John Calhoun, an intelligent and courteous gentleman, was at that time surveyor of the county of Sangamon.

He became interested in Lincoln and appointed him his deputy.

His work was so accurate and the settlers had such confidence in him that he was much sought after to survey, fix, and mark the boundaries of farms, and to plot and lay off the town of Petersburg.
His accuracy must have been attained with some difficulty, for when he began to survey his chain was a grape-vine.

He did not speculate in the land he surveyed.

Had he done so the rapid advance in the value of real estate would have made it easy for him to make good investments.