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John Watson engineering notebooks

Creation: 1830-1832
 Collection
Accession: 0171

Abstract

John Watson (1774-1864), a Quaker, worked as a land surveyor in Pennsylvania during the early nineteenth century. The collection consists of five volumes relating to the construction of the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal.

Dates

  • Creation: 1830-1832

Creator

Extent

5 volume(s)

Biographical Note

John Watson (1774-1864), a Quaker, worked as a land surveyor during the early nineteenth century. He resided in Buckingham Township near New Hope, Pennsylvania, where his family settled in 1704. It is likely that Watson was the grandson or grandnephew of John Watson (circa 1720-1761), a noted mathematician and colonial surveyor. Watson worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the repair and final settlement of the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, constructed between Bristol and Easton between 1827 and 1832.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of five volumes relating to the construction of the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal. Three volumes provide a survey of the location after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers laid out the canal route. They include the bearings of the canal and the amount of land transferred from owners along the route, with an accounting of all structures, orchards, farmlands and other improvements destroyed or damaged by the construction.

A fourth volume is a pocket notebook of surveyor's tables to be used in connection with operating a transit. The fifth volume is a pocket field notebook Watson used between 1830 and 1832, containing a record of local property surveys and work on the canal, along with small land transactions representing right-of-way purchases. The last few pages record a trip through Northwestern New Jersey in the fall of 1832. The itinerary documents visits to Flemington, Schooley's Mountain, Hackettstown, Great Meadows and Belvidere, and a return by way of Easton. It also includes observations on the state of the country, the effect of the Morris Canal, and the examination of a purported silver mine.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access; this collection is open for research.

Language of Materials

English

Related Names

Subject

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title:
John Watson engineering notebooks
Description rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description:
English
Script of description:
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
PO Box 3630
Wilmington Delaware 19807 USA
302-658-2400