This is approximately a real situation that no surveyor has addressed yet.
Shaded triangles are recovered perpetuations of GLO monuments, which were only set on exterior half-mile points. Government Lots were protracted in the office as 20 chains square except the north lots whatever was left (~ 25 chains).
Open triangles are recovered monuments that were set after GLO.
Thin solid line is existing fence, which is not on theoretical lines.
An 1880 plat gives dimensions for lot X but the bearings are either assumed cardinal or rounded to nearest 5 degrees so it miscloses 28 ft.
There probably never were monuments other than fences in the interior of the north “half” section, and the NE corner of Lot X was severely regraded in the past so there is not even the remains of an E-W fence.
So how would you survey Lot X?
A) Break down the section and proportion everything to the GLO lengths around the exterior?
B) Break down the section and proportion the "40-acre" corners, but give Lot X its record dimensions?
C) Decide that the owners defined the breakdown in the 1800’s with the fence corners?
D) Other ?
Need a copy of the deed for lot x.
The deeds since 1903 have said "Lot 1 in Government Lot 11."?ÿ I used X instead of 1 to show up better in the sketch.
The Auditor's Plat (created before that) shows GL11 divided into Lot 1?ÿ with 11 1/2 acres and Lot 2 as remainder with 28 1/2 acres (no dimensions given).?ÿ Lot 1 has dimensions on 4 sides and bearings to nearest 5 degrees on its southerly and westerly lines only.?ÿ Closure with cardinal assumptions on the N and E lines is 28 feet. ?ÿ ?ÿ Prior deeds gave dimensions that approximate but don't match the plat (for instance, someone converted rods + links to decimal rods with a factor of 0.03 for links.?ÿ Huh?? But that doesn't fix closure.).
The lot is not actually close to rectangular; I simplified the sketch and the southerly line is quite a bit shorter than the northerly line. No interpretation of the given distances and bearings comes close to 11 1/2 acres except the GLO shortcut method of using the product of the means of opposite sides, and being non-rectangular that significantly overestimates the area.
My position is that under Iowa's acquiescence statute the long-standing southerly and westerly fence has set the ownership boundary.?ÿ But that doesn't set the government lot boundaries for any other subdividing that may occur, and I'd like to know what people would do.
?ÿ
You can bet in a section closing on a correction line theoretical lines are nothing more than that. The mere presence of various owners of the GL indicates boundaries were established and surveyed somehow. Stones set at the GL corners in the 1880 era very common even if there is no remaining record. It wouldn't surprise me at all if stones were set the same time as the plat.?ÿ