Surveyor's Office440 Third Street • Room 400 • Columbus, IN 47201 History of the Bartholomew County Surveyor's OfficeThe United States Congress formed by the Articles of Confederation adopted The Land Ordinance of 1785 on the 20th of May 1785. This document is not only significant to the history of Indiana, but to the history of our nation as well. Based upon an earlier version by Thomas Jefferson, the Ordinance laid out the foundation, cornerstone by cornerstone, of a new concept of land policy in this country. It also established a way to fund public education, rewarded war veterans with land and provided for the first time a federal limitation on the expansion of slavery. So, based on Jefferson’s new concept of surveying called the Public Land Survey System, the government appointed a Surveyor General who contracted the work out to Deputies. The Deputy U.S. Surveyors who surveyed in Bartholomew County before its formation in 1821 were Arthur Henri, A. C. Looker, Abraham Lee, Basil Bently, Bethuel F. Morris and John McDonald. 1821-1831: APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR OF INDIANA Bartholomew County was granted organization by the Indiana General Assembly in 1821. The Governor of Indiana appointed all county surveyors at that time for an unspecified term length. The first surveyor mentioned in early local records was John Vawter, founder of the Indiana towns of Vernon and Morgantown. He was contracted by the county commissioners to lay off and plat the town of Columbus (originally to be called Tiptonia) in February of 1821. Those who served in the capacity of the Bartholomew County Surveyor, appointed by the Governor were Hugh McCaleb (March 21, 1821 to April 7, 1827) and William N. Morris (April 7, 1828 to November 18, 1831). 1831-1833: APPOINTED BY THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS In 1831 the power of appointment was placed in the hands of the local governing board. Moses Joiner was the only Bartholomew County Surveyor appointed by the County Commissioners. The length of Mr. Joiner’s term is not known, but we estimate it to have lasted until the power of appointment was transferred to the circuit court in 1833. 1833-1852: APPOINTED BY THE CIRCUIT COURT In 1833 the Circuit Court was granted the power of appointment and the term of office was limited to three years. Our history books only recorded the names, and barely that, of the first few surveyors who were appointed before October of 1843. From what we know about the others, we assume that Mr. Kitchen (possibly John Kitchell) and Job Gardner served the office between the years of 1834 to 1837. The others were Havilah A. Chenoweth (July 1837-1840), Benjamin “Thomas” Essex (1840-1842), William N. Morris again (Mar. 1842-Oct. 1843), Jasper H. Sprague (Oct. 1843-Mar. 1847), Nathaniel O. Hinman (Mar. 1847-Aug. 1848), Benjamin F. Myers (Sept. 1848-Dec. 1849), and Burris Moore (1849-1852). 1852-PRESENT: ELECTED BY THE PUBLIC The Indiana Constitution of 1851 as amended in 1852 officially established the Office of County Surveyor as an elected office with a term of two years without any limit to the number of terms that may be served. The first election that included the county surveyor was held in 1852. The County Surveyors from that point on were: Burris Moore again (1852-Aug. 1856), John Dean (1856-Oct. 1860), Thomas N. Haiselup (1860-1862), John Dean again (1862-Aug. 1863), James B. Campbell (1864-1866), William A. Hayes (1866-1874), George Pence (1874-1876), William H. Redman (1876-1880), John W. Dunden (1880-1882), William A. Hayes again (1882-1894), William H. Rights (1894-1896), Louis W. Heagy (1896-1898), William H. Rights again (1898-1900), Levi Hege (1900-Dec. 1902), William H. Rights again (Jan. 1903-Dec. 1908), Henry C. Deist (Jan. 1909-Dec. 1914), Lloyd H. Rogers (Jan. 1915-Dec. 1918), Hadley C. Thomas (Jan. 1919-Dec. 1922), George Rader (Jan. 1923-Dec. 1924), Hadley C. Thomas again (Jan. 1925-Dec. 1930), Lloyd H. Rogers again (Jan. 1931-Dec. 1934), Hadley C. Thomas again (Jan. 1935-Dec. 1936), Fred Fallon (Jan. 1937-Dec. 1938), Hadley C. Thomas again (Jan. 1939-Dec. 1956). With the changing of the Indiana Constitution in 1952, the length of the term for County Surveyor was changed to 4 years. The first election that applied the new term length was in 1956. Mr. Thomas won that election and the one in 1960 as well at the age of 76. He was elected as Bartholomew County Surveyor 17 times over a span of 42 years, serving a total of 38 years in the office. County Surveyors who have served four-year terms since then are George A. Crowder (Jan. 1965-Dec. 1968), Lloyd White (Jan. 1969-Dec. 1976), Gene W. Darnall (Jan. 1977-April 1984) and Enoch R. Gray, III who was first appointed in May of 1984 to replace the late Mr. Darnall and then elected in the fall of that year. |
