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[identification of item], [box #, folder #], John W. Spitler Surveying Notebook and Travel Diary, 1855, SC 0333, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.
Acquired from Eclectibles in February 2020.
John W. Spitler (1834-1855) was born in Augusta County, Virginia to Reverend Jacob Crist Spitler (1811-1855) and Amanda M. Redman (1816-1869). Given the notations present in his notebook, it seems likely that Spitler was pursuing a career in land surveying or at least learning the trade. While traveling from Augusta County to Kansas City, Missouri for a church conference, Spitler and his father both contracted cholera and died within days of each other. They are buried in Jefferson City, Missouri.
The John W. Spitler Surveying Notebook and Travel Diary, 1855, includes various handwritten rules and mathematical formulas used for surveying and plotting land as well as a record of Spitler's trip from Augusta County, Virginia to Kansas City, Missouri with his father, Reverend Jacob Spitler. Both Spitlers died of cholera en route to their destination.
The first section of the notebook includes notes, rules, and calculations used for surveying and plotting land. Sections include "The Pennsylvania Method of Calculation," "Field Note Exercises in Plotting," "Rule for Dividing Land," "Division of Land According to David's Problem," and "Height & Distances." Diagrams show how to calculate different angles or plots of land. Of particular interest is a diagram of a tree and a pond with angles drawn to calculate the height of the tree.
The second section of the notebook, titled "A Journey to Kansas Territory" and comprising approximately six pages, includes Spitler's travel diary documenting his and his father's trip from Augusta County to Kansas City for a church conference. The two left Virginia on April 4, 1855. His second entry reads: "crossed the Augusta line, fired a grand salute to the old Augusta. Fare the well Augusta, I may never see thy mountains and hills again. Farewell." Spitler's almost daily entries document geographic landmarks, cities, and distance traveled. Notable locations include the Allegheny Mountains, Greenbrier River, Ohio River, Mississippi River, Cincinatti, and Louisville. Spitler also describes steamboats he saw and traveled on including the
The notebook exhibits typical wear, with the cloth separating from the board covers. The cover closure is detached.
The notebook is bound and housed in a folder.