And Then There Was One

Plans to offer balloon rides at a site in Devon, England, have been stalled by an interesting clause in a 1920 deed conveying the land.

"The conveyance includes a clause that the covenants imposed by it will operate only 'during the life of any lineal descendant of Queen Victoria alive at the date of the conveyance and within 21 years of the death of the last survivor'.

"Because this clause, or variations of it, was used extensively prior to 1925 we have researched the genealogy of Queen Victoria's descendants.

"There are a vast number of them and surprisingly two who fitted the above description were still alive a couple of years ago. [Link]

Too bad there's not a website listing Victoria's descendants, indicating which are alive and which dead. Oh, wait, there is. The only surviving descendant who was alive in 1920 is Prince Carl Johan of Sweden (b. 1916). It isn't noted on the website yet, but Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (b. 1913) died last Tuesday.

Genealogue Challenge #49

For this challenge, I want you to abstract the following record from the first book of Essex County deeds. (Click on the image to enlarge, or click here to view the original TIFF image.) For extra credit, make it a complete transcription.

What’s the Oldest Thing You Own?

Chris Higgins at mental_floss stole this question, so he probably won't mind me pilfering it as well: What's the oldest thing you own? To be more precise, what's the oldest artifact you own? (I was given a piece of petrified wood when I was a kid that is considerably older than any man-made item in the house.)

I think the oldest item in my possession is the 1805 deed conveying land in Hartford, Maine, to my ancestor, Moses Dunham. The leather wallet that formerly held the deed—thought by my great-great-grandfather to have dated from the Revolutionary War—was misplaced some years ago. I don't really consider myself the owner of the deed—just the current custodian.

So, what's the oldest thing you own?

Little Lots of Land

For just under £30, you can own one square foot of land in the Scottish Highlands and become a Laird, Lord, or Lady.

It's true that these titles have been dismissed as 'meaningless' by the Court of Lord Lyon, the office which deals with heraldic matters and coats-of-arms in Scotland. And it was decided eight years ago that the sales of such miniature plots would not be recorded in the national register of Scotland. But for many of the buyers, it is quite sufficient that 'laird' means 'landowner' in Scots, and they receive a certificate which purports to prove their ownership of a plot of land on a Highland estate. [Link]

These are generous parcels compared to those given away in the Quaker Harvest Oats "Klondike Big Inch" advertising campaign in the 1950s. Deeds for one-square-inch plots of land in the Yukon were given away in cereal boxes. Filmmaker David McDonald was one of the lucky recipients, and made a documentary about his quest to find other small landowners, and to claim his own tiny tract.

Many had high hopes for their tiny plots of land. One Michigan man wanted to establish the world's smallest national park while a group of friends wanted to pool their plots and declare an independent republic.

Eventually, McDonald headed north to locate his land.

He discovered that the company Quaker Oats set up to manage the land never paid property taxes, so the Yukon government reclaimed it all.

"They never told us that perhaps we should have registered the deed." [Link]

Rose Rent in Arrears

Franklin County, Pennsylvania, owes the Chambers family a big bouquet.

Three Chambersburg churches make a big production of paying their annual rent of one rose to the descendants of town founder Benjamin Chambers each year, but Franklin County may owe a rose rent too -- and if so it's more than 200 roses behind.

For years, the late John F. George talked about a deed he ran across in the county's register of wills and recorder of deeds office when the county was putting all its old deed books on microfilm.

That deed, which transferred two lots to the newly formed Franklin County for use for a county courthouse and jail, also contains a rose rent stipulation.

The rose rent stipulation calls for an annual rent of one rose to be paid on June 28. [Link]

This curious custom inspired a mystery novel a few years ago.

[Thanks, Nancy!]

To Err Is Human, To Capitalize Devine

William Devine has found a way to profit from his skills as a genealogist. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently declared him the rightful owner of a piece of land near Nantucket Memorial Airport that the town had improperly seized in 1968.

When the town took the property by eminent domain, it was listed as "owners unknown" on local tax rolls, even though there was an identifiable record owner, Lewis Popham Carmer.

