In 1831 Ebenezer surveyed Township No. One copied from an earlier plan.

Ebenezer Greenleaf, known as “Eben” was born on November 23, 1781. At nineteen he went to sea skippering a packet between Portland and Liverpool. After the birth of his first child he decided to quit the sea and stay ashore. He became a surveyor and worked occasionally with his brother Moses which becomes apparent in some of the manuscript surveys in the collection.

These surveys were a challenge to catalog. The dates are estimates and a few are dated. But I learned a great deal about Maine’s very rural townships, plantations, ponds, lakes and rivers. Researching the names of these natural resources and seeing where they are located gave me a better understanding of the state – there are some beautiful environments undisturbed and undeveloped. As I was researching and cataloging these manuscripts I was thinking of the indigenous peoples who knew and understood the natural environment around them. The Wallaghas River survey contains indigenous names and it refers to the Allagash River, a tributary of the St. John River. The Natives called it “Wallahgas quegamook” or “bark wigwam pond” The Walloostook was “very fine river”. These place names are on the survey and also list types of trees in the area such as pine, spruce and juniper very likely for future lumber industries.