Solid brass Vernier transit on walnut tripod. Albert D. Searl used this transit to survey town sites in Kansas Territory. He came to Kansas from Massachusetts in 1854. He apparently was associated with S.C. Pomeroy, agent for the New England Emigrant Aid Company that organized antislavery settlements in the territory. Searl laid out the city limits and streets of Lawrence, Kansas, in September 1854, and three months later conducted the first regular survey of Topeka. Later he surveyed Manhattan, Osawatomie, Burlington, El Dorado, and other Kansas towns.
