Author Archives: George Fergusson

19 February 2021: Graham Blanchette, LSIT #2653

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Graham Blanchette

It is with great pride and much pleasure that True North greets its own Graham Blanchette who has successfully passed the National “Fundamentals of Surveying” exam and is now one of Maine’s newest Land Surveyor In Training, License Number #2653. This is quite an achievement! The exam is prepared by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). The FS exam is a grueling 8 hour standardized national exam, heavy on mathematics and practical field surveying and passing it at all is quite an accomplishment. Graham has the distinction of having passed the FS exam on his first try. Good work Graham! Next stop? Full Licensure as a P.L.S.

True North’s Graham Blanchette Passes LSIT

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Graham Blanchette, LSIT

The Land Surveyor In Training exam (LSIT) is the first of two tests one needs to take (and pass!) to become a Professional Land Surveyor in the State of Maine. It is a standardized National test that takes a grueling 8 hours to complete. I took mine back in 1980-something and I remember walking out of the classroom at the end of the day dazed and exhausted, and praying that I at least got a passing grade so I wouldn’t have to sit through it again. Well I passed it. This morning Mark told me that True North Surveying Services’s Graham Blanchette just passed his LSIT. This is huge! Graham started with True North Surveying back in September 2013 at which time I think it’s safe to say he didn’t know nawthin. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Graham over the years and teaching him a thing or two. He’s a quick learner! A few years ago I gave him my dog eared copy of “3701 Review Questions for Land Surveyors” to study, the that book I used to prepare for my LSIT. Well, I guess he studied! Congratulations Graham, we’re all very proud of you! Next Up: Maine LS Exam. You got this!

New (Old!) Plan of Whitefield Found

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The Whitefield Historical Society has received a generous donation of an 1871 plan by Asbury Young which is a copy an 1809 plan of the town by Eliakim Scammon, generally referred to as the “Scammon Plan.” The plan was donated to the WHS by town resident Christie Mitchell. Copies of the Scammon plan have turned up over the years in varying condition including one I wrote about a few weeks ago (see “Osher Map Library” post) but none of them are quite as nice as this one. There are several copies of the plan
recorded at the Lincoln County Registry of Deeds and surveyors in the area are quite familiar with the plan. It’s safe to say you really can’t survey most older properties in Whitefield without referring to this plan. At left is a black line copy I have had in my files for a number of years, I don’t even remember where I got it exactly. Contrary to popular belief, Eliakim Scammon didn’t survey the town himself but instead assembled plans of surveys conducted by other surveyors, notably Daniel Rose and James Marr.

At left is a reduced/compressed copy of the plan. It is approximately 36″ x 60″ in size and is colored ink on heavy paper. As nice as it looks, it suffers from water stains, fading ink and colors, and it has a few tears as well and is in desperate need of restoration; the WHS has begun raising funds for that purpose. I took a few quick photographs of the plan today to send off to the map restorer to get an estimate of the cost. I’ll be taking more photographs in the near future.

For reference, at left is a black-line copy of the Scammon plan from my files which is based on an old blue print found in Neota Grady’s attic many years ago. The Whitefield Historical Society has several different versions of the Scammon plan, and I will be helping put on a presentation about all of them at the Annual Meeting of the Whitefield Historical Society to be held this coming March. I’ll post a meeting notice when it gets a little closer.

George Fergusson
True North Surveying Services

Osher Map Library

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H 73 x W 117 cm (H at widest part. W as curled, in natural shape, not extended)

Mark and Graham: I just discovered the Osher Map Library and it’s pretty cool. I’m working on a presentation for the Whitefield Historical Society on Old Whitefield Plans was looking for a rumored piece of the original so-called 1815 “Scammon Plan” of Whitefield. I was told to visit the Osher site. Searching on the term “Whitefield” turned up this gem:

Image 12519.0001

Still trying to decipher the cartouche. It is clearly a piece of the Scammon Plan, roughly centered on Weary Pond, an are you and I are intimately familiar with. The above picture is a limited resolution jpg I downloaded from the site. You can zoom right in on the online-version.

Another Land Surveying resource. Who knows what else awaits discovery in the Osher Map Library!