Have you ever transcribed a deed for the sale of a piece of land and realize you don’t have an accompanying deed for the purchase of the land? That’s what happened to me when I transcribed an 1852 deed where Henry Duggins sells three parcels of land to Washington P. Duggins.
The deed in question was for land in section FOUR of township 7 range 2 in Preble County, Ohio. That section number immediately caught my attention because the tax records consistently showed Henry Duggins with land in section TEN.
Preble County Ohio
Deeds, 1805-1963Deeds v. 39-40 1851-1856
film 564922 DGS 8588001Volume 39 page 574 (Image 291)
Henry Duggins & wife to Washington P. Duggins presented & recorded March
the 2[6]th A.D. 1852 Know all men by these presents that Henry Duggins and Jane
Duggins his wife of Preble County and State of Ohio, for and in consideration of the sum
of Twenty [five] hundred dollars to them in hand paid by Washington P. Duggins of
the same place have bargained and sold and do hereby grant bargain sell and convey
unto the said Washington P. Duggins his heirs and assigns forever all of the following
and premises situate lying and being in the county of Preble and State of Ohio and
being a part of the South East quarter of Section No 4 four township No. 7 seven
and range two East and bounded as follows. Beginning at the South west corner
thence north so far in said quarter as to include 75, seventy five acres of land strict
measure lying in an Oblong square in the South west part or corner of said quarter
section, and also one other tract or parcel of land adjoining the above described tract
and being a part of the same quarter and section and bounded and described as follows:
Beginning at the south east corner of said quarter, thence North with the section
line 100 one hundred rods, thence west 40 forty rods so as to include 25 twenty five
acres of land with the exception of three acres out of the above tract which was
heretofore sold and conveyed to Nathan F Sellers the two tracts containing in the
aggregate 97 acres more or less and also one other lot or tract of land adjoining
the above tract and being part of the North East quarter of section No. 9 nine
in the same township and range aforesaid and containing about 3/4 three quarters
of an acre and laying on the north or north west side of the Brookville road and
being all the lands which was conveyed to the said Henry Duggins by John Gardner
by a deed dated the 4th day of April 1842 and recorded in Book No 33 page 23
and 24 or Preble County land records and also one other lot or parcel of land being
part of the North East quarter of Section No. 9 nine in the same township and range
aforesaid and bounded and described as follows. Beginning at a ^ on a boulder in the
Brookville road 9.74 poles from the N. line and 59.64 poles from the East line of said
quarter, thence N. 4 1/2 degrees West 9.74 poles to a point on the N. line of the quarter 59.64 poles
W. of the N.E. corner thereof thence S 86[.7 degrees] W 38.54 poles to a T on a boulder on the
N. line of the quarter thence S 4 1/2 Degrees E 32.40 poles to a V on a Boulder in the middle
of the Brookville road and thence to the place of beginning containing five acres
of land the said several lots or tracts of land herein before described containing
in the aggregate one hundred and two acres and three quarters of an acres more
or less to have and to Hold the said lands and premises with the privileges
and appurtenances thereunto belonging unto the said Washington P. Duggins his
heirs and assigns forever, and the said Henry Duggins and Jane Duggins his wife
for themselves and heirs to hereby covenant with the said Washington P. Duggins
his heirs and assigns that they are lawfully seized of the land and premises aforesaid
and that the said lands and premises are free and clear f all incumbrances when
ever and that they will forever warrant and defend the same with the saidn privileges
against the lawful claims of all persons. In witness whereof the said Henry Duggins
and Jane Duggins have hereunto set their hands and seals this 26th day of March
A.D. 1852
Henry Duggins his mark (Seal)
Jane Duggins her mark (seal)
Executed in presence of John J Bailey
I Stephenspage 575
The State of Ohio Preble County SS
Before me Isaac Stephens a justice of the Peace in and for said county
came Henry Duggins and Jane Duggins his wife the above named grantors
acknowledged the signing and sealing and sealing of the above deed of conveyance
to be their voluntary act and deed and the said Jane Duggins [being] at the same
time examined by me separate and apart from her husband and the contents of
said deed bing also by me fully made known and explained to her
she then declared that she did voluntarily sign seal and acknowledge the same
and that she is still satisfied therewith as her act and deed, this 26th day of
March 1852
I Stephens JP
That meant that I needed to go back and do more RESEARCH!
My first step in that ‘going back’ process was to check the first land owners to see if a family member owned the land.
That search told me Bruce William was the original owner of the SE quarter of section four. Since I don’t have Bruce William in my database and know nothing about his family, I concluded this wasn’t family land. Thus, I returned to the grantor/grantee indexes knowing that if all else failed I could start tracking the land with Bruce William. Fortunately, I didn’t have to take that process. Instead, I found that I had missed an entry for Henry Duggins in Volume 2 of the deed indexes for Preble County.
I’m not sure how I overlooked this one deed since I had already acquired the other Henry Duggins deeds listed on this page, including the sale of the land in section 4 to Washington P. Duggins.
Thankfully, I have been going back thru my old research to update sources and create research notes! I doubt I would have otherwise found this deed where Henry Duggins purchased land in 1842!