Charles A. Manners was born Aug., 2, 1827, in Somerset County, New Jersey. His grandfather, David Manners, was a well-educated man who, in addition to running a farm, applied himself as a surveyor in Hunterdon and Somerset Counties.
Charles headed out West and settled in Taylorsville, Christian County, Illinois in July of 1851. There, applying skills he had learned from his Grandfather, he was county surveyor from 1852 to '54. In 1855 he was appointed Government surveyor in Kansas and Nebraska, where he worked for five years. In 1860, he returned to Illinois and a year later married Elizabeth A. Long of Sangamon County. In 1862, he was elected sheriff and after one term returned to surveying, the construction of railroads and farming. He had two children with Elizabeth, Frances C. and Tom.
Charles is bit of a legend among surveyors. He surveyed the Kansas - Nebraska border. This border, on the 40th Parallel, was later to be extended to the Colorado - Utah state line, making it the longest "base line" in the United States. (Ha! to you, Mason - Dixon) If you live in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming or parts of South Dakota, the deed to your property is described from the baseline beginning at a 6-foot high 500 pound cast iron monument marking where Charles began his survey. It is on the National Historic Register. Even more interesting is Charles' red sandstone marker 108 miles away marking the 6th Principal Meridian. It is located under a manhole cover in the middle of an unassuming rural road. |
