2008 SHS Rendezvous
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Surveyors Historical Society and the Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors present ALABAMA September 17 - 20, 2014 www.surveyorsrendezvous.org www.surveyorshistoricalsociety.org Featuring Andrew Ellicott’s survey of the 31st Parallel, the “Line of Demarcation” between the United States and Spain, as specified in the 1795 Treaty of San Lorenzo Laid-back Southern Hospitality! Admiral Semmes Hotel, Mobile, Alabama Surveyors Historical Society 18th Annual Rendezvous All are welcome! You don’t have to be a member of the Surveyors Historical Society or even a surveyor to attend. Rendezvous ’14 will feature Andrew Ellicott’s survey of the 31st Parallel, the “Line of Demarcation” between the United States and Spain as specified in the 1795 Treaty of San Lorenzo. This national boundary would later become part of the boundaries of four states. The Ellicott Stone is the Point of Beginning for the St. Stephens Principal Meridian and Baseline. Our Rendezvous will be held in beautiful Mobile, Alabama, with activities all around the Mobile Bay area. We’ll spend Thursday at Battleship Park, with lectures aboard the mighty battleship USS Alabama and free time to visit the other exhibits at the park. On Friday, we’ll venture to Five Rivers Delta Resource Center for more presentations, swamp tours and a real Southern fish fry. “Let the good times roll” at our Mardi Gras banquet Friday night. Saturday morning, we’ll visit the Ellicott Stone north of town. The adventurous can then join in the search for the mounds Ellicott used to mark the Line of Demarcation. Mobile, Alabama, is a 300 year-old city rich in history. The historic Admiral Semmes Hotel is conveniently located in downtown Mobile, within walking distance of lush parks and squares, retail shops, restaurants, museums and art galleries. Get ready for some laid-back Southern hospitality! Rendezvous 2014 Program of Sessions/Events T TIME Wednesday, September 17, 2014 Wednesday events held in the Admiral Semmes Hotel, 251 Government St., Mobile, AL 36602. 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Surveyors Historical Society Board of Directors meeting SHS members are welcome to attend. 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. Registration Desk open 5:00 – 11:00 p.m. Hospitality Room open (pizza, sandwiches and snacks) The flags of five countries have flown over historic Mobile, Alabama: France, Great Britain, Spain, United States and the Confederacy. (Six if you count the short-lived Republic of West Florida.) T TIME Thursday, September 18, 2014 Thursday events aboard the USS Alabama, Battleship Park, 2703 Battleship Pkwy, Mobile, AL. All presentations will be held in the Wardroom. 7:00 – 8:00 a.m. Registration Desk open (hotel) Continental breakfast (hotel) 8:00 a.m. Travel by bus from the hotel to Battleship Park, Mobile Bay Causeway 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Session # 1: Welcome to the Gulf Coast, A Short History of Ships Named Alabama and An Overview of Who Owned the Gulf Coast and When. Presentation by: Thomas (Mike) Besch, PS, Professor of Surveying & Mapping, The University of Akron 9:30 – 10:00 a.m. Session # 2: CSS Alabama: Its Role in One of the Most Important Arbitrations in Modern History Presentation by Bart Crattie, PLS 10:00 a.m. Break – Refreshments provided 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Session # 3: The Origins of Colonial Title to Lands in the Mobile Bay Region Presentation by: Gregory Spies, PLS, Archaeotechnics 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Session # 4: The Ellicott Stone, Point of Beginning for the USPLSS in Alabama Presentation by: Gregory Spies, PLS, Archaeotechnics 12:30 p.m. Lunch on the Fantail (Southern B-B-Q, served on mess trays) 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Tour the USS Alabama and Battleship Park 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Session # 5: General Land Office Surveys in Mississippi. Presentation by: Roffie Burt, PE, PLS, Associate Professor Emeritus, Mississippi State University 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Session # 6: Andrew Ellicott, the Spanish in Natchez and the 1795 Treaty of Friendship limits and Navigation Between Spain And the United States (Part 1) Presentation by: William Morton, MD, JD 4:30 – 5:30p.m. Session # 6: Andrew Ellicott, the Spanish in Natchez and the 1795 Treaty of Friendship limits and Navigation Between Spain And the United States (Part 2) Presentation by: William Morton, MD, JD 5:30 p.m. Return to Hotel Dinner on your own in beautiful Mobile 6:00 – 11:00 pm Hospitality Room open T TIME Friday, September 19, 2014 Friday events at Five Rivers Delta Resource Center, 30945 Five Rivers Blvd., Spanish Fort, AL, 36527. All Presentations will be held in the Blakely Conference Center. 