52 Ancestors-Week 47: Good Deeds – The Ones Full of Family Information

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

Many deed records about land transactions do not give much information about families except for the buyer and seller. Better deeds might also include the seller’s wife name. This can help us keep same-named men separated, and also know that the man was married or that his wife was still alive at the time of the sale.

The best deeds are those full of family information. These are usually about the division or sale of land after the death of the owner. The index might give a clue about these deeds, listing the first seller’s name and then “et al” after their name.

Grantor Deed Index with the highlighted et al 

The actual deed will list the names of all of the sellers. The cropped example below from Rankin County Mississippi, shows the children of Thomas Haley selling a piece of property to one of their siblings. This deed mentions each child and their spouse, as well as former maiden names.[1]

Here, we have the following as grantors:

William Haley & Aseneth Haley his wife
Mary Ann Thomas, late Mary Ann Haley, widow & relict of John B Thomas, deceased
Benjamin W. Jones & Amanda A. Jones, his wife, late Amanda A. Haley
John H Haley,
heirs and distributors of Thomas Haley, late of said county, deceased

Look at that wonderful genealogical data from this deed. We have spouses. We have maiden names. We have deceased husband's names. We have kinship to a parent. All of this in a deed. 

This is what I call a Good Deed!

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[1] Rankin Co, Mississippi, deeds, bk 11, p. 152-53, Wm Haley et al to Thomas J Haley, 1852.

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