Farmland drew settlers to the area; others soon followed to offer goods and services to the farmers. To accommodate them the land needed to be divided because, unlike the Native Americans, these settlers wanted to have ownership. Surveyors divided the land, so they, and their surveys, are a vital part of the history of the County.
The land that is now known as Sherburne County was originally part of Benton County. On February 25. 1856, Sherburne County was organized through an act of the Territorial Legislature. The County was named after Moses Sherburne, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Minnesota Territory. Sherburne County was organized before Minnesota became a State on May 11, 1858.
But how did Sherburne County get to its present size and shape? The answer to that is that Minnesota and the rest of the “frontier” land west of the 13 original colonies was surveyed into 6 mile “square” Sections. This was done over a period of years. The last surveys in far northern Minnesota were completed in the early 20th Century. As areas were defined by these government surveys, they could then be described and sold.
The government hired Deputy Surveyors to do this work. The exterior lines of the townships were surveyed first. The township lines within what is now Sherburne County were surveyed in 1849 by Deputy Surveyor Theodore Conkey out of Grand Chute, Wisconsin Territory.
When the exteriors of the townships were laid out, the Surveyor General for the territory headquartered in Dubuque, Iowa decided which townships next needed to be further subdivided into sections. This decision was based upon the direction and pace of settlement. The exteriors of each section needed to be surveyed in order to subdivide the sections into smaller units for sale. The smallest unit was usually a “40”, or quarter-quarter section. Contrary to the popular wishful thinking of many, all of these “40’s” were not surveyed. They were “on paper only” subdivisions. The intent of Congress was that the further surveys to subdivide each section were to be done by local surveyors hired by the settlers.
The subdividing of our townships into sections began in July 1850 by Deputy Surveyor John Ryan in T. 32, R. 26, in the southeast corner of the County. As a part of this contract, Ryan also subdivided T. 33, R. 26 (both of these now being the City of Elk River). According to the plats derived from those surveys there were in 1850 only a few houses. One was on the Mississippi River on what is now the Oliver H. Kelly Farm, perhaps Mr. Kelly’s original cabin.
There were also several houses on the great bend of the Mississippi in what is now downtown Elk River. Another house sat in Government Lot 2 of Section 32 on the mainland on the north side of the old river channel forming what was known as Jameson Island. Finally, there appeared a “house and field” in the NW ¼ of Section 32 north of what is now Highway 10 and intersection with Joplin Street in Elk River.
Ryan also subdivided what is now the Township of Big Lake; part of Becker Township; part of Clear Lake Township. And finally, in November of 1850, Mr. Ryan subdivided what are now Haven Township and the Sherburne County portion of the City of St. Cloud. Interestingly enough, the government “plats” show no houses nor settlement in these areas.
From Mr. Ryan’s surveys we can see that the first calls for settlement were along the Mississippi River. As settlement moved inland from the river, more townships had to be subdivided.
Next Palmer Township was surveyed by Deputy Surveyor Edwin James, Jr. in September of 1852. It is not clear why this took precedence over the other townships.
Livonia, Orrock, Baldwin, and Blue Hill were all done by Deputy Surveyor James M. Marsh in June and July of 1855. The remaining townships of Becker and Santiago were also done in July of 1855 by Deputy Surveyor Oscar F. Davis.
Field notes included each surveyor’s meanders of the Mississippi River and the significant lakes, his comments on the character and value of the land, and other features. The notes were sent to the Surveyor General’s office (in Dubuque) where the township “plats” were prepared. The draftsmen further “paper” subdivided each section into its quarter sections and government lots. Each surveyor was paid on a mileage basis derived from the miles of line that he measured. From this amount, each Deputy Surveyor paid his helpers and for his equipment and supplies.
These township plats then were sent to the “General Land Office” for that District. First located in Dubuque, along with the Surveyor General, the office was moved to St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, and then, to Stillwater until 1856 when it was moved to Sauk Rapids and in 1857 to St. Cloud.
The District Land Offices were established for the convenience of the settlers. Here the land sales for the District were administered, including where settlers came to examine the township plats, file entries, make payments, obtain patents, and file relinquishments. The officials at each Land Office did the necessary paperwork and corresponded with the General Land Office In Washington, DC.
With the sale of the lands, the responsibility of the Federal Government ended. Eventually copies of the field notes and plats were turned over to the State of Minnesota where they still reside in the Secretary of State’s Office. Additional copies of the field notes and plats were turned over to each county as its offices were established. The State passed laws that said that each County may perpetuate the corner monuments of the Public Land Survey System (“PLSS”).
Since the monuments set by the Federal Deputy Surveyors were wood posts, it fell to these gentlemen to perpetuate them by replacing them with more durable objects, including a wide variety of axles, pipe, and other available objects. The County Board later agreed to furnish cut St. Cloud granite monuments measuring usually 6” by 7” by 26” and weighing in the neighborhood of 100+ pounds. However, they would not furnish granites for ¼ section corners preferring to believe that any missing ¼ corner was simply replace half way and on line between adjoining section corners. The County Surveyors usually made new bearing trees and other “ties” to help find these monuments again.
The first plat to be recorded in the County was the Town of Orono, recorded on June 21st, 1857. A total of 3 plats were recorded in 1857 – 8 and 58 followed by a 9 year hiatus.
