#also Goodwin was a loyalist and didnt want to give Arnold the maps anyway lest he been seen as sympathetic to the Patriots cause

[benjhawkins]

So the more I’m diggin into the records the more I’m thinking in my opinion that Samuel Goodwin didn’t purposefully give bad maps of the northern part of Discrict of Maine to Benedict Arnold but rather that Goodwin was just a shitty surveyor.

Here’s a 1763 map of Pownalborough, drawn by Jonas Jones and Samuel Goodwin, though Goodwin is credited as the creator and it’s in his handwriting.

It’s fine, the scale’s a little off and I can’t figure out the scale and the plots in relation to the River but it’s fine. What’s driving me crazy is this is meant to be the Pownalborough Court House:

And here is how it looks today:

As you can see, the chimneys are in wrong position and the window above the door is incorrect.

Here’s the kicker: SAMUEL GOODWIN LIVES THERE! He’s been living there for two years by the time he makes the map!

Presumably he’s working on the maps at home with Jones and he can’t be bothered to go outside and see that the court house he lives in is accurate??

According to this letter written from Goodwin too George Washington, Goodwin was only given about three weeks to produce the maps, and we know Reuben Colburn was also asked to produce the shitty bateaux in a short time span too, which is why he had to use green wood that leaked.