But the surveyor found a critical reference.
A monument described in the prewar spring reserve plan.
A carved limestone marker beside the north bank of the stream.
According to later surveys, the marker had been treated as part of the factory's outer boundary.
But the original family survey described it as a corner of the reserved spring tract.
The distinction mattered.
A boundary point could define which land was conveyed and which was excluded.
The surveyor examined historical aerial photographs.
Then county mapping records.
Then a modern site plan.
He identified a location where the marker might still exist beneath decades of brush.
The family attorney asked the buyer's representatives for permission to conduct a supervised survey visit on the relevant land.
After negotiating reasonable conditions, access was arranged.
The boy was not allowed to participate in hazardous fieldwork.
But he traveled with his mother to a safe observation point near the old county road.
The survey crew entered the wooded area.
They carried professional instruments.
Mapping equipment.
And photographs of the historic marker.
For several hours, they searched.
At first, nothing.
Only weeds.
Rocks.
Fallen branches.
And the sound of water moving through the shallow stream.
Then one survey technician called out.
"Found something!"
The surveyor approached.
Beneath moss and loose soil lay a rectangular limestone block.
One face carried an old carved cross.
Another contained faded initials.
The surveyor carefully documented the marker without unnecessarily disturbing it.
Then compared its position with the historical calls.
For several seconds, he stared at the instrument readings.
Finally, he looked toward the attorney.
"This is promising."
She approached.
"How promising?"
He pointed toward the map.
"The location is consistent with the original spring reserve corner, within the tolerances and uncertainties of these records."
The attorney took a breath.
"Does it prove the reserve still belongs to the family?"
The surveyor shook his head.
"No. That's a title question."
Then he smiled faintly.
"But it shows the old survey wasn't describing an imaginary parcel."
The family attorney nodded.
That was important.
The land was real.
The boundary evidence was real.
And the modern development plan appeared to cross an area specifically excluded from the original contemplated conveyance.