It may not be the same elsewhere, but in Texas, after the Public Domain had pretty much all been surveyed up, the demand for surveying dropped off quite a bit. Naturally, it varied regionally in Texas as some parts of the State got surveyed up well before others. But generally, after the Public Domain was entirely appropriated, the surveying boom that had existed previously, fizzled out. The boom years were probably the period from about 1870 until around 1889 when great piles of land scrip that had been issued to railroad companies, river contractors, Confederate veterans, and you-name-its were in circulation and there was a mad rush to locate fistfuls of it before someone else did.
But what happened to those sureyors who had been working away during the boom and the aftermath as some corrective and clean-up work remained? Interestingly, this is a question that the census rolls and other resources of ancestry.com can answer. In one South Texas county, here's what happened on the small scale:
County Surveyor (1878-1890) >> U.S. Postmaster in East Texas (most likely a patronage position)
County Surveyor (1891-1896) >> Livestock buyer in San Antonio
County Surveyor (1897-1904) >> Abducted by aliens?
Then, the second wave hit when road building machinery became common and the County Surveyor and County Engineer morphed into a single role and was in charge of surveying for hundreds of miles of roads.
Urbanization never arrived, so it was a one-surveyor or two-surveyor county until quite recently.
They started going to one-man crews or husband & wife teams from the previous 6-man survey party. The use of the chain diminished and they started to flip 16.5' rods end-over-end to make their measurements, with handheld compasses for directions. By around 1920 they quit manufacturing the standard gunter-chain because of the lack of use.
Might be off subject.
I have been doing several re-tracements of surveys in the Giddings district. Where would be a good place to look for the history of J.J. Giddings? I had a good conversation with Ben Thompson a few years ago about the area while at the Heart of Texas Boundary Retracement seminar. He had some really great information and I enjoyed his stories of the times. Thanks,
Wes
> They started going to one-man crews or husband & wife teams from the previous 6-man survey party. The use of the chain diminished and they started to flip 16.5' rods end-over-end to make their measurements, with handheld compasses for directions. By around 1920 they quit manufacturing the standard gunter-chain because of the lack of use.
[sarcasm]I saw a movie called "Surveyor" that had a one-man crew using a gunter-chain. He died at the end...[/sarcasm]
DDSM;-)
Kent:
What were "river contractors" and were they buying or being given land?
> What were "river contractors" and were they buying or being given land?
River contractors refers to the individuals and partnerships who contracted with the State of Texas to clear navigable channels on certain Texas creeks and rivers pursuant to various acts of the Texas legislature. For example, a law entitled "An Act to provide for the Improvement of the Navigation of the Trinity River, and to grant the Aid of the State therefor" was passed June 2, 1873. It provided a specification that the channel was to be improved to meet and provided for payment at the rate of 4 certificates good for 640 acres each for every mile of channel improved to meet the specification.
A contractor named J. Poitevent received a shipload of land scrip (enough for 400 sections) from the State for his work clearing 100 miles of the Trinity River channel. As far as I know, Mr. Poitevent sold most or all of the scrip he received for about $145 per certificate (about $0.23 per acre). The buyers of that scrip were then entitled to have it located by a County or District Surveyor or one of his deputies to have field notes prepared that were returned to the GLO for patent.
Most of the Poitevent scrip probably ended up in West and Northwest Texas as ranches. The law under which the scrip had been issued also specified how the surveys were to be made. Other river contractors included John H. Gibson as well as the partnership of Adam Adams, R.C. Beaty, and M.C. Moulton.
> Where would be a good place to look for the history of J.J. Giddings?
Well, there's this thread:
https://surveyorconnect.com/index.php?mode=thread&id=861