IMH 74:4, 325-26

"Chronicles of Upper Burnet" (1)

Tuesday October 5th

Alvin and I got the two steer calves Snoopkins and Burton the steer up into the upper 80 without much trouble. So they are gone to
help pay for the farm. Joe Ballinger coming through with a load of stoves Father went to town with him. I harrowed on the same ground
till nearly eleven o clock, when I quit. Alvin and I went across the creek with the wagon and got the top of a dead sugar-tree that
Fowlers(16) cut across the road a few nights ago for coons. We hauled it to the house for firewood. Father got back at about two o'clock
after which he and Alvin put in the time on the cow-stable and I chored around, besides gathering a lot more of hickory nuts. Weather
same as yesterday with wind from the south-west. Some campaigners were shooting loud at long at no great distance tonight. Some more
apple butter was made to-day. Father got some timothy seed at town, and just before night or at dusk sowed on the ground I had been
harrowing this forenoon

Teaching Notes;

The reason for the "upper 80 or the "back 40" goes back to the Land Ordinance of 1785. That set up the system of land survey and sale
that is still used in this country.  A range was a six mile wide strip going North and South and a township was a six mile wide strip
going East and West. There were therefore 36 one mile by one mile sections in what was called a Congressional Township...not to be
confused with a civil township. The one mile by one mile section had 640 acres. A half section, 320 acres, a quarter section, 160 acres.
A quarter of a quarter section was 40 acres. Early land sales were only by the sections, but as the price went up and the politics
changed, citizens could by the smaller tracts. One of the problems of the surveys was that the earth was round...sort of like trying to
make an orange peel flat. Often students can recall funny little jogs in the road...this is often because the roads followed the section lines.
A map showing section lines would be very interesting for the students to see this. It they live in a rural area, they might also be able to
get a legal description of the land they live in with the Section, Range and Townships named. One of the provisions of the Land Ordinance
of 1785 was that the sale of section 16 was to used for building of a public school. This demonstrates the founders early interest in an
educated populace. The world is too full on examples in the 21st century where this is not the case...sad to say.