By Lauren Kuntzman
Land Deeds are an excellent resource to learn about your family’s history and property. They can help prove your ancestor’s residence and their relationships to family members. In spite of their usefulness, when faced with pages of old handwriting, land deeds can seem intimidating...
This week's blog post will share tips for reading deeds and show an example of how you can make the process more manageable and the details you might learn about your ancestor in the process.
5 Tips for Reading Deeds
Tip #1 - Before reading the deed, familiarize yourself with the units of measure used in property descriptions. These include measurements in chains, links, rods, and perches. To help you envision these unfamiliar measurements, here are their equivalents in feet and miles:
1 Chain = 100 Links = 4 Rods = 4 Perches = 66 Feet
80 Chains = 800 Links = 320 Rods = 320 Perches = 1 Mile
Tip #2 - Don’t try to read the deed all at once. Break deeds up into four sections: an introduction, a property description, a conclusion, and a dower release. Each section has important details that we’ll review below.
Tip #3 - Try to transcribe each section of the deed, word-for-word, as best you can in either your own handwriting or by typing. For words or letters you can’t (yet!) read, substitute square brackets and a question mark [?] in their place. (Also, if you’re having difficulty with the handwriting, check out our blog post on 5 Tips for Reading Old Handwriting!) This tip is especially helpful if you ever need to read it again – then you can look at your transcription and make it easier to read in the future!
Tip #4 - Read the deed aloud. One of the challenges in understanding a deed is that capitalization and punctuation wasn’t standardized. Reading it out loud may help you determine where sentences stop and start, and make the meaning of the record easier to understand.
Tip #5 - Practice makes perfect. Read a lot of Land Deeds. Many deeds follow the same format and use the exact same language and phrases. The more you read, the easier it becomes.
A Sample Deed
This deed documents a sale of property in Liverpool Township, Medina County, Ohio, between William and Clarissa Warner and Lucius Warner, from 16 June 1825. The deed is from Land Deed Book 2, page 376.
Underlining has been added to highlight specific elements of the deed.
The first section of a deed, often includes the following details about the sale:
Name and residence of the land seller (grantor)
Name and residence of the land buyer (grantee)
Transaction price
In this section of the record we learn that William and Clarissa Warner are spouses and that Lucius Warner is their son. We learn that all three live in Liverpool Township, Medina County, Ohio. In the event that there was more than one “William Warner” living in Medina County, the details about his wife, son, and residence could help distinguish him from others with the same name. Also, even if the deed hadn’t specified that Lucius was their son, the property sold for love, esteem, and one dollar would be a clue that there is a connection between these individuals.
Property Description
The next section of the deed contains a legal description of the property. Details may include:
State, County, Township, Section, and part of the section. (A fancy term for a “part of the section” is “aliquot.”)
Boundaries, which include distances, directions/angles, and landmarks.
Amount of acreage.
Previous owners.
“...the following tract or parcel of land situated, lying and being in said Liverpool, and being a part of Section number fifteen bounded as follows to wit, East on the East line of said Section No. 15 Ninety eight rods. South on land of said William Warner, North on land belonging to Joseph and Jared Warner; thence to extend so far West as to contain fifty acres of land the West line to be parallel to the East line of said Section, the same forty acres of land being conveyed by us the said William and Clarissa to him the said Lucius Warner as his full share, part and proportion of all the real estate, which the said Clarissa Warner inherited from her father Mark Warner."
From the property description, we learn that the land is in Section 15 of Liverpool Township. The east/west boundaries are just over a quarter of a mile long, and the property contains fifty acres. It’s important to note that there was a typographical error in this record – in one place it says the property contains 50 acres, while elsewhere it says 40 acres. We also learn that Clarissa’s father was Mark Warner, which is curious since it suggests Clarissa’s maiden name was the same as her married name. (Definitely a detail to investigate in the future.) We also learn who some of Lucius’s neighbors would be and since they include more Warners, they might be other relatives!
Conclusion
After the description of the property, the deed includes details like:
The type of deed it is.
The date the deed was written.
The grantor(s)’ signatures.
The names of Witnesses.
"To have and to hold the before granted and bargained premises with the appurtenances and privileges thereto belonging unto him the said Lucius his heirs and assigns forever to his and their own proper use, benefit, and behoof. And also we the said William and Clarissa do for ourselves our heirs and assigns covenant with the said Lucius his heirs and assigns that at and until the ensealing of these presents we are well seised of the premises that we have good right to sell and convey the same in manner and form aforesaid. And furthermore we the said William and Clarissa, do by these presents find ourselves and our heirs forever to warrant and defend the same premises to him the said Lucius his heirs and assigns against the lawful claims and demands of all persons. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals the Sixteenth day of June A.D. 1825.
William Warner [Seal]
Clarissa Warner [Seal]
Signed Sealed and delivered in the presence of us, John Freese and Wm. Austin."
In this section we find that the deed was written on the 16 June 1825. The language suggests this is a warranty deed, which means the seller (the Warners) had the title and the right to sell the property. We also see that both William and Clarissa signed the deed, indicating that both were literate. Their witnesses were John Freese and William Austin. It is important to note that these aren’t the Warners’ original signatures – this deed is a copy of one that Lucius Warner would have brought to an official to transcribe into the records at the courthouse.
Dower Release
After the witnesses, the deed concludes with a dower release. Since a wife was entitled to dower – that is, a portion of her husband’s property after his death – an official would confirm that she hadn’t been coerced into the sale. This section – and the entire deed – ends with the date that the Deed was received and recorded by the county courts and the name of the recorder.
"The State of Ohio, Medina County s.s.
Brunswick June 16, 1825 Then personally appeared the within named William Warner and Clarissa Warner his wife, signers and sealers of the within deed, and the said William acknowledged the same to be his free act and deed and the said Clarissa having then by me examined, separate and apart from her said husband, and the contents of the within deed having been made known to her acknowledge that she signed the same of her free will and accord without fear or compulsion of her said husband.
Given under my hand and seal the day and year abovesaid.
Before me, John Freese, associate Judge.
Recd [Received] & Recorded July 30th A.D. 1825 J. Hudson, Recorder."
In this example, we learn that Associate Judge John Freese (also a witness to the deed) confirmed that Clarissa was not coerced into selling the land. The deed was recorded by the courts about six weeks after it was written, with J. Hudson serving as the recorder.
Learn More
If you’d like to find Medina County, Ohio deeds to explore, a collection of records is available on FamilySearch. Access them at https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1087. (Remember to sign in, to view the records.) This collection of deeds is also available on microfilm at the Family History & Learning Center. As always, if you’re having trouble reading or interpreting a land deed, feel free to reach out to the MCDL Genealogy Team for help at 330-725-0588 x5017 or me-team.genealogy@mcdl.info.
No comments:
Post a Comment