Survey Notes

This collection consists of the original surveyors' field notebooks produced by the U.S. Land Office and collected by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Real Estate Division. Contains the original handwritten survey notes that divided the remaining public domain of the state into individual township parcels, each averaging approximately 36 square miles. There were over 1,400 townships surveyed within the state, using over 2,000 field notebooks.

consists of surveys of private claims by Aaron Greely, conducted in 1809-1810. Included in the notes comprising the series are Greely's descriptions of the boundaries of the various private claims. The data includes claim number, the metes and bounds of the tracts, date, and name of claimant. Each sheet of original notes has been repaired and laminated. The typescript version is a verbatim copy of the original. Arranged in numerical order from 1 to 750, some of the numbers between these extremes are for claims in other parts of the then territory of Michigan. See Appendix 1 for a list of the numbers that are missing from this set and, thus, presumably now located in other states. A list of included claims with details can be found in Silas Farmer's History of Detroit and Wayne County, pages 981-986.

This collection contains handwritten transcriptions of the original handwritten survey notes that divided the remaining public domain of the state into individual township parcels, each averaging approximately 36 square miles. Show the measurements taken by the surveyors and documents the physical and cultural features of Michigan before much settlement took place. Index maps are placed at the beginning of each township and range within the volumes. These records were transferred to the Archives of Michigan by the Real Estate Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in 1989.