A Lost Quarter Corner, a 1967 Pipe, and a Fence
A retracement is made in T 21 N, R 2 E, Second Principal Meridian. The 1852 GLO plat shows the east boundary of Section 17 as 40.00 chains between the northeast and southeast section corners, with the quarter corner at 20.40 chains north of the southeast corner. The surveyor finds the original southeast section corner, a 12-inch limestone marked '1852,' and the original northeast section corner, a 10-inch limestone with remnants of a mound. The quarter corner is lost; no bearing tree or pit remains. The measured distance between the two section corners is 5,302.14 ft. A 1967 survey set a 1-inch pipe 2,640.00 ft north of the southeast corner and called it the quarter corner. The landowner's deed calls to 'the quarter corner of Section 17,' and a fence runs to the 1967 pipe. The assistant suggests setting the quarter corner at the midpoint of the measured line.
1. Compute the proportionate position for the lost quarter corner and explain why the midpoint and record distance are not used directly.
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Record distance is 40.00 chains and the quarter corner is 20.40 chains from the southeast corner. Single proportionate distance = (20.40/40.00) x 5,302.14 = 0.5100 x 5,302.14 = 2,704.09 ft from the southeast corner. Check from the northeast corner: (19.60/40.00) x 5,302.14 = 2,598.05 ft; the two sum to 5,302.14 ft. The midpoint (2,651.07 ft) would be correct only if the GLO had placed the quarter corner at 20.00 chains. It did not; the 0.40-chain (26.4-ft) record offset must be preserved proportionally. Use single proportionate measurement between the two original section corners because both are original and the lost corner lies on the line between them. Set a new monument at 2,704.09 ft from the southeast corner with a proper cap and ties, and record the basis. Do not hold the record distance 20.40 chains (1,346.4 ft) as a surface distance, because the original section is longer than record; proportion, not record distance, governs.
2. How should the surveyor treat the 1967 pipe and the fence?
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The 1967 pipe is not an original GLO monument. It is a later surveyor's monument set at 2,640.00 ft from the southeast corner, which is 2,640/5,302.14 = 0.4979 of the measured line, not the proportionate 0.5100. It may be evidence of a boundary agreement or acquiescence, and the fence strengthens that evidence, but it does not control the restoration of a lost original corner. The surveyor should show the pipe and fence, the proportionate corner, and the difference (about 64 ft) and explain it. Long mutual recognition can establish a boundary by acquiescence, but that is a legal conclusion; the surveyor should not simply adopt the pipe. Recommend a boundary line agreement or quiet title action if the owners want certainty. Also check the 1967 survey record to see whether the pipe was intended as a temporary point or a corner.
3. The northeast section corner is found 0.6 ft from the position computed by closing the GLO distances. Do you hold it? Explain.
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Yes. Hold the original northeast limestone. An original monument controls over a position computed from GLO record distances; the 0.6-ft closing difference is the kind of error that proportionate measurement is designed to handle. Do not set a new corner at the computed position or 'correct' the stone. Protect the stone, tie it to at least two references, and use it as one of the controlling corners for the proportionate restoration. If the stone is unstable, document it and set a witness monument at an offset rather than replacing it. The same principle applies at the southeast corner. The plat should show the original corners, the record and measured distances, the proportionate position, and the 1967 pipe and fence.