A 1720 Family Land Deed for Nathaniel Warner and James Reeve

Land deeds are fascinating documents.  Sometimes land records are full of great family information and other times they can verify your ancestor was in a particular location at a particular time period.  As I was investigating early land records for Long Island, New York I started wondering about the earliest land records.  When were land records first recorded?  Who was the first to say they ‘owned’ the land?  How far back can I document my ancestor’s ownership of land?

While researching in Suffolk County, New York I learned that the King of England claimed the land as the country in this area was being settled.  Land ‘patents’ were frequently given to a small group of men as they began settling an area.  As the population grew the land was then ‘sold’ off to others.  According to the Suffolk County Clerk’s Online Records website there are land record transactions since 1857.  While searching at the County Land Records Division of the Suffolk County Center in Riverhead, New York I also discovered the Archivist room.  In a vault in the back of the room are the oldest ledgers.  When looking in the ledgers gloves are needed to turn the pages do to their age.  Several of the ledgers have been protected with archival sleeves which makes it easier to search but harder to take photos of the documents.

I recently discovered a land record attributed to my 6th and 7th great-grandfathers Nathaniel Warner and James Reeve. 

Nathaniel was the first Warner on this line to come to Long Island and remain for the rest of his life.  

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Transcription:                                                              from Liber B page 187

                                                                                       1739

To all Christian people to whom these presents shall come Benjamin Youngs and Samuel Hutchinson of the Town of Southold in the County of Suffolk in the Colony of New York Send Greeting whereas James Reeve, Joshua Tuthill, Mathias Huchinson, Richard Terry, Charles Booth, Thomas Goldsmith, Caleb Horton, David Horton, Daniel Tuthill, Joshua Wells, Samuel Conklin, Thomas Reeves, Nathaniel Warner, Joshua Youngs, David Stackhole, Joseph Wickham, Joshua Wells Junior, Joseph Hale?, Jonathan Dimon ?, Samuel Conkling, John Conkling and Henry Conkling all of the Town of Southold aforesaid Did and have agreed to Joyn with us the Said Benjamin Youngs and Samuel Hutchingson for to purchase of Cor. Henry Smith all the Tract of Land within mentioned and who did agree that the Same Tract of Land should be amounted Sixty Rights or Shares and that each parson abovementioned Shall have his proportion of the Said Tract of Land as follow that which is awarding to Each of their _ to Viz. James Reeve three Rights or Shares, Joshua Tuthill one Right, Mathias Hutchinson for Six Rights, Richard Terry one right, Charles Booth three rights, Thomas GoldSmith three rights, Caleb Horton three Rights, David Horton three Rights, Daniel Tuthill three Rights, Joshua Wells one Right and half, Samuel Conkling three Rights, Thomas Reeve Two Rights, Nathaniel Warner three Rights, Josiah Young Three Rights, David Pershale? three Rights, Joseph Wickham five Rights, Joshua Wells Jun. one Right and half, Joshua Wells Jun. one Right and half, Joseph Hale? One Right, Jonathan Diman one Right, Samuel Cafe One Right, John Conkling one Right and half, Henry Conkling One Right and half, We the Said Benjamin Youngs and Samuel Hutchinson the saving to Our Three Rights a piece which make up the Sixty Rights as above paid/Now Know Yee that we the Said Benjamin Youngs and Samuel Hutchinson have granted and assigned and Set over and by these present Do grant assign and Set over Unto the Several Person abovementioned and to their Heirs and assigns forever all our Right title and Interest to the Several Rights and Shares of Land which this Said persons are to have as is above Except the Joyned with us to purchase the Same always Refering our Own three rights a piece as abovesaid in Witness wereof we have hereunto set our hands and sealed this Twenty first day of February in the Year of Our Lord Christ One thousand Seven Hundred and Twenty or Twenty One.

                                                                                                                                               Benj. Youngs Seal

                                                                                                                                                       Sam. Huchinson Seal
Signed Sealed and Delivered
In the presence of
Josiah Davison, Jo_el Parshale
Recorded May the 29^th 1735
? Wm Smith ?

I do not know how big the area was that James and Nathaniel obtained since the document refers to a ‘Right’ or Share.  I also do not know exactly where the land was located in the ‘Town of Southold’.  Southold was a very large area that encompasses what today is also the Town of Riverhead.  My guess, since I have looked at land ownership on a map in the Village of Southold with no mention of Nathaniel, that it was probably located around the Mattituck area.  I know that Nathaniel was frequently noted as being involved in this area.

This was an extremely difficult document to transcribe due to it’s age, about 280 years.  I took several pictures at different angles to try and minimize light reflections on the document due to the plastic sleeve the document is in.  After first transcribing the document from my photo I ran it through a program Vivid-Pix which helped me read several of the words I could not previously decipher.  I would definitely recommend this program if you are working with old documents and photos.  Vivid-Pix even has a free trail if you want to try it out before buying.

