Mapping the Commonwealth is a Virginia story, an American story, even an international story. The War of 1812 highlighted the nation’s woeful state of transportation, and the states initiated internal improvement projects, such as building canals, roads, and turnpikes, to promote and connect American markets, and to improve the flow of technology and information between urban and rural areas. Virginia’s General Assembly created the Board of Public Works to oversee the construction of the commonwealth’s internal improvements—work that required an accurate map of the state. Separate legislation allocated $50,000 for surveying and creating the first official map of Virginia.
Surveyors from the United States, Denmark, France, and Scotland were employed to help survey and create a general map of Virginia. Initially, four men—John Wood, George Wyche, William H. Meriwether, and Andrew Alexander—received contracts. Wood, a native of Scotland and a mathematics teacher, became the principal surveyor to oversee the surveying and mapping of each Virginia county. Project engineers and cartographers were assigned to make two maps of each county, one for the locality itself and the other for the governor. When Wood died in 1822, having completed surveys for ninety-six counties, Herman Bőÿe, originally from Denmark, became principal surveyor. He completed the project, finalized the manuscript map, and oversaw its engraving and publication.
When surveying began in 1816, there were few maps and little precise information about the topography of Virginia. Surveyors used pencil and pen and ink to create their maps in the field and then turned in their surveys to Wood or Bőÿe, who reviewed the work. The surveys were also reviewed by county delegates and by people who had local knowledge of the area. The surveyors used a simple set of tools to determine county boundaries, chart important water features, and describe major stage and postal roads. Surveying required physical stamina to face the demands of walking rough terrain or fording rivers with heavy equipment. Wood requested "two chain carriers, two servants, two horses, and a small carriage for conveying the instruments.”
The basic tool kit of a surveyor in the early 1800s was simple and included a compass, tripod, levels, and chains. Additional equipment requested by John Wood and Herman Bőÿe included a theodolite (an instrument that measures angles), a sextant (an instrument that measures distances), a chronometer (a timepiece), and a telescope to measure latitude and longitude. The Virginia surveyors used tools manufactured in the United States as well as in Great Britain. Goldsmith Chandlee, of Winchester, and Benjamin King Hagger, of Baltimore, are two examples of “mathematical instrument makers” in the first decades of the nineteenth century. In an 1817 advertisement, Hagger noted that his twenty-one years of experience made him “a complete master of his business.”
Surveyors relied on man-made and natural markers, such as houses, trees, creeks, and rivers, to describe boundaries. Efforts to determine accurate boundaries frustrated Wood. In a letter to Governor Thomas Mann Randolph, Wood wrote that mapping Princess Ann (now Virginia Beach), Norfolk, Nansemond, and the Isle of Wight “caused me more trouble I suppose than even any of the largest will do. The boundary lines of these, although very uncertain, were run according to the oldest marked trees, and the most certain information which could be procured.” To meet the challenges of mapping the mountainous terrain west of the Blue Ridge, Wood suggested that the legislature allow for those western counties ("back counties") to be mapped at a smaller scale of "200 poles to the inch” for accuracy. Using the submitted surveys, Wood began to draft the general map in October 1820. Before his death in May 1822, Wood had finished ninety-six surveys and planned to complete another six. A year later, Herman Bőÿe provided a list of county charts that had been completed.
After Wood’s death, Bőÿe continued to work on the draft map. According to his contract, Bőÿe would complete the work by April 1, 1824. Bőÿe was not to be held responsible for any "error, mistake, omission or incorrect of John Wood in any work which he has returned as faithfully and correctly executed." Bőÿe requested and received an extension of the contract to April 1, 1825. Claudius Crozet, a native of France and principal engineer for the Board of Public Works, reviewed the manuscript maps and, in a letter to Governor James Pleasants, noted that Bőÿe had “possessed himself of extensive and correct information . . . to rectify several defective surveys."
Bőÿe researched the costs for engraving and printing the map based on other state maps, such as John Melish’s map of Pennsylvania and the map of South Carolina published by the Tanner firm. Several leading engravers vied for the contract, including Lucas Fielding Jr., and Henry and Benjamin Tanner, all of Philadelphia. Bőÿe recommended the Tanner firm. Bőÿe delivered the completed map to Tanner who proposed engraving nine copperplates. Why nine? Tanner considered the size of his press, the availability of casting copperplates, and the size of the paper he would require. Work proceeded in four phases: planwork (seacoast, rivers, lakes, towns), lettering, decorative vignettes and mountains, and the shading of the water.
Bőÿe’s correspondence provides a fascinating glimpse into the process of engraving a map. He estimated a cost of $5,923 to engrave the map and another $1,000 to oversee the project. Additional expenses included paper, ink, varnish, canvas, paste, rollers, tape, and coloring. He further estimated that the actual printing of 1,000 copies would cost $8,700, for a total project cost of $15,623 or $15.62 per copy. That’s $3,271.42 per map in 2024 dollars!
Individual engravers worked on the plates to reproduce a map section in reverse. Inkers and pressmen used dampened paper and a rolling press to pull a print that was right-facing. Prints had to dry for ten to fourteen days to allow the ink to dry thoroughly. Finally, the nine sheets were joined by slightly overlapping the edges and then glued onto a linen backing, equipped with tabs for hanging the map on a wall. The completed map measured ninety-nine by sixty-four inches, or forty-four square feet, and was presented to Governor Pleasants on April 1, 1825.
Governor John Tyler applied for the copyright for “A Map of the State of Virginia constructed in conformity to law from the late Surveys authorized by the Legislature, and other original and authentic Documents by Herman Bőÿe,” depositing a copy of the map with the Eastern District of Virginia on April 14, 1826.
Bőÿe cautioned that the nine-sheet map would be cumbersome for many private citizens who might wish to own a copy, and he urged the governor to consider having a smaller map engraved and printed. Governor John Tyler and the Virginia legislature agreed and contracted with Bőÿe and Tanner to produce a four-sheet map that measured thirty by forty-eight inches.