Michael Korn Estate Map
The 1829 map reproduced below is a photo negative of pages 32-33 of the 1949 book "The Genealogy of Michael Korns, Sr. of Somerset County Pennsylvania " by Dr. Charles Byron Korns. This map, as presented below, is oriented with North to the top of the page.
Copies of this map that have previously been published over the internet have had two problems. First of all they have been oriented with North to the bottom of the page, as it was oriented in Dr. Korn's genealogy book. Secondly, they have been scans, and therefore omit detail from the middle of the map (due to book page curvature) pertaining to tract no. 2.
The caption on the map reads "The above draught represents Michael Korns real Estate as the same was divided and appraised by an inquest to make partition or valuation held by Joseph Imhoff high sheriff of Somerset County on the 20th day of April 1829 the lines of tract No. 1 were partly taken from the deed and partly by actual survey those of tract No. 2 by actual survey by John Witt".
In the Korns Genealogy book, where the map is printed "upside-down", one's eye is naturally drawn to the name of Michael Korn in the 178 acre tract No. 2 (label 1). One is less likely to note that tract No. 2 (label 2) with 96 acres also belonged to Michael Korn, as did the Henry Hoyman tract (label 3) to the south, which is annotated "this tract was originally a part of No. 1, as represented by the ____ heirs. Also note a tract to the north (label 4) that belonged to Daniel Korn.
The interesting thing is to try to orient the draught with actual features on the ground. The draught does not match present day plat maps of the area, and some of the roads do not match present day roads. The nearest that I can determine, the Cook cemetery is located where I have placed label 5, and the driveway to the house is where I have placed label 6. If you look at satellite photos of the area (e.g. Google maps, Yahoo maps), it appears that traces of the "road to Berlin" and "road to Cumberland" can still be seen in the fields and woods. Eventually, I hope to find the time to overlay the draught on a public domain satellite photo to see how close the geographic features match the draught.
If the draught is related to terrain features the way that I believe it does, then in 1829 the house that is shown on page 30 of the Korns genealogy book would have probably been on tract No. 2, i.e. on the tract marked Daniel Korn. I do not know at present whether tract No. 2 was actually ever owned by Michael Korn, Sr., nor do I have any reason to believe that it was not once owned by Michael Korn, and then sold to Daniel Korn, Sr.. Based on the date estimations of the house, even if it were not ever owned by Michael Korn, it was certainly owned by Daniel Korn if it was on tract No. 2.
