Land-Title Suits In Early Kentucky

Law papers, including papers relating to land-title suits, from the Calendar of the Papers of John Jordan Crittenden and names of prominent men who corresponded with Mr. Crittenden, are listed  below:

An example of a land suit handled by Mr. Crittenden found in the calendar:

1816-22  July 12; Aug. 31   Ross, David, and heirs of John May, Virginia.  Land suit against Richard B. Mason, Maryland.  Bill in chancery; subpoena; return; amended bill; answer; agreement of plaintiff's attorney; order for survey; plaintiffs' agreement as to notice; original plat and field notes; depositions of John Isaacs, Henry French, Benjamin Fields, Benjamin Taylor, John Helm, Jacob Vanmeter, Isaac Vanmeter, and Philip Hammond.  Copy.  35p.

Another example:

1819 [Sept. 2]  Mabbut, Alexander.  L'Assomption, Canada.  Agreement with John Connolly, L'Assomption, Canada, relative to proceeds of land deeded to Mabbut; trust deed to Mabbut by Connolly for land in Canada.  Copy.  5p.

Major Crittenden was an aide-de-camp to Governor Isaac Shelby in the War of 1812.

A related volume is The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches V2, Volume 2.

One Way To Avoid Losing The Farm

Below is an excerpt from divorce proceedings, explaining that the defendant, James Hickey, had deeded property to Otis Judson to keep from losing said property in a lawsuit. When the lawsuit was settled, Mr. Hickey took advantage of the situation to keep property away from his estranged wife, Bethia Hickey:

About three years ago he [James Hickey] feared some difficulty and litigation with Calvin Rose and deeded away his land to avoid any Judgment which Calvin Rose might obtain against him. After settlement, James had the farm conveyed back to him together with certain land and real estate which belonged to her.

Before her marriage to James, she was the owner of and possessed in fee jointly with her son, Alanson Dean of NE 1/4 of SE 1/4 Sec. 17 T2N R10E; also SE 1/4 of NE 1/4 of Sec. 17, T2N R10E, excepting 2 acres deeded by Ira Smith to Geo. Slater from SW corner and one acre from NE corner of land SE 1/4 of NE 1/4 Sec. 17 T2N R10E (Deeds 22:57) and she continued to hold some joint with her son, Alanson Dean, until her marriage. At the time of the trouble with Calvin Rose, James induced her to join in a deed on conveyance with him conveying NE 1/4 of SE 1/4 Sec. 17, T2N R10E and SE 1/4 of NE 1/4 to Otis Judson (Deeds 32:243, 244) to avoid a possible Judgment. Otis Judson redeeded the property to James Hickey (Deeds 32:417 and 418) in a fraud of her just rights. James has since refused to convey the property back to her.

The deed transferals appeared to be part of a sham transaction. I wonder how many other "odd" transactions found in the deed books (where property is transferred back and forth within a short time frame) are intended to protect the property from a court judgment?

The yellow dots outline the NE 1/4 of Section 17 & NE 1/4 of SE 1/4 of Section 17, Royal Oak Twp., Oakland County, Michigan

An Acklen Land Deal In Tennessee

At one point, J. H. Acklen was appointed guardian of his wife, Jeannette (Tillotson) Acklen by both the courts of New York and the courts of Tennessee. James N. Beard, Jeannette's step-father, was also her guardian at some point in time. Mrs. Acklen did not reach her age of majority until November 11, 1892.

The lawsuit, Levy, et al v. Acklen, et al, concerned a triangular tract of about 4 acres of land in the 10th Civil District of Davidson County, Tennessee, fronting the Harding or Richland Turnpike. The tract, conveyed to the West End Land Co., was originally worth approximately $200.00; it's value increased to $7,500.00 after a toll-gate was built on it.

Reports of decisions of the Court of Chancery Appeals of Tennessee
Levy et al. v. Acklen, et al.
(Nashville December 7, 1901)

According to the Davidson Co., Tennessee, Recorder's website:

The records of the Davidson County Register of Deeds office are available on line by subscription. Subscription rates are $ 100.00 per month by check, or $ 75.00 per month through Automatic Withdrawal.

The online service is a browser based search platform that returns search results by name and date beginning July 1, 1964 to current.

Beginning January 1, 2000 in addition to name and date, you may also search by lot number, subdivision name and document type.

Indexing is available beginning July 1, 1964. Images are available from 1784 to current.

It was cost prohibitive for me to go online and check out how well the Davidson County, TN, deed search works.