I’ve recently been on the hunt for an old rock. Or maybe two rocks. But, probably just one.
In 1774 a boundary marker or “milestone” was placed every mile along the New York – New Jersey border from the Hudson River to the Delaware River. Then in 1882 a boundary commission set granite markers at those milepoints.
Nearest to where I live is the 41st mile marker, and I have no knowledge of anyone alive having seen it.
A few years ago a friend brought me to the 42nd mile marker. And at that location was both a 1774 slate rock engraved “New York” one side, “New Jersey” on the other, and a 1882 granite monument or pedestal right next to it. The style of these markers gives me a base point for what to look for in my search for the 41st mile marker.
The 42nd mile marker is near Goldsmith Rd. in Wantage NJ and the 40th mile marker (which has been found in living memory, though I’ve not seen it) is supposed to be near the Kimber farm on Rte 284. Half way between these, the location of the 41st mile marker, is what I’m trying to figure out.
Why would I care about any of these markers? Well, the property deeds in our area often go back to surveys in the late 1700s which reference the milestones as important location markers. These milestones are key to understanding many other facts about the history of the area.
So what is known of the 41st mile marker?
The surveyors in 1774 noted: “Begun at the Place we left off Last Night at 80 Ch. [80 Chains = 1 Mile] Set a Stake in a wheat Field Marked with No XLI abt 4 Ch. [4 chains = 264 ft] S[outhwar]d of Clarks house & Road.” This is referring to the house of Lt. James Clark; a house which still exists to this day. This makes a good starting back for the search. The “road” presumable is today’s Unionville Rd. off of which the house is situated. But while “a steak” was set “4 chains south of Clark’s house” later it is noted that the actual stone was set to the Southwest 14 chains: “At 41 Set a Stone on the N. E. Side of a Small hill & Road about 14 C. [14 chains = 924 ft.] S. W.d of Clark’s house.”
One hundred years later, in 1874 it was noted: “41st. Rough Slate Rock; lying by the side of Mr. Everett’s stone fence, a few yards from where it had stood; in open field near Unionville; offset 238 feet.” Mr. Everett was Eliakim Everett who then owned the property where James Clark had lives. The boundary stone had survived 100 years, but had been moved “a few yards.” The offset (238 ft), I believe is referring to the stone being off that far from the theoretical border line; that the surveyors in 1774 were limited in their accuracy given the equipment of day. I believe that the offset is likely North of the border line, but I don’t know that for sure.
Then, in an 1882 Report, we read: “Milestone XLI could not be found. Its position is in a meadow, between two roads, south-west of the village of Unionville. It has been plowed up and removed to fence some distance from its place, when seen by Professor Bowser in 1874, but it has since disappeared entirely.” This is the third reference then to a meadow or open field, but I believe today such lands are largely forested. This is now the first reference to the stone being (or have been) “between two roads.” I think this is likely the land between Unionville Rd. and Compton/Quarry Rd. But that first stone (from 1774) “has since disappeared entirely.” And, given that it had been moved once, it is not likely to be found at its original location; though I can certainly hope.
The location “between the two roads” better matches the stake “4 chains southward of Clark’s house;” if we go 14 chains to the southwest of Clark’s house, there aren’t any roads.
The search then moves on to the granite marker placed in 1884. These are larger markers anyways, and presumably easily to find.
In 1884 the Boundary Commission noted: “Monument No. 98, or Mile-stone No. XLI. The monument is situated in an open field on the West slope of a small knoll and on the land of Aliakim Everett, is also 5280’ West of M. S. “XL.” At the monument the following bearings were taken; N. 45 E about 200 paces to the South-East Corner of Everett’s barn, and S. 5 E. 115 paces to the chestnut mentioned in the last description. Soil sandy. Monument set in cement and the disk in sand.”
Everett’s barn does not exist anymore, but its location is known from a Louis Larson painting of the property. If the second stone was placed at the same location of the first stone, “200 paces” surely is a closer fit to “4 chains south” than to “14 chains southwest.”
My recent search on foot led me to the southwest, but I really need to search south between the two roads. In fact, the 1884 Cook Map has a square on the border labeled with 570 (elevation) on corner between Unionville and Compton roads. Perhaps that is the location of the milestone. And if the first stone is gone, perhaps at least the second is there.