[40] At the time of the Civil War, 1861-65, the Mason and Dixon line was spoken of as the line dividing North and South, free and slave States from each other. When it was laid out, it was with no such idea, however, as we have seen, but to correctly mark the divisions between the properties of William Penn and Lord Baltimore. [41] In 1909, the original Royal Grants from the King and the Duke of York to William Penn were given to the Colonial Dames by Mrs. W. R. Miller of Media, Pennsylvania. These deeds were given by John Penn, the great grandson of William Penn, to Mr. John Coates, of Philadelphia in 1811, and had been handed down and carefully preserved. The Colonial Dames, on receiving them, presented them formally to the State of Delaware, and Governor Pennewill accepted them in the name of the Commonwealth, before the joint session of the Legislature. They are undoubtedly the most important records ever presented to this state. They are the Royal Grants, which confer practically the sovereignty to the State of Delaware of the land composing its domain. Upon the validity of these Grants the division lines between Maryland and Delaware were established in the famous chancery suit in England between William Penn and Lord Baltimore. In the Pea-patch Island controversy between New Jersey and Delaware they established Delaware’s ownership of this island, where Fort Delaware was erected. Also in the late case between New Jersey and Delaware concerning the fishery rights within the twelve mile circle, these papers played an important part. * * * * * Transcriber’s Notes: Obvious punctuation errors repaired. Page 96, “upn” changed to “upon” (charged upon the) Page 96, “deKalb” changed to “DeKalb” to match rest of usage (DeKalb himself had) Page 98, “readinesss” changed to “readiness” (readiness shown by them) Page 104, “oncamped” and “eften” changed to “encamped” and “often” (encamped. In the next) (often be seen kneeling) Page 137, in text of illustration, “Battleship” is printed as “Battleshib.” End of Project Gutenberg's Once Upon a Time in Delaware, by Katherine Pyle