August 23, 1965 How Large is the Field?

When researching a family genealogy, the land records are a good source for who lived near who, and how large the farm or village lot really was.

Dewitt Sr. was a surveyor, called upon by others to measure the size of the lot, and record it for legal purposes. Among the family items passed down through the generations is his survey chain. I believe it was one of the few things my father purchased at the time of the farm auction.

In 1893 representatives of the Masonic Hall Association of Farmer purchased from O. G. and Henrietta Wheeler

 “all that tract or parcel of Land … being part of Lot No. 41 in the town of Covert and bounded as follows: Commencing in the centre of Main Street in Farmer, New York, and at the Southeast corner of land of Mrs. L. A. Blauvelt, and running thence west along said Blauvelt’s south line, two chains and fifty links,…thence south 62 ½ links, thence East along Mary Jane Carman’s to the centre of Main Street, thence North to the place of beginning be the same more or less.”

What does two chains and fifty links really mean?

When an area is being surveyed a starting point is determined and from there a chain is used to determine the size of the area. A chain is 66 feet. There are 100 links in the chain. In the above example, the length is 165 feet from the center of Main Street to the back line, and 41 feet 3 inches from side to side.

Dewitt’s Diary, Monday, August 23, 1965

Temperature 56 mostly clear. West breeze going to Northeast after dinner.

Ed Hayward finished combining the oats for me today and we baled up one load of wheat straw I raked up this morning. 78 bales, more tomorrow.

The oats are very good. 100 bushels per acre. I am going to measure ground with surveyors chain. I have dad’s old chain.

Some oats going 120 bushel reported.

I think the cool summer had much to do with the heavy yield this year.

(I chained the oats field. Had 53.21 square chains or 5.3 acres and 540 bushels, August 25).