DE WITT, Simeon, surveyor, born in Ulster County, New York, 25 December, 1756; died in Ithaca, New York, 3 December, 1834. He was graduated at Queen's (afterward Rutgers) College in 1776, being the only graduate in that year. He joined the army of General Gates, was present at the surrender of Burgoyne, and from 1778 till 1780 was assistant topographer to the Continental army, and then chief of the topographical staff of General Washington until the close of the war in 1783. In 1784 he became surveyor general of the state of New York, in which post he remained until he died. He performed valuable services in locating lands and laying out roads, and was one of the chief promoters of the Erie canal. To Mr. De Witt it was long believed we were indebted for the extraordinary classical names of Carthage, Pompey, Sempronius, etc., given to various townships of the state. His supposed pedantry and folly afforded a fine theme for one of Drake and Halleck's "Croakers." But it is now known that the real culprit was the deputy secretary of state of that period. In 1796 De Witt was nominated surveyor general of the United States, but. declined. He was for many years a resident of Albany, and was active in advancing its literary and material interests. He became regent of the state University in 1798, vice-chancellor in 1817, and chancellor in 1829. He published a map of New York (1804), and a treatise on the "Elements of Perspective" (Albany, 1813). Dr. T. Romeyn Beck published a "Eulogium" on his life and services (Albany, 1835).His wife, Susan Linn (17781824), wrote "Justinea," a novel, and "The Pleasures of Religion," a poem.