Mason and Dixon: They Drew the Line! Quiz

Answer: Quaker

Born July 27, 1733, Jeremiah Dixon grew up in a Quaker household in County Durham. It is said that while in school at Barnard Castle, he became interested in mathematics and astronomy and was able to associate with prominent intellectuals who lived in the area, such as John Bird (astronomer) and William Emerson (mathematician).

Answer: Land Surveyor

It is not known how Dixon became involved in this occupation. However, some sources say that his brother, George, may have taught him. After fulfilling his contract to survey in the colonies, Dixon return to County Durham and continued to work as a surveyor.

Answer: Dixon was elected into the American Philosophical Society at the same time as Charles Mason.

In 1760, Dixon was expelled from the Quaker meeting house for excessive drinking. He was opposed to slavery, and was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1768. It is not known why he was admitted into the Society a year after Mason. Dixon never married; he died January 22, 1799, and was buried in a Quaker cemetery in Staindrop.


"I am Jeremiah Dixon
I am a Geordie boy
A glass of wine with you, sir
And the ladies I'll enjoy
All Durham and Northumberland
Is measured up by my own hand
It was my fate from birth
To make my mark upon the earth..."

Answer: Baker

Charles Mason was born in April 1728, in Gloucestershire, England; his father made a living as both a miller and a baker. After attending school, he was able to receive additional tutoring from Robert Stratford, a noted mathematician.

Answer: Royal Observatory, Greenwich

Mason lived nearby the Astronomer Royal, Dr. James Bradley, and was offered a job as his assistant. He worked in that capacity from 1756 to 1760. Described as a "congenial person and a meticulous observer of nature and geography", he quickly made a name for himself.

"He calls me Charlie Mason
A stargazer am I
It seems that I was born
To chart the evening sky
They'd cut me out for baking bread
But I had other dreams instead
This baker's boy from the west country
Would join the Royal Society..."

Answer: Lunar Tables

Professor Tobias Mayer had begun construction of his "Tables of the Moon" before Mason came to work at the observatory. Lunar Tables were to help with the problem of determining longitude at sea, a problem which had made navigation difficult. Apparently this became a lifelong study for Mason; in 1787 the Board of Longitude awarded him £750 for perfecting his work. Mason was married with a wife and eight children; they all returned to Philadelphia in 1786, when he wrote to Benjamin Franklin about a proposed astronomical project. He passed away October 26, 1787.

Answer: They were to observe the transit of Venus.

In 1760, the Royal Society of London was preparing to study the transit of Venus from the locations of St. Helena, as well as Sumatra. Mason accepted the contract with Dixon as his assistant. On route to their destination, their ship was attacked by a French vessel, and they did not make their destination in time to record the transit. A temporary observatory was set up in Cape Town, South Africa, and they visited St. Helena before returning to England. It was on this trip that the pair gained a reputation for their work.

All of the other choices listed are accomplishments that Mason and Dixon made once they were in America.

Answer: Pennsylvania and Maryland

It is interesting to note that the line that became so symbolic during the American Civil War as the divider between slave states and free states, was drawn before the United States as a country was even born. Apparently there was a long-running, 80 year feud between the Penns in Pennsylvania and the Calverts in Maryland that had not been resolved due to lack of scientific instruments and people with the knowledge and training to complete the task. Mason and Dixon were to also fix the boundary between Pennsylvania and Delaware. Arriving in Philadelphia on November 15, 1763, their first task was to determine the latitude of Philadelphia; then they headed west, traveling on the same latitude, to the farm of John Harlan, which became their headquarters.

"We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line -
A Mason-Dixon Line."

Answer: Iroquois

The Iroquois tribe had provided guides for the Mason-Dixon expedition; in October 1767, the guides would not go any further west. They had reached the boundary of their land, and were close to the land of the Lenape tribe with whom they were involved in conflict. On October 11, 1767, the final observations were made. The boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland was 233 miles from their starting point; they had also made a 83 mile-long boundary between Pennsylvania and Delaware. Charles Mason kept a meticulously accurate journal that documented every step of the way.

"Now you're a good surveyor, Dixon
But I swear you'll make me mad
The West will kill us both
You gullible Geordie lad
You talk of liberty
How can America be free
A Geordie and a baker's boy
In the forests of the Iroquois..."

Answer: True

Huge paving stones, weighting between 300 and 600 pounds, were were shipped from England and placed every mile along the line. The markers were decorated with a "M" on one side, and a "P" the other. The stones placed every fifth mile were engraved with the Penn coat of arms on one side, and the Calvert coat of arms on the other. Using modern GPS measurements, it has been determined that while in some places the line went off its mark by an inch, it was never off more than 800 feet. Modern scientists agree that considering the conditions and instruments available to them, Mason and Dixon completed "a logistical achievement and represented hard core science done under harsh conditions". Of course, their astronomical calculations had to be done at night, and work didn't stop when the weather changed. They would lay on their backs, "looking through a six-foot-long telescope measuring the angles between stars and the meridian".

"Now hold your head up, Mason
See America lies there
The morning tide has raised
The capes of Delaware
Come up and feel the sun
A new morning has begun
Another day will make it clear
Why your stars should guide us here..."