Before the early 20th century, a surveyor would use a chain to make measurements. This chain, from the 1830s, was owned by John Johnson, the Surveyor General of Vermont, and resembles the type that Randel’s team used. The chain is 66 feet long and composed of 100 equal links, each just under eight inches long (the newer chain has tags every tenth link, with notches to indicate the number of “tenths” to the nearest end). BH