Devine, a genealogist who specializes in finding flaws in land titles and then splitting profits with heirs who make successful claims on the properties, did not do that with the land near the airport. Instead, he bought the property outright from Carmer for $7,500 in 1985. [Link]

The Tree That Owns Itself

I've abstracted tons of deeds, but never one like this. The Athens (Ga.) Weekly Banner of August 12, 1890, reported that one William Jackson had conveyed ownership of an oak tree to itself.

William Jackson was reportedly a professor at the University of Georgia; the nature of his military service and the source of the title colonel is unknown. Jackson cherished childhood memories of the tree and, desiring to protect it, he deeded to the tree ownership of itself and the surrounding land. By various accounts this transaction took place between 1820 and 1832. According to the newspaper article, the deed read:

I, W. H. Jackson, of the county of Clarke, of the one part, and the oak tree… of the county of Clarke, of the other part: Witnesseth, That the said W. H. Jackson for and in consideration of the great affection which he bears said tree, and his great desire to see it protected has conveyed, and by these presents do convey unto the said oak tree entire possession of itself and of all land within eight feet of it on all sides.

[Link, via Neatorama]

[Photo credit: the tree that owns itself by bpmuzik]

A Cause for Concern Indeed

A Texas genealogist searching for information about her family online was shocked to find information about her family online.

Delia Curlin was recently browsing the Internet for family land records and was shocked to find some of her family's personal information posted on a county web site.

"I came across one of my brother's information, date of birth, driver's license, social security number," said Curlin.

Alarmed, Curlin kept looking and found more of her relatives information.

Fearing the threat of identity theft she immediately called the Hidalgo County Clerk's office to have it removed. But to no avail.

"The gentleman that I spoke to told me that whoever prepared the document to go file it at the county, that that was the way it was written and they couldn't take any information off of it," she said. [Link]

This story neglects to mention that Texas has required since 2004 that a "Notice of Confidentiality Rights" be printed in "12-point boldfaced type or 12-point uppercase letters" on every recorded deed. For example, on this deed—which coincidentally bears the signature of one "Delia M. Curlin":

Deed Decision Depends on Donors' Descendants

From The Boston (Mass.) Globe:

Heirs sought to end dispute over park's use

Challenge to youth sports practices by former resident spurs paper chase

By Peter Martin, Globe Correspondent | September 4, 2005

Calling all Temples, Crockers, and Temple-Crockers. The town of Reading may be looking for you.

Reading wants to place the fate of its Memorial Park in the hands of people who claim ancestry to one of several families that donated the green space in 1917. Town officials hope the relatives can help resolve a dispute over who can use the park.

[snip]

[Park neighbor Mark Ford] went before the Board of Selectmen and demanded that sports practices be stopped, claiming the activities were disturbing the neighborhood.

Ford cited language from the original deed drafted 88 years ago, which established the World War I Memorial Park and its intended use. The deed prohibited activities at Memorial Park that "interfere with the quiet enjoyment of those whose homes are in the immediate neighborhood," as well as "playgrounds for football, baseball, soccer and kindred games, or any games that are in their nature hazardous, or require fenced enclosures or tend to draw together crowds of people."

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

An Oddity In Deed

Deed extracts from Donald A. Wilson's Deed Descriptions I Have Known . . . But Could Have Done Without (Rancho Cordovo, Calif.: Landmark Enterprises, 1982):

"Two hundred twenty three undivided two hundred forty third parts of a certain piece of land situate in said Exeter. . . . " [p. 27]

". . . a certain Parcel of Land & Meadow . . . Containing Sixty Three Acres & half it being that Forty Acres of Land that I Purchased of the Prop^s. of Kingston. . . ." [p. 53]

". . . running Northwesterly by said wall eight rods & thirteen links to the West cart rut, from thence running Northerly by said Cart rut. . . ." [p. 85]

". . . [running] sixty eight rods and eighteen links to a hole in the ground. . . ." [p. 87]

". . . thence North 57 degrees West twenty-seven (27) rods twenty-two (22) links to a hemlock stump (now long gone) . . ." [p. 101]

". . . [running] one hundred eighty-six and twenty-six one-hundreths (186.26) feet, more or less (within 5 feet) to the point of beginning." [p. 181]

"Reserving as food for the Beavers living in said brook the willows and poplar trees on the bank of the same." [p. 195]

"Meaning to convey all the land that is where I the said Pinkham now lives [sic]. Also all the manure that is on said premises." [p. 197]