UPDATED TRANSCRIPTION – Scroll down to the bottom!
Sometimes, we win the handwriting lottery in old documents and, other times, we don’t. I definitely didn’t win with this deed, created in Calais, Washington, Maine, but filed in Kent County, New Brunswick, Canada.
All I can say is the county clerk shouldn’t have been fired, he should never have gotten the job!
This deed is mercifully short, but there are still a handful of words I haven’t been able to figure out, even though I’ve worked on this for three days!
If you are challenged by hieroglyphics, this is your chance to test your skills!
Here is my transcription, but see below for a crop of the above deed:
Know all men by these presents that I Elida Stuart of the Town of Meddybemps in the County of Washington in the State of Maine for and inconsideration of the sum of twenty pounds lawful money of New Brunswick to me paid by Mariner Hicks of the Parish of Wellington in the County of Kent and Province of New Brunswick the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge have granted bargained and sold and by these presents do grant bargain and sell unto the said Mariner Hicks his heirs and assigns one certain piece or parcel of Land situate lying and being on the West side of the Little Buctouche River in the County of Kent aforesaid being all my right title share and interest of in and to all that certain (?) and (?) Land owned by my late father Israel Hicks and bounded on the Westerly Lands occupied by Andrew (Jenet?) and on the East by Lands occupied by the heirs of the late Ira Hicks and containing in the whole ninety acres more or less. To have and to hold the same Lands and premises with the appurtenances to the said Mariner Hicks his heirs and assigns and (?) every (?) who of forever and I do for(?) and (?) with the said Mariner Hicks his heirs and assigns that he is seized of the premises as a (?????) estate of inheritance in fee simple free of and from all manner of encumbrances whatsoever and that I have a good right (?) power and (?) (?) to (?) bargain and sell the same in manner and form as (?) within.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this third day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty one.
Elida Stuart (seal)
Signed sealed and
delivered in presence of
ER Chase
State of Maine – Calais June 3rd 1861
Personally appeared Elida Stuart the person who signed (?) and of her own free will acknowledged that she understood the meaning of the above written instrument and that it was her own (free will?) and deed.
Before me ER Chase Mayor of the City of Calais
Here is an enlarged crop of the second half of the deed, where I am missing the most words:
The text (updated after K made several suggestions with which I agree). Note that I have looked for this Andrew in the 1851, 1861 and 1871 censuses of Kent County, New Brunswick. I can’t find him OR any surname that looks anything like what is written in this deed. I also figured out a couple more words.:
occupied by Andrew (Jenet? Gand?) and on the East by Lands occupied by the heirs of the late Ira Hicks and containing in the whole ninety acres more or less. To have and to hold the same Lands and premises with the appurtenances to the said Mariner Hicks his heirs and assigns and with every (?) (who of?) forever and I assign my heirs executors and administrators (???) with the said Mariner Hicks his heirs and assigns that he is seized of the premises as a good indispensible estate of inheritance in fee simple free of and from all manner of encumbrances whatsoever and that I have a good right with power and lawful (?) to (?) bargain and sell the same in manner and form as (?) within.
I would appreciate any help you can provide – even if it is only a word or two. It takes a village and the indecipherable words are being decoded bit by bit. Thank you! 🙂
oops, put the comments under the yesterdays entry at first.
Tough transcription! Some food for thought: County of Kent aforesaid being all my right title share and interest of in and to all that certain (tenure?) and (duly?) lands owned by my father……..
….Andrew GAND….
To have and to hold the same Lands and premises with the appurtenances to the said Mariner Hicks his heirs and assigns and (kin) every (use and whoof/hoof) forever and I do (assign my heir _Wernar?_ and administrators concur ) with the said Mariner Hicks his heirs and assigns that he is seized of the premises as a (good and indispensible) estate of inheritance in fee simple free of and from all manner of encumbrances whatsoever and that I have a good right, power? and limited envowism to ?, bargain and sell the same in manner and form as (?). (perhaps a legal term, looks like apre vidrin? Blacks Law Dictionary says APTA VIRO means fit for a husband or a woman who has reached marriageable age.)
K, Thank You! I agree with many of your choices so there are now way fewer hieroglyphics to figure out. I am putting an updated version in this post.
You’ve probably already looked at other deeds in this jurisdiction, but in case you haven’t – other than the proper name after Andrew, the rest of the words are probably boilerplate that are standard in other deeds of that time period, hopefully recorded by different clerks.
I have looked at other (legible) deeds and have actually read quite a few New Brunswick deeds. I wouldn’t have gotten nearly this far with the translation (!) as I have without being able to recite much of that deed language. This clerk was just enough “not true” to the boilerplate format that his handwriting only contributes to the frustration.
I was hoping it would tickle some ideas, so glad it did… I wonder if the last line could be “to expend, bargain and sell” ? The handwriting is tougher to discern than even the old German script! (hmmm, maybe written by one 🙂
One more thought, comparing known letters/formatiions, the last line might include “to PERMIT, bargain and sell” ? I also wonder if Andrew’s last name might be Gerrit (I see there are a number of Garitty’s and Gerrit’s in the NB census). Alas, even enlarging the view doesn’t help discern much more.
I like PERMIT. I think that is it. 🙂
Gerrit is a definite possibility. I can live with that and Andrew isn’t important to the family story. It’s just nice knowing his surname can be figured out.
I believe I have identified the mystery man in the deed as Andrew Ferrel, sometimes spelled Ferrell, but looks like only one L in your clerk’s difficult hand writing. My source is field notes written on December 7, 1863 by Deputy Surveyor Robert Douglass when he was running a property line between Mariner Hicks and Andrew Ferrell. He refers to the community as Little River which was one of the earlier names for the community now known as McKee’s Mills and I am confident this is the same property you are referencing. This notebook and others are filed in the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick as part of the records of the Surveyor General under “Surveyor Notebooks RS637 – 37(b) Robert Douglass, Bouctouche.” I have a photograph of the specific page, trying to figure out if I can upload it with this message. Please advise of appropriate process and I’ll be happy to share it with you.