Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a
challenge: write one blog post each week
devoted to a specific ancestor. It can
be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem –
anything that focuses on one ancestor.
This week’s theme is “Good Deeds” pointing to a generous
ancestor or to ancestors found through land deeds. My mission to join the DAR recently involved
a search for SOMETHING – ANYTHING to prove my 2X great grandfather was son of Leonard
Davis, son of my patriot. That "something" turned out to be a land deed.
 |
| Rockingham Co, VA Deed Book 32, page 528 |
In 1886, my 2X great grandfather Mitchell Davis and his
brother Elijah “granted bargained sold and conveyed . . . with general warranty”
to their sister Sarah F. Davis their “right, title, interest, expectations and
demand in and to the Home farm of said Leonard Davis Estate.” Surely this will be a suitable substitute in
the absence of birth and death records.
An earlier deed serves the same purpose. In 1881, Mitchell along with his widowed
mother Frances and his siblings sold some land to David Wyant. Frances had a brother David who died in
1882. Possibly the David of this deed
was the son of David Wyant. But that is
not the interesting part of the transaction.
No. The land in question was
purchased many years earlier by Leonard Davis and Thomas Marshall.
 |
| Rockingham Co, VA Deed Book 20, page 212 |
“Thomas Marshall” caught my eye right away. Leonard was the son of Leonard Davis and the widow Mrs. Mary Marshall. It is possible Thomas was her son from her first marriage, making Leonard and Thomas possibly half-brothers. Worth investigating.
Until now, I have been unable to pin down any information on Mary Marshall Davis. Thomas might provide a clue to uncovering the story of my 4X great-grandmother.
©
2015, Wendy Mathias. All rights
reserved.
That deed sure makes you wonder doesn't it? I love land deeds and they have helped me solve so many problems---sounds like you need to take another field trip!
ReplyDeleteI do indeed. And I agree land records are interesting once you get past the legalese. As I've been reorganizing my research, I've re-read a lot of deeds and have noticed names and details that meant nothing years ago. Now they mean everything.
DeleteWendy,
ReplyDeleteHow is your quest to join the DAR going? Are you been approved already or are you still in the process of gathering all you need to be approved?
I attended a meeting last week for those of us that are "sooooo close" to learn what comes next. The registrar of my chapter is supposedly writing an argument that ties these details together, but I'm not sure how far along she is since I'm only one of many applicants. I haven't been asked for a check yet, so I know I'm not done.
DeleteWendy, I'll add my question to Jana's: can you give us an update on your DAR application? I'm thinking you would need auxiliary evidence to go along with that deed, above. It's so difficult when there aren't straightforward documents to just come out and say what we are looking for!
ReplyDeleteRight -- Since there was no birth registrar for Mitchell, no will for Leonard, nothing straight forward, the deed provides strong evidence that can be used coupled with other bits here and there. I also have been given a family bible which lists the deaths of both Leonard Sr (the patriot) and Leonard Jr. although they are not identified as father and son. Initially I thought this bible info would't be allowed because it's on notebook paper inserted into the bible, not written on pages OF the bible. Someone did sew the paper, however, and the script is typical of the age. The registrar asked me to send her copies of the pages along with the title page showing the publication date because the pages would be viewed as an addendum. That might do the trick. One question might be the title page -- the book is in such bad shape that the title page is all but missing. All that's left is a scrap WITH THE DATE and publisher but not the title.
DeleteIf there was a WILL there would be a WAY...sorry corny humor on cold Saturday morning.
ReplyDelete