JB Garrett <[log in to unmask]> wrote:    I remember reading somewhere that the pole may have come into use as a unit of measurement because it was length of wall (stone, earth, or wood) that one man could defend against an attack. Another idea was that it was the length of the wooden staff used to control a team of 8 oxen.

John Garrett

  To correct my own email, I should have written “furlong”, not furlough.  It’s the Scot in me! And writing late at night!
  I remember being taught that the correction for the magnetic poles was either 2 or 4 degrees – I can’t remember which, and not home to check.  Do you think either is a good average?  Is there any way to know more accurately how much of a correction to make in any given time period?  Programs like DeedMapper supposedly make the corrections, so I wonder if they are more accurate than I can figure?

  I think you’re right about the measurement being used for walls.   Now that I think of it  -  the pre-revolutionary homes in Charleston, South Carolina, are consistently just over 16 feet wide,  creating a room 16 feet wide, or two rooms 8 feet wide.   The lots extended from well over 100 feet long to well over 200 feet in length.  [Now I will have to check the exact lengths and see if they were measured with poles] The later homes were 24-28 feet wide.  Charleston was a walled city, needing to defend against attacks from France, Spain, Indians, and pirates, so it makes sense too, that the part of the home facing the street was narrow enough to defend, especially as homes went up outside the walls.

  What I can’t understand is how this all fits with the metric system.  I know the word “metes” was based on the word “meter”, so how does any of this fit with the metric system?  I remember my 4th grade teacher stating that the English used the metric system, the United States was going to switch to the metric system by 1970, or something, and we would all have to learn metrics. I’ve had a fear of metrics ever since.   I’ve looked at the conversion charts, [inches to meters, meter to furlong,etc] but don’t see how poles, chains, or furlongs relate to centimeters, millimeters or meters.  Is the furlong system completely different that metrics?  Since the term “metes and bounds” comes from metrics, I assume they are connected.  But why does 100 meters convert to .99 furlong?  If they are part of the same system, why wouldn’t they convert to an even number – 100 meters equaling 100 furlong?  Or is this like atomic clocks – a slight correction in previously inaccurate measurements?
  Thanks.
  Langdon


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