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I believe that the year ‘1739’ is at the top of this document.  My guess is that while the transaction is reported to have occurred in 1720 it was not actually recorded in this Ledger until 1739 probably copied from the actually document possessed by one of the holders of the deed perhaps.  The older handwriting, spellings of the times and age of the document made several of the words and names difficult to decipher.  I welcome other interpretations of the missing or incorrectly noted information.  Perhaps you can read it better or know of the missing names of several of the men?  Be sure to let me know.  I also find it interesting to see how several common in the area Surnames have changed spellings over the years.  This is definitely a document that others need to review so we can obtain all the names for historical reasons.

If you have any corrections, additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby

A Lot More Questions Than Answers-Eliza Tooker Terry

All I knew when I started looking at the life of my paternal 3rd Great-Grandmother Eliza Tooker Terry was that according to her cemetery stone she was born on 6 January 1809 and died 28 July 1859.  My search, while very frustrating at times, gave me a little more information about Eliza.  When we start getting back to our ancestors in the early 1800s information gets a lot harder to come by.  There were no laws about collecting vital record information.  If it wasn’t for the US Federal census, which began in 1790, the sources of information beyond the census records are generally found in Church records, family Bibles, or recorded local histories.

I have no verification of where Eliza was born in New York.  I wonder if she was a local girl and met Walter in Southold or possibly in Brookhaven, Suffolk County, NY where I think Walter’s family may have been from.  Will I be able to determine that one day I wonder?

I found some information that Eliza Ann Tooker married Walter Franklin Terry about 1825 but I have no verification of the date or where they were married.   I wonder if I can verify through Church records someday exactly where and when they were married?

I do know they had 10 children: Walter Franklin (1826),  Albert Bunce (1829), Charles (1831), Gilbert -my Great-Great Grandfather (1833), Edward Henry (1836),Elizabeth (1838),  Ira Brewster (1840), Emily (1843), Josephine Virginia (1846) and Amelia H. (1853). 

1830 US Federal Census-I am unable to find Walter in the census so I have no idea where he and Eliza were living in 1830.

1840 US Federal Census- I know that Walter Terry (see post Using Census Records to Tell the Story of Walter Franklin Terry) was living in Southold with 1 White Female between the ages of 30-39 which presumably was Eliza Ann his wife who would have been 31 years old at the time.  So, I know Eliza and Walter were living in Southold at this time.
Southold was settled by English colonists in 1640, and in most histories this is reported as the first English settlement on Long Island in the future New York State.

1850 US Federal Census- Taken on the 13th of July 1850 in the Town of Southold it lists Eliza A. Terry as age 40 years old and the wife of Walter Terry a 45 year old Farmer.  Eliza’s birthplace is listed as New York. Their children are listed as Franklin age 24-occupation Farmer, Albert age 21-occupation Seaman, Gilbert age 17-occupation Laborer & attended school, Edward age 14 & attended school, Eliz age 12 & attended school, Ira B. age 9 & attended school, Emily age 7 & attended school and Josephine age 4 & attended school.  (Hmm, I doubt 4 year old Josephine was going to school.)

According to the census takers notes there were 986 families listed as living in Southold and 907 dwellings.  The population consisted of 2301 White Males, 2322 White Females, 41 Colored Males, 59 Colored Females with a total population of 4,723 residents.  There were reportedly 379 Farms and 110 Deaths within the previous year.

I was able to verify Eliza's death in July 1859 at the age of 44 with this record from the 1860 US Federal Census Mortality Schedule:



Eliza A. Terry 44 years old, Married, Place of Birth-New York, Died in July of 1859 of Dropsy which had lasted 2 weeks in duration.  When I searched on-line for old medical causes of death I learned that ‘dropsy’ is a swelling caused by accumulation of abnormally large amounts of fluid usually caused by kidney disease or congestive heart failure.  If it hadn’t been for this Mortality Schedule I would never have known how Eliza died.  Now I wonder if the birth year I have is wrong or if her age was reported incorrectly?  I thought she was 50 when she died?  If she had been 44 at her death that would have made her only 10 when her first child was born.  17 was still young but more probable in the early 1800s.  I am guessing that whomever gave the information was incorrect.

I had been unable to find Eliza when searching Ancestry’s data base for the Mortality Schedule because the transcriber had listed her name as Eliza A. Jerry.  When I realized she died in 1859 and I knew there had been an 1860 Mortality Schedule done in NY I was able to search the pages for Southold and I finally found Eliza.  A feature I like about Ancestry is that I was also able to go on Ancestry and correct the spelling of her name which will help other researchers.  A good reminder, if you can’t find someone in a record but you know they should be there, is to go page by page in the area you thought they lived.  Errors happen especially if the handwriting isn’t easy to read or the census pages are hard themselves to read.  This was 157 years ago after all.

I am guessing that my Great-Grandmother’s (Carrie Eliza Terry Warner) middle name Eliza came from her Grandmother Eliza Ann Tooker Terry.  Oh, how I wish there was a photograph of Eliza.    I have so many more questions I would like to have the answers to.  Will I’m frustrated I wasn’t able to find more I am grateful  that I was able to find the verification and cause of death for Eliza.  That and the 1840 and 1850 census records are additional information but so many more questions.  I will just need to keep searching and maybe a distant relative out there will be able to help, too.

If you have any corrections or additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them.

Enjoy the journey,
Debby