ABSTRACT
The Origin of the United States' land survey system has been associated with Thomas Jefferson, who chaired a committee in 1784 to prepare a plan for the government of the Western Territory. His proposal divided the land into geographical square miles by “hundreds” with lines oriented north—south and east—west, crossing each other at right angles. But there was also Hugh Williamson, Congressional delegate from North Carolina who had studied medicine in Utrecht, who in the same year suggested to the committee to divide the land by “parallels, dotts and meridians.” He had seen rectangular field divisions in the Netherlands, some dating from the Roman era. One can readily call the first proposal the Jefferson—Williamson plan while acknowledging the contributions by others during the debate, notably Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts, who warned astutely against having straight lines represent converging meridians. 1
