Hi, L -
The Townships were named in the maps from the state library. They are
organized on a County basis. The surrounding counties are identified along the
border. The maps date back to 1870, I think, which means that any changes after
that date would not be reflected in the map.
These maps also show the Township Number and the Range Number. Ripley
County, for example, started with Township 6 North. Township 5 North was Jefferson
County. The co-ordinate used for Indiana was the Second Principal Meridian -
shown on the GLORECORDS web site as 2PM.
The county boundaries were frequenty based on the Congessional divisions. A
township in the Congressional Map however, would be a standard 6 miles square.
There were 36 sections to each township, each being a square mile each.
That equates to 640 acres.
The sections were further divided into quarters.
When you see a land purchase description that reads NW SE, for example, that
would mean "the Northwest Quarter of the South East Quarter" or 40 acres.
If you saw W 1/2 SE, that would mean "Western half of the South East Quarter"
or 80 acres.
A standard parcel would consist of 40 acres. If there was water on the
property, however, that would take away from the 40 as the Government wouldn't sell
water as though it were land. If you find a description with something like
"36.9 Acres" it means that 3.1 acres were occupied by a river or lake. In
some cases, the parcels were over 40 acres. I think that was to take in the
small portion of available land from a section that was occupied mainly by water.
I can E-mail you an image of the Ripley County congressional township map if
you like.
Take it easy -
Alan