Cool Things Around ELO: The original rolling stones

Andrew Ellicott

David Rittenhouse

Soon after the revolutionary war Pennsylvania and Virginia commissioned their own surveyors to finish the Mason Dixon line west 38 miles. Started in July of 1784 and it was complete in November of the same year.Some of the men representing Pennsylvania and Virginia were Andrew Ellicott ,Thomas Hutchins, David Rittenhouse, and a host of others that formed the team of the surveyors. It took many men to clear a path through the wilderness as well as animals to move equipment and supplies. Normally a path was cleared around 30 feet wide. The "choppers" as they were called stayed in front of the survey team a few miles sometimes as many as four miles on a rough survey line. The line was perfected by the chief surveyors normally in the evening by navigating and aligning with the stars. Once complete markers and monuments were set along the boundary that was finished.

The next year some of this group continued the western boundary of Pennsylvania straight north to Lake Erie. Part of this boundary separated Virginia from Pennsylvania ( West Virginia did not exist yet). They started in June of 1785.The work was complete on August the 23rd 1785.They finished the boundary of Pennsylvania and Virginia at the mouth of Mill creek on the Ohio River.

The team wrote: "We have carried a meridian line from the southwest corner of Pennsylvania northward to the river Ohio and marked it by cutting a wide vista over all the principle hills we have likewise placed stones on the east side "P" and on the west side "V" on most of the principle hills and where the line strikes the Ohio."

This line was extended across the Ohio river to the northern bank. On September 30th 1785 Thomas Hutchins no doubt part of this team started the survey for the northwest territory now known as the point of the beginning. What gets tricky here and very hard to follow is the time line of these two surveys. Rittinhouse and Ellicott continued due north on the state line boundary. Andrew's brother Joseph Ellicott led the chopper crew out ahead of the survey team. Thomas Hutchins started out due west from the point of the beginning. I will take a closer look at Hutchins later on this year he is a very obscure and fascinating individual.

By September 9th Ellicott and Rittinhouse had surveyed at least 10 miles north of the Ohio. On September 11th Ellicott writes to his wife: " We have had several of our workman badly hurt by the falling of timber in our line. One unfortunate person by the name of "Cross" was caught under the top of a tree last Wednesday and died on Friday the same night we buried him in the middle of the line and raised him a monument of logs."

The survey ended for the year due to weather a few weeks later. It was resumed in the spring of 1786. It is believed by several people that the stone marker 7 miles exactly north of the Pennsylvania Virginia stone is where "Cross" is buried. Below are pictures of these markers. Each of them are on private property and premission is needed to access them. I can only imagine how much work it took to clear the land. Ellicott wrote of the misery of this expedition by describing massive amounts of mosquitos and flies as well as his hands and arms covered with poison ivy for most of the trip. Almost 100 years later another survey was completed along the same line. This survey is also marked with square sandstone markers engarved with the date and copper pins on the top showing the distance in miles from lake Erie. Take time to look at the credits of the books and webstes at the bottom this page, without these there would be very little to tell.

I am absolutely amazed at the amount of history that our little hometown holds. It is really cool that this area is part of some significant events that took place after the birth of our nation.

Original stone on the right is marked with a V is from 1785. The marker on the left is from a survey 100 years later and is marked with a WV (West Virginia had now become a state).

This is the west side of the stone marked for Pennsylvania.

This is the view from the marker looking across the Ohio towards the point of the beginning.

This is the marker 7 miles north of the Ohio river. It is smaller than the one at Millcreek. This stone was probably cut nearby and engraved on site. It is believed that this is where "cross" is probably buried.

The stone is at the top of a ridge that is surrounded by 5 deep valleys. The view from the marker is really something to see. It is remarkable how the distance in miles worked out to this point on the ridge.

This is the top of the marker engraved with the cross mark which is excactly on the state line. In fact to this day the modern day state survey teams that shoot this line in by gps say that this stone is right on the line and has not changed in over 226 years!