THIS IS A WITNESS TREE
In the beginning of the white man’s occupation of this Island, the U.S. Government had to establish the primary survey meridians on Washington Island. From these meridians, lots could then be surveyed and the land could be recorded and sold by the Government. Rangeline Road, running North and South, and Townline Road, running East and West, were built on these primary meridians.
Survey markers consisted of wooden posts, which would not last long in this damp climate, so nearby trees were marked as witnesses and noted in the surveyor’s log. Here at the East end of Townline Road stands a witness to an original survey marker from 1835. The survey team led by Deputy Surveyor Sylvester Sibley, Chairmen Charles Sutton and L.O. Bryan, and Axeman Rowland Hall, placed a wooden survey stake about 14 feet southwest of this tree. They then marked the western face of this White Pine tree with the inscription “R30 E BY T 34 N”, and Sibley noted the post and its witness tree in his logbook with the following notations:
Set post corner Sections 33 & 34
White Pine 22N 68E 21 (links)
Spruce 8N 80W 32 (links) (1 surveyor’s link =8”)
Land level and wet, soil poor and thin. Timber Sugar (Maple), Aspen, Cedar, Spruce. Undergrowth Spruce and Sugar (Maple).
The carving on this White Pine, though faint, is still legible and shows skilled use of chisel in forming well-rounded letters and numerals.
The following year, 1836, Sylvester Sibley returned and, using this tree and other witness trees to confirm survey stakes all over the Island, measured off the land into sections (one square mile), half sections, and quarter sections.
This area of the Island was first homesteaded by James Morgan in 1881. Morgan sold the land to Christoffer Peterson in 1889.
This is the last remaining Witness Tree in Door County. The structure preserving this tree for posterity was built many years ago by Arnold Wickman, Sr., and restored in 1991 by Harold and Suzanne Dee, with support from the Town of Washington.