New York State Secretary of State Map of Part of the River Delaware, Showing the Beginning of the 43rd Degree of North Latitude

This single manuscript sheet is a report on a survey and map made to trace part of the boundary between New York and Pennsylvania, along the 43rd degree of north latitude, in 1774. It was produced under joint authorizations of the provinces of New York and Pennsylvania by Samuel Holland (appointed by New York's Lieutenant Governor Cadwalader Colden on November 8, 1774) and David Rittenhouse (appointed by Pennsylvania Governor William Penn on October 4, 1774).

Their charge was to "fix the beginning of the 43rd degree of North Latitude on the Mohawk or Western branch of Delaware, and to proceed Westward as far as the Season would permit" along that boundary between the provinces. This document is their report on their cooperative effort and the map that resulted from it.

The map is drawn in ink and watercolor on one half of the sheet, measuring 38 x 24.5 cm. It shows: the "Cookhoose or Mohocks" and "Popaxtunk" branches of the Delaware River, including several unnamed islands; three points of survey measurements and boundary markers labeled "A", "B", and "C"; a ruled scale marked "160 chaines or two miles"; and the magnetic variation from true north (4 degrees 20 minutes west).

One half of the sheet, also measuring 38 x 24.5 cm, is a description, written in ink, signed by Holland and Rittenhouse, and dated at Philadelphia on December 14, 1774. It includes: a report on the conduct of the survey, its methods and personnel; an explanation of the map markings "A" through "C" and the relevant placement of stone boundary markers; and a list of astronomical survey observations (zenith distances and refractions).

Affixed to the back of the document, which is paper backed on linen, is a printed statement of the 1819 joint Assembly and Senate resolutions (February 18th and 19th respectively) authorizing binding of documents of the Secretary of State's office, and also an extract from the authorizing legislation of 1819 by which the document was mounted. This statement is signed by the Secretary and dated October 1, 1819. A "No. 554" stamped on the linen backing is apparently an office filing number. A printed block "No. 211" is a reference to a listing in the published guide "Catalogue of Maps and Surveys" by David E.E. Mix (a surveyor and civil engineer employed by the state to copy documents and compile catalogs of maps and field notes relating to state lands). The map is listed on page 23 of Mix's guide, within a list of maps found in portfolios in the Office of the Secretary of State.

This map was part of the portfolio maps filed in the Office of Secretary of State listed in David E.E. Mix's "Catalogue of Maps and Surveys" on page 23. It may have come to the Archives from the Office of General Services, Bureau of Land Management.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.