A map of Philadelphia and parts adjacent - with a perspective view of the State-House LOC 98690000

Nicholas Scull II (1687–1761) was an American

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is c ...

and

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

. He served as

Surveyor General A surveyor general is an official responsible for government surveying in a specific country or territory. Historically, this would often have been a military appointment, but it is now more likely to be a civilian post. The following surveyor gen ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...

from 1748 to 1761.

Early life

Nicholas Scull II was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

. His Irish-born father,

Nicholas Scull, began laying out the path for the

Old York Road Old York Road (originally York Road, with reference to New York) is a roadway that was built during the 18th century to connect Philadelphia with New York City. Through New Jersey it was built along the Raritan (Unami tribe) "Naraticong Trail", ...

in 1697, and Nicholas II assisted on this as a teen. Old York Road was the major route north through Philadelphia County, until the construction of North Broad Street in the 19th century. Nicholas II was about age 16 when his father died in 1703. He apprenticed under Pennsylvania's first Surveyor General, Thomas Holme, and also studied with surveyor Jacob Taylor. He was appointed the first Deputy Surveyor for Philadelphia County in 1719. Scull was one of the twelve original members of '' The Junto'', "a club for mutual improvement" founded by

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intel ...

in Autumn 1727. Franklin described him as "Nicholas Scull, a surveyor, afterward surveyor-general, who loved books and sometimes made a few verses,"''Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin'' (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1921), pp. 62-6

/ref> and noted that Scull was fluent in the local Delaware languages, Lenape language.

Mid-life and career

In 1733, Scull was appointed Deputy Surveyor for

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

, in addition to Philadelphia County. His work included surveying the Schuylkill and

Lehigh River The Lehigh River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania. The river flows in a generally southward pat ...

s. He handled

land dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources ...

s in the

Delaware Water Gap Delaware Water Gap is a water gap on the border of the U.S. states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the Delaware River cuts through a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. The gap makes up the southern portion of the Delaware Water Gap ...

region between Dutch, French and early Pennsylvania settlers. He accompanied Surveyor General Benjamin Eastburn on the notorious Walking Purchase of 1737, a "land swindle,""Walking-Purchase" from ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
/ref> through which the Penn family claimed an area of 1,200,000 acres (4,860 km²). Eastburn later hired Scull's son Edward as a surveyor. Scull ran for

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the most populous county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia County had a population of 1,603,797. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsy ...

sheriff in 1744, and won. He served as sheriff until 1746, when he was asked to replace William Parsons as Surveyor General. Scull was formally appointed Surveyor General in 1748, and Edward Scull was appointed to the father's former position as Deputy Surveyor of Philadelphia and Bucks Counties. As Surveyor General, Scull published multiple maps of the Philadelphia region, working at times with his wife's relative, George Heap (1715-1752). Heap's sketches for a prospect of Philadelphia were inspired by William Burgis, who created prospects of the cities of New York and Boston. Following Heap's premature death, Scull completed the Philadelphia prospect. Engraved and printed by Gerard Vandergucht in London in 1754, ''An East Prospect of the City of Philadelphia'' was printed from four copper plates. The four sheets could be trimmed and combined into a single image, that measured by .Martin P. Snyder, ''City of Independence: Views of Philadelphia before 1800'' (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975), pp. 42-47.

Personal

Nicholas Scull II married Abigail Heap in 1708. Together they had a daughter, Mary; and three sons: Edward, John, and Nicholas III, who became surveyors. Scull died in 1761, and was buried in

Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Whitemarsh Township is a Home rule municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It retains its former classification of "Township" in its official name despite being a home rule municipality. The population was 17,349 at the 2 ...

Notable works

*''A Map of Philadelphia and Parts Adjacent, 1752, by Nicolas Scull and George Heap, first edition'', 1752,

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

**Scull & Heap's 1752 map of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

was adapted and republished by

William Faden William Faden (1749 – 1836) was an English cartographer and a publisher of maps. He was the royal geographer to King George III. He replaced Thomas Jefferys in that role. The title of "geographer to the king" was given to various people in t ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

in 1777, during the American Revolution. *''An East Prospect of the City of Philadelphia; taken by George Heap from the Jersey Shore; under the direction of Nicholas Scull, Surveyor General of the Province of Pennsylvania'' (1754) *''To the Honourable Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Esqrs., true & absolute proprietaries & Governours of the Province of Pennsylvania & counties of New-Castle, Kent & Sussex on Delaware this map of the improved part of the Province of Pennsylvania,'' 1759,

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scull, Nicholas, II 1687 births 1761 deaths American surveyors American cartographers People from Philadelphia People of colonial Pennsylvania Burials in Pennsylvania Sheriffs of Philadelphia