DearREADERS,Getting into the mindset of progenitors can be tricky, if you don't know the lingo. Thanks to David A. Norris' "Arpents, Hogsheads & Firkins... Oh My!" we understand a little bit more about weights and measures.
Before the rectangular survey system of townships was developed, surveyors used this sort of 66-foot Gunter's Chain for their measurements.
"Gunter’s chain was an ingenious way of bringing modern order to the old English acre and mile. One square chain was onetenth of an acre. Ten chains, or 660 feet, was one furlong, or oneeighth of a mile. Therefore, one mile was eight furlongs, 80 chains, or 5,280 feet. The ingenious Gunter also introduced an early metric unit into the English system, as he divided his chain into 100 “links”, each 7.92 inches long."
For more info, see:
Discovering Family History, July Aug 2009, pages 12-16.
Happy family tree climbing!
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