What can family historians find in deeds?

When landowners died, defaulted on mortgages, or forfeited land to pay fines, they or court officials transferred title for the land to heirs or purchasers. The term used for documents associated with these actions is "deeds." Deeds are valuable documents for learning about relationships and the lives of our ancestors.

Nonetheless, deed records can be confusing for those who lack knowledge of the documents' structure and language. Understanding deeds is more difficult than understanding sources such as censuses or vital records. They are also relatively difficult for novices to find and require learning searching skills and indexing systems.

However, the rewards for using deeds to research ancestors outweigh these difficulties. Deeds often include a more complete list of individuals than censuses and more detailed and complete information than tax lists or court records. Because land needed to pass to heirs or be sold to pay debts, deeds supplement probate records. Specific relationships sometimes appear in deeds. Finally, land transfers required that spouses convey rights to land, so early deeds may be the only records documenting their names.

Information appearing in deeds includes the given name of the seller's (grantor's) wife and an indication of her transfer of dower to the buyer (grantee). Dower was the right a wife had to one-third of her husband's property during her lifetime. The widow could claim the use of her share if she failed to convey this right, even if an unrelated person had title to the land. A separate deed recorded later might convey this right. Children or heirs appear in some deeds, particularly if the owner died or bequeathed them property. Past places of residence appear in some deeds and most indicate current residence. Deeds indicate literacy because of the requirement for grantors to sign -- but use caution because elderly or sick grantors might also sign with a mark. Valid deeds required witnesses, and the text of a deed might list adjoining landowners. Thus, deeds are also an excellent way to identify friends, relatives, associates and neighbors.

Knowing the type of deed can help interpret it and point to other records for research. Most deeds were warranty deeds, meaning the grantors warranted they had clear title to the land and had the right to convey it. If there were problems with the title, the grantors bore responsibility.

Government officials conveyed land in sheriff's deeds, usually at the county level, to raise funds to pay fines, at the order of courts, or if legal authority allowed the official to do so. Mortgage deeds conveyed land under the condition that the deed was void if the grantors paid back debts. Similarly, deeds of trust conveyed property to a third party, a trustee, who sold the land if the grantor failed to perform a specified act, usually paying a debt. An official acting for heirs sold land in partition deeds because money was easier to divide than land. These deeds often resulted after a friendly court case in which some heirs acted as plaintiffs and others as defendants to force sale.

If a deceased person's estate owed money, the administrator of their estate sold property to raise funds. When counties platted a new town into town lots, or in similar situations, commissioners appointed by governments sold these lots to individuals in commissioners' deeds. Finally, if individuals had a right to all or part of a land parcel, they could convey that right in a quitclaim deed, which confers no protection to the buyer.

Many other types of transactions appear in deed books. Examples include marriage contracts or marriages, sales or manumission of the enslaved, plats or surveys, powers of attorney, apprenticeships, wills (usually involving inherited land) and delinquent tax lists.

Content of deeds falls into a pattern. Two dates appear, one each for the transaction and recording/filing. The names of the grantor and grantee, their places of residence, the consideration paid (not always money) and language indicating the type of deed appear early in the deed. A detailed description of the property follows, although this may be vague in early deeds. Signatures of the grantors and witnesses are at the end. The signatures are rarely original because deed books are copies written by a clerk. Witnesses may be relatives, friends, local authorities or un-related people. Last is a statement by an official, including release of the dower right by the wife of the grantor.