Monday, December 1, 2014

Amanuensis Monday - Post 246: 1874 Deed of Land in Taylor County, Iowa from Devier and Abbie Smith to William H. Walton

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 1874 deed in the Taylor County, Iowa deed books for Devier J. Smith and Abby A. Smith selling land to William H. Walton:


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

DEED RECORD, TAYLOR CO., IOWA
=================================================
 D.J. Smith                   }       Filed for record:  21st   day of  September  A.D. 
                                    }       18 74   , at    4    o'clock,    P.  M.
To:   Wm. H. Walton   }                                               E.G. Medford    Recorder
                                  }                        
=================================================
Know all Men by these Presents,       That      We                                      
   D. J. Smith and Abbie A. Smith                                                            
of the County of   Cloud   and State of    Kansas   in consideration of the sum of
                                      Four Hundred                                              Dollars,
in hand paid by                      William H. Walton                                                                  
of     Taylor     County and State of     Iowa    do hereby sell and convey unto the 
said                          William H. Walton                                      the following 
described premises, situated in the County of   Taylor    and State of   Iowa   to-wit:
       Lot Number Twenty five (25) Twenty six (26) Twenty Seven (27) and Twenty Eight (28)
in the South West quarter of the South West quarter of Section Twenty three (23) Township No
Sixty eight (68) Range Thirty four (34) according to the official Plat of the survey of said 
Tract of land as Recorded in Book "B"  Surveyors  Record Taylor County Iowa page 366.  

 and   We   hereby covenant with the said        William H. Walton                      
______________________ that   we   hold said premises by good and perfect title; 
that   We   have good right and lawful authority to sell and convey the same; that they are 
free and clear of all liens and incumbrances whatsoever; and   We  covenant   to Warrant and 
Defend the said premises, against the lawful claims of all persons whomsoever.  And the said                                    Abbie A. Smith                                  hereby relinquishes her right of dower in and to 
the above described premises.
           Signed this    21st       day of     September      A.D.  18  74 
IN PRESENCE OF                                                         Devier J. Smith     
                                                                                          Abbie A. Smith       

STATE OF IOWA,      Taylor       County, SS
 On this   21st   day of     September    A.D. 18 74  , before me
                  J.P. Flick                          a    Notary Public      within and for said County, 
                                                personally came   D.J. Smith and Abbie A. Smith his wife    
                                    personally known to be the identical person s whose name s are      
                                    affixed to the above instrument as grantor s , and acknowledged the
                                    same to be   Their   voluntary act and deed, for the 
                                    purposes therein expressed.
                                      In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and 
                                   affixed my official seal at     Bedford , Iowa    on the date last
                                   above written.
                                                                                              J.P. Flick         
                                                                                             Notary Public        
===========================================
     I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the original deed, as filed for record
on the     21st     day of      September       18 74  
                                                                                          E.G. Medford      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.Q (cont.) 1874-1875 v.R-S 1873-1875" Volume Q, page 406 (stamped), Deed of Devier J. and Abbie A. Smith to William H. Walton, 1874; accessed 4 February 2014 on FHL US/CAN microfilm 1,535,636.

Devier J. Smith bought the southwest quarter of Section 23 in Township 68 North Range 34 West from Tobias and Lydia Denny on 10 December 1867.  He then sold half of it to his father, Ranslow Smith, on 2 March 1868 for $500.  He bought that half back from Ranslow Smith on 15 September 1869.  From 1870 to 1875, Devier Smith partitioned the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 23, and then subdivided that 40 acre parcel into about 40 separate lots (probably about 1 acre each) and sold them individually or in groups, such as this transaction.

You can see the Section location and the boundaries of the Devier Smith properties in Finding the Taylor County, Iowa Properties of Devier J. Smith.  

There are a total of 16 deeds similar to this one sold between 1870 and 1875 - only the lot numbers, the grantee, the date and the price varies.  

Devier J. and Abby A. Smith are my second great-grandparents.  By 1874, they were residing in Concordia, Cloud County, Kansas.  Subsequently, they moved to McCook, Red Willow County, Nebraska in 1885, and then bought land in Cheyenne County, Kansas before Devier died in 1894 in McCook.  Abby came to San Diego to live with her daughter's family in the early 1890s.

The URL for this post is:  

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

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