Settlement patterns followed transportation routes. These transportation routes included rivers, the Red River Ox Cart Trail, and later along the U.S. Military Road. The railroad arrived in Elk River in 1864, but, due to financial problems (“panics”), it took about another decade to reach St. Cloud. Some settlements moved to be along the railroad, including from “Upper Town” by the dam on the Elk River, to “Lower Town” in present downtown Elk River. Also, there was the abandonment of Humbolt, on the Mississippi, which relocated straight north to the railroad where it became the Village of Big Lake.
By 1900 there were 27 plats recorded: townships, additions to them, and some cemeteries. In the 1920’s there were 61 section resurveys and plats filed, with a goodly share of these plats being on our lakes for summer cottages.
As the development of the County changed from decades of establishing farms and townsites, to one of improving roads for farmers to get their crops to market, the role of the County Surveyor gradually gave way to that of the County Highway Engineer. Many County Surveyors were first trained as Civil Engineers, so many became the first Highway Engineer for their County. The building and rebuilding of roads also took its toll on the survey monuments so carefully perpetuated by the early County Surveyors. As a result, many of those prior monuments were obliterated or their positions totally lost.
The era of the depression and WWII say only 10 plats recorded. After the war and up to 1968 there was an average of less than 4 plats per year, mostly modest additions to the cities as well as additional small river and lakeshore developments.
As a result of improved transportation, and difficulty making a living at farming, many people moved to the towns and cities, and housing began to replace farms. Also, at about this same time, most counties instituted Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances to regulate platting development.
Land values increased, and those now moving back to the country onto smaller parcels, began to want (and need) to know where their property lines were. Property lines, of course, call for surveys. And since surveys cannot be done without the section corners, it became apparent that there now was a need to restore the missing corners. This need for corner restoration began an era where surveyors in private practice received appointments as unpaid County Surveyors. They did restoration work as a part of their private surveys and received a “bounty” from the County for corners restored and perpetuated.
Donn E. Pepper was the appointed County Surveyor from about 1960 through 1968. He was succeeded by John O. Oliver who held the position from 1968 through mid 1991. By this time the County Board had agreed on a regular program to restore and maintain section corners. A “Remonumentation Program” was started with County employees specifically hired to go out, armed with the old survey notes from Books A through D, and search for the corner monuments (mostly those cut granite monuments) that still remained. When called upon, the County Highway Department cooperated by providing excavating equipment.
Eventually the Remonumentation Crew ran out of corners that were relatively easy to find. The County Board agreed that the next step was to resurvey sections and a survey Party Chief was hired. Measurements were made, physical evidence and testimony was gathered. That information was analyzed and “search areas” determined for missing corners. Many more were found, and where they couldn’t be found the evidence as analyzed by the County Surveyor allowed many more corners to have their positions restored and monumented. Durable magnetic cast iron monuments were placed. During summer months, the Remonumentation Crew was able to take advantage of extra help through such programs as the Governor’s Summer Youth Employment Program. Up to 85% of the corners in the County were recovered or restored during that era.
The County continued to attract new people. In 1969, the County’s housing “boom” began with 33 plats filed in 3 years. It really began in earnest in 1972 with 26 plats, followed by another 16 and 22 respectively over the next 2 years. Development after development was proposed. From 1972 through 1999 there were another 824 plats recorded. The “record setting” years were 1996 with 105 plats. It is easy to follow economic recessions and the like by number of plats recorded. From 2000 onward the pace of development continues with an average of an additional 9 plats being added per month. Plats became larger with 20, 30, or more lots becoming common. This era also saw the advent of condominium and townhouse projects with “zero lot lines” between buildings. Such dense development, of course, has to be within cities where municipal utilities are available.
In the early 90’s and because of this development pressure, the County Board recognized that parcel mapping was needed to help County offices deal with this “flood” of new plats and parcels. A mapping program was initiated. In late 1990 Daniel Nickols was hired as a Land Surveyor for the County. In mid 1991 he was appointed as County Surveyor and the office became “fulltime”. At about this time the County Surveyor’s office utilized Global Positioning Survey (“GPS”) technology to restore more missing corners and to determine latitude and longitude of corner monuments, and “County Coordinates”.
Mr. Nickols started the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Sherburne County, but resigned from his position in November 1998. Shortly after that, the old Highway and Surveyor’s Offices were combined as a Public Works Department headed by County Engineer David R. Schwarting. Public Works has three divisions: Highway Maintenance, Highway Engineering, and County Surveyor. In July of 1998 Mr. Oliver became the second full time County Surveyor.
The County Surveyor’s Office’s duties now include the remonumentation of the few remaining missing corners; an ongoing program of maintenance of the corner monuments we do have (lest they become destroyed by construction and other activities): using GPS to determine County Coordinates on existing corners; and miscellaneous surveys as needed for other County programs. The Government Center personnel check all new subdivision plats for accuracy and adherence to the Platting Manual; oversee the new Parcel Mapping prepared by consultants; update and maintain survey records and prior parcel mapping; and provide expertise to various County offices and the public on legal description and platting matters.
(From: Historically Speaking – Newsletter of Sherburne County Historical Society, Volume 15, Summer 2001.)