De Witt, Simeon (25 December 1756–03 December 1834), cartographer, surveyor, and land developer, was born in Wawarsing, Ulster County, New York, the son of Andries De Witt, a physician, and Jannetje Vernooy. His early education was typical of what a scattered agricultural community could provide in that period. Later he received classical instruction from the local minister, and then, on the eve of the American Revolution, he enrolled at Queen’s College (later Rutgers University) in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was granted a B.A. degree in 1776 and an M.A. degree in 1788....
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De Witt, Simeon (1756-1834), cartographer, surveyor, and land developer
Silvio A. Bedini
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Greenleaf, Moses (1777-1834), mapmaker, writer, and promoter of the state of Maine
Olive Hoogenboom
Greenleaf, Moses (17 October 1777–20 March 1834), mapmaker, writer, and promoter of the state of Maine, was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the son of Moses Greenleaf, a ship carpenter and a lieutenant in the American Revolution, and Lydia Parsons. In 1790 Greenleaf moved with his family to New Gloucester in the district of Maine, where his parents became farmers. From 1799 to 1806 he operated a general store, first in New Gloucester for three years, then in Poland, Kenduskeag, and Bangor. In 1805 he married Persis Poor; they had four children. One year after his marriage Greenleaf purchased from William Dodd of Boston a quarter interest in a township to be carved from Maine “wild lands” he had purchased from Massachusetts. Greenleaf agreed to manage the joint property (later incorporated as Williamsburg) and to settle forty families there by 1812. Greenleaf spent part of the winter of 1807 in Boston, where he promoted his new property and the separation of Maine from Massachusetts while the General Court was in session there. Although an ardent Federalist, he opposed the majority of his party on the issue of separation....
