Society Dinner Meetings2017 Dinner Meeting Schedule: 6:15 PM
Friday, March 17 Friday, May 19 Friday, September 15 Friday, November 17* *(sometimes moved to accommodate church functions!) The Society holds four dinner meetings each year on the third Fridays of March, May, September, and November where a program of historical interest is included. Programs are held at 6:15 PM at the Suncrest (Drummond) United Methodist Church on Van Voorhis Road in Morgantown; ample parking is available. The public and guests are welcome; bring a friend or colleague. Those wishing to join the Society may do so at or after the meeting. The cost of the dinner is $10.00. Persons wishing to only attend the free program, that follows the dinner, are welcome to arrive about 7 PM. Dinner reservations are required, and may be made by calling Ron Ramsey at 304-599-5264. Reservations should be made no later than the Tuesday before the meeting. Payment for dinners can be made at the meeting. The Society must guarantee paying for reservations made, so attendance of those making reservations is greatly appreciated. |
September 15, 2017 Dinner Meeting Program
Pete Zapadka at the Brown's Hill Mason-Dixon Marker The Mason-Dixon Survey By Pete Zapadka Pete Zapadka of Cheat Lake, W.Va., founder of the Web site, www.exploretheline.com, will present the September program about the Mason and Dixon survey of 1767. Mr. Zapadka, a Pennsylvania native, is a retired journalist, photographer, historian and lifelong amateur astronomer. He has traveled extensively along the line and documented photos and information about much of the western end of the line on the website. In October, 1867 the Mason and Dixon survey was halted by Native Americans about 3 miles southwest of Mount Morris, Pa., about 22 miles short of the team’s goal at the present-day southwest corner of Pennsylvania. There, Mason and Dixon were told by their Indian companions they would not take “one step farther” westward. The survey team had crossed a warpath on Oct. 8, 1767. Charles Mason noted on that day in his journal: “At 232 miles 43 chains crossed Dunchard's Creek a second time. At 232 miles 74 chains crossed Ditto a third time. This day the Chief of the Indians which joined us on the 16th of July informed us that the above mentioned War Path was the extent of his commission from the Chiefs of the Six Nations that he should go with us, with the Line; and that he would not proceed one step farther Westward.” When Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon reached the end of their 240-mile survey, they had cut a 24-foot-wide path over the rugged Mid-Atlantic mountains and rivers, ending at what is now the Mason-Dixon Historical Park which spans the Pennsylvania and West Virginia border. The two English astronomers began their work in 1763, after being hired to settle a dispute between the Calverts of Maryland and the Penns of Pennsylvania over confusing language in land grants chartered by Charles II. |
