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Monday, July 28, 2014

Amanuensis Monday - Post 228: 1868 Deed of Land in Taylor County, Iowa from Devier J. Smith to Ranslow Smith

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a Monday blog theme years ago called "Amanuensis Monday."  John offers this definition for "amanuensis:" 

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

The subject today is an 1868 deed in the Taylor County, Iowa deed books for Devier J. Smith selling land to Ranslow Smith:


The transcription of this deed is (handwritten text in italics, form fields underlined):

01                                            RECORD OF DEEDS

02                                   Devier J. Smith to Ranslow Smith

03 Know all Men by these Presents:
04 That   we Devier J. Smith and Abbie Smith his   
05      wife     
06 of the county of    Taylor   and State of    Iowa    , in consideration of the
07 sum of    Five Hundred      Dollars
08 in hand paid by     Ranslow Smith     
09                                of Taylor    County   , and State of
10     Iowa     do hereby Sell and convey unto the said   Ranslow Smith upon    
11   conditions hereinafter Stated     
12 the following described premises, situated in the County of    Taylor   and State of Iowa, to wit:
13 The undivided half of the South west quarter of Section
14 Twenty three in Township Sixty Eight north of Range
15 Thirty four west, upon the following conditions, to wit,
16 during the natural life of the said Ranslow Smith and
17 after the death of Ranslow Smith then the said premises
18 as above described, Shall revert back to the said Devier
19 J. Smith as his heirs provided Said Ranslow Smith leaves
20 no widow or heirs then the said Devier Smith or his heirs
21 is to pay said widow Five Hundred dollars for them in
22 trust in said premises.
23 and   we    hereby covenant with the said    Ranslow Smith    
24                                                                                        
25                                    that    we     hold said premises by good & perfect title, that   we   
26 have good right and authority to Sell and Convey the same; that they are free and clear of all liens and incum-
27 brances whatsoever, and   we   covenant to Warrant and Defend the said premises against lawful claims of
28 all persons whomsoever; and the said   Abbie Smith    hereby relinquishes
29 her right of dower in and to the above described premises.

30 Signed this    2nd    day of      March  A D    186 8.

31 IN PRESENCE OF
32 {cts                          cts }                                  Devier J. Smith
33 {50  Revenue Stamp  50 }                                 Abbie A Smith     

34 STATE OF IOWA     }  SS
35 TAYLOR COUNTY  }
36                                        On this   2nd    day of    March    186 8, before me
37                      Clerk of the District Court                   
38 within and for said County, personally came    Devier Smith & Abbie Smith    
39    his wife                      
40 personally to me known to be the identical person s whose name s   are   affixed to the above instrument as grantor
41 and acknowledged the same to be   their   voluntary act and deed.

42 {  Clerks    }   In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, and affixed my official
43 {   Seal      }   Seal at   Bedford   on the date last above written.
44                                                                              L J Smith   
45                                                                               Clerk         

46 I certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of
47 the original Deed as filed for Record on the 2nd day of March
48 A D 1868.                                             Daniel Underwood
                                                                 Recorder

The source citation for this Deed is:

Taylor County, Iowa, "Taylor County, Iowa, deed records, 1855-1953; index, 1855-1902", "Deed Records (Land) v. M-N 1869-1872 v. O (to p. 311) 1872-1873," Volume M, page 80 (stamped), Deed of Devier J. Smith to Ranslow Smith, 1868; accessed 4 February 2014 on FHL US/CAN microfilm 1,535,634.

This deed is between my second great-grandparents, Devier J. and Abbie A. (Vaux) Smith and Devier's father, Ranslow Smith.  Devier purchased the southwest quarter of Section 23 on 10 December 1867 from Tobias and Robert Denny.  Ranslow and his wife sold it back to Devier on 16 September 1869 for $500.  This may have been a way to put capital in the hands of Devier for a period of time, perhaps to start a business or buy livestock.  Devier owned the other half of the southwest quarter of Section 23 at the time.  

I created a table of all of the Ranslow Smith and Devier J. Smith deeds in Taylor county, Iowa - it is in Organizing the Taylor County, Iowa Land Deeds of Ranslow Smith and Devier J. Smith (posted 22 July 2014).  However, it is not in a date order, it was in my photograph order.  I have since put it into date order and will be methodically going through from early date to late date as I post these deed transcriptions.  This way, I can figure out which piece of land was owned at what period of time by which person.  


Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

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