 1744. If you come from there southerly along the north-south treeline, on the west side of a long narrow lot wooded in the middle, and come on down toward the bridge, you'll be on an azimuth of about 176 or 177. Back in the day it was 180. Anyhow, that's about where Mead's line was, but as Yardley's farm and his brother's (Henry S. Taylor, not previously mentioned in this discussion) edged closer together, Mead was between them a while, and sold to each of them at various times, and finally Thomas E. Taylor and Yardley's heirs made arrangements that moved Thomas E.'s line farther west, and traces of Mead's line were obliterated by fence removal, cultivation, etc.
The County mapping office has several aerial photos online, and in the one from 1937, traces of Mead's line are apparent.
Cheers,
Henry
Solution 2 Plot:
Here's a screen shot of the 1937 aerial, with the bridge near the bottom center of the picture. The picture seems to have been assembled in strips, so there are breaks in the road. The sort of chopped west-facing right triangle just north of the road is the bulldozed patch.
Henry
Solution 2 Plot:
I dropped my Solution 2 into Google Earth by making a rough guess at the location of the northeast corner then converting that to Virginia State Plane North Zone (I assume VA is US-Survey-Feet) then translating Solution 2 at the northeast corner. I didn't rotate or scale because it isn't necessary due to the low accuracy of the two Deeds.
I will share the KML file, just e-mail me.
As an aside ...
I haven't worked nearly so hard on the question of where my g-g-g-g-grandfather's land was in 1830's about 230 miles west of the parcel under discussion. I think I know which valley it was in, but don't see any obvious perpetuation of that shape of parcel and haven't traced the deeds.
About 1837 there were court cases between a Henry O. Middleton, agent for Thomas O. Taylor, and my family and probably other locals over title to land upstream of Point Pleasant (W) Virginia. I think it may have been one of those areas covered by overlapping land grants.
The handwriting on those cases was excruciating to read, and I wasn't motivated to dig any deeper than to find the connection of a father to son.
Any connection with your Taylors? (It's been long enough-no grudge 😛 )
Solution 2 Plot:
Dave, that looks mighty close to me. I don't know whether you can keep the drawing in place while looking at earlier maps, but the one Bill93 recommended a few posts back, 12/2009, will show more clearly how well you have positioned the drawing over the ruin of the foundry. I would very much like to have the KML, but I can't find a way to e-mail that fact to you, so it's here. You can send it to me at htaylor4@uwyo.edu. Many thanks!
Cheers,
Henry
As an aside ...
Bill, it would cheer me immensely to have that connection, but it's very hard to know. Taylor is one of those names that don't all trace back to the same root, to put it mildly. Some descendants of some of my forebears or their siblings did go west and settle in Ohio; many Quakers did that, in the 1820s to 1840s especially.
The kind of deed-searching you haven't done would almost have to start in the appropriate courthouse. I can do some long-distance searching because I have starting points, and have already spent years off and on in the Loudoun County Courthouse, though I don't expect to go there again.
Cheers,
Henry
Solution 2 Plot:
It's in your e-mail.
If you want me to shift it around, just reply. Cardinal distances in feet would be easiest. I'll be out in the field all day so it'll be later on before I'm able to do it, after 5pm PST.
Yes, you can change the aerial photos and the plot will still be there.
I think you can import old photos to Google Earth but I haven't done that.
Here it is in Google Earth Pro with the parcel database lines. Obviously there appear to be some issues...
Solution 2 Plot:
Dave,
Bravo! In some world or other, the east ends of the trapezoid and the lot just north of it would coincide, but they would also overlap by about the amount they do now. The lot to the north is the GIS version of the third parcel I mention above, the one that got me started on this, and it came to existence in two stages: first, a lot adjoined the trapezoid to the north; then the resulting lot was divided along the road, so the northeast corner of the trapezoid went with the north lot. Finally, the north lot was obliterated, but its ghost lingers on in the Assessor's database.
I can't thank you enough. I'm working on learning how do do some of what you've done here, and you've inspired me as well as helped me.
Cheers,
Henry