7:00 – 8:00 a.m.Registration Desk open (hotel) Continental breakfast (hotel) 8:00 a.m. Travel by bus from the hotel to Five Rivers Delta Center 8:30 – 9:15 a.m. Session # 1: The Hardships of Being the Surveyor of the Line of Demarcation Presented by Andrew Ellicott 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. Session # 2: Surveying the Line of Demarcation Presented by Larry Crowley, PE, Blakely was the site of the final combined-force battle of PhD, Professor, Auburn University the War Between the States, fought six hours after Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia. 11:15 a.m. – noon Session # 3: The Art of Finding the Survey Mounds after 200 Years Presented by Milton Denny, PLS, Denny Enterprise, LLC 12:00 p.m. Lunch: Fish Fry on the Five Rivers grounds Sponsored and hosted by: 1:00 p.m. SHS General Membership Meeting 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. Simultaneous activities: (1) Mobile-Tensaw Delta Swamp Tours (1-hour trip; sign-up required) (2) Visit to Blakely Civil War battlefield (1-hour trip; sign-up required) (3) Annual Surveyors Swap-Meet 5:00 p.m. Return to hotel 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Mardi Gras Banquet Admiral Semmes Grand Ballroom - Cash bar - Special Guest Speaker 9:00 p.m. Annual SHS Surveyors Auction (Please bring items for the auction.) Hospitality Room opens at conclusion of the auction. Laissez les bon temps rollez! T TIME Saturday, September 20, 2014 Breakfast at the Admiral Semmes. Busses provided for transportation to the Ellicott Stone. Separate registration required for Finding the Ellicott Mounds. Check block on Registration Form 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Historic Southern-Style Breakfast (all registrants) 9:00 a.m. Travel to the Ellicott Stone (north of Mobile) 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Dedication of Surveyors Historical Society Marker at the Ellicott Stone Speakers: Greg Spies: The Significance of the Ellicott Stone to the State of Alabama Andrew Ellicott (as portrayed by Milton Denny): Why This Spot Was Selected 12:00 p.m. Return to hotel or depart for Searching for the Ellicott Mounds Searching for the Ellicott Mounds On Saturday those of you who sign up can take part in a very historic effort: searching for mounds on the Ellicott Line. We are going to break up into six-person teams, who will be assigned locations and given the data to help find the mounds. We will try to cover fifty miles on each side of the Ellicott Stone. Many have asked about how big the mounds are at this time. To understand their current size, it’s important to understand how they were built, or “thrown up.” When the surveyors determined a location for a mound, the men (most likely a group of five to 10), would dig a circle about 10-15 feet in diameter and throw the dirt into the middle. Think of a donut in reverse: the outside would be where they dug the dirt, and the hole of the donut would be the pile of dirt in the middle. Most mounds were about 4-5-feet high when finished. Now, reflect on what 200 years would do to a pile of dirt. Most of the dirt has washed back into the low area, where the dirt was extracted, leaving a mound about ½ to 1 ½ feet high, surrounded by a ring or lower area. If you know where the mound should be and look very carefully, you can see the evidence. Just walking out in the woods will never result in finding a mound. How do you find these mounds? I develop the most probable location by using old maps, original field notes from GLO surveys and other retracements, and overlaying the digital quarter quads and other digital data. One of the most-important steps is to develop a correction per mile for the chain the original surveyors were using. This is best done from the digital quads and field survey corners. I test this digital data against other points found in the field and adjust mound location accordingly. One of the biggest problems is getting to the remote locations. It is hard to visit more than four or five locations a day. Most crews will be assigned a township consisting of six locations. Sign up for a great historical experience. Milton Denny, PLS Ellicott Stone WHO OWNED THE GULF COAST? room in Geneva, Switzerland, in which both WHEN? (50 minutes. Thomas (Mike) the Geneva Conventions and the Red Cross Besch, P.S.; Professor, The University of were established, is named “Salle de Akron ) l’Alabama.” (Bart Crattie enjoys researching This presentation will and writing about historical oddities in land provide an overview of surveying and, at times, the American Civil the people and nations War. He is a land surveyor as well as being who have laid claim to the certified by the Tennessee State Supreme Gulf Coast. The region, Court as a Listed Rule 31 General Civil stretching from present- Mediator.