I vividly remember the first time I put my newly acquired seal on a survey plan. It was 1998, and I had just completed an ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey of a property in New Jersey. Under the flickering of the fluorescent bulbs, thunder booming outside so close that it rattled the windows, my hand trembling, I felt much trepidation as I penned my signature on the copies of the plan. Was my survey good enough? Had I done everything the American Land Title Association and the American Congress of Surveying and Mapping required? Would another surveyor find my survey plan and property markers erroneous in some way? It had taken me over 11 years to get to this point in my career since I had begun surveying, and finally, I was a licensed Professional Land Surveyor.
Fast-forward to 2025. Today, I placed my signature and seal on yet another subdivision plan, which will be filed in the Recorder of Deeds office. I cannot wager a guess as to how many times I have done this now.
Just recently, however, it dawned on me that my signature and seal are a piece of history. Granted, they will never hold the significance of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace novel set during the Napoleonic Wars or Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of Mona Lisa. But 100 years from now, some surveyor will extract a copy of one of the many subdivision plans I’ve prepared and form an opinion about Thomas Kilborne Phillips, PLS. What will their reaction be?
Over my 38 years of experience, I’ve had the good fortune to work with many outstanding land surveyors. A special shout-out goes to Richard F. Smith, Jr. from Morristown, NJ, who was my first boss/mentor. If there was ever a court case that required an expert witness to delve deep into a boundary dispute, Rich was the man! Rich once told me, “You can always tell the caliber of a surveyor based on the person who taught him/her.”
Other notable surveyors that I have had the pleasure to work with include, but are not limited to:
- Bob Nelson
- Dave Beideman
- Richard F. Kline
When I pull a recorded subdivision plan from the courthouse, I am always excited and breathe a sigh of relief when I see that it was prepared by:
- Thomas Colesworthy
- Jack Stapleton
- Larry Leisy
- Arnold “The Colonel” Hayes
- Ken Comstock
I know that when one of these guys prepared a plan, their bearings and distances will form a mathematically closed figure. The property markers will be in the ground, as shown on the plan, and I can hold those markers’ positions with an elevated degree of confidence.
Of course, there are some inferior surveyors out there too. Professional ethics preclude me from calling them out by name, but the industry is laden with them. When I pull a plan prepared by one of them, my reaction is usually something along the lines of “Oh crap! Not him …”
So, getting back to my original question: 100 years (or even 10 years) from now, what will the reaction be to seeing a plan prepared by Thomas Kilborne Phillips? I’ve always strived to do my very best in this profession that I love, and I will continue to be the best surveyor/mentor until it’s time for me to push up daisies.
At Howell Surveying, I’ve found a company of hard-working, ethical people who share my values and do what’s right for their clients. Hopefully, my coworkers and I will be ranked among “The Great Ones” sometime in the future.
