Amanuensis Monday: Deed of Exum Drake

  "This Indenture made this twenty second day of January in the year of our Lord God One thousand seven hundred and seventy Nine Between Edmund Harrel & Mary his wife of Edgecombe County and State of North Carolina of the one part & Axum Drake planter of the other part.  Witnesseth that the said Edmund Harrell & Mary his wife for & in consideration of the sum of One hundred and seventy pounds proc money to him in hand paid by the said Axum Drake before ensealing & delivering of these presents the receipts whereof the sd  Edmund Harrell doth acknowledge thereof & of every part & parcal thereof doth fully clearly and absolutely acquit consecrate & discharge the said Axum Drake his Heirs Exc'rs  and Adm'n forever.  Have given granted bargained Sold alienate confessed [??] and confirmed and by these present doth give grant bargain sell alienate confess [?] and confirm unto the said Exum Drake his Heirs and Assigns forever the following trac or parcel of land containing one hundred one hundred acres more or less lying in the County of Edgecomb & province afores'd.  Beginning at a Birch on Town Creek  David Scarboroughs Corner thence along the said line to Henry [??]  thence West to a red Oak thence North to a Maple in a Branch thence down the said Branch to the first partion containing One hundred acres more or less with all buildings cleared ground Woods and underwood.  To Have & to Hold the said parcal of land with all & Singular the Promise thereunto belonging unto him the said Axum Drake his Heirs and Assigns forever & further the said Edmund Harrell for himself his Heirs Exc'rs and Administrators and assigns doth promise & agree to and with the said Axum Drake his Heirs & Assigns that the said parcel of land & of every part and parcel thereunto belonging to the said Axum Drake his Heirs & Assigns against him the said Edmund Harrell his Heirs and Assigns or against every other person or person or persons whatsoever he the said Edmund Harrel will Warrant & forever defend by these presents.  In Witness whereof the said Edmund Harrell hath hereunto set his hand & seal this 22nd day of January 1779.

Signed Sealed & delivered in presence of us
Rev. Jesse Drake; Sterling Waller

Edmund x Harell (Seal)
       (his mark)
Mary x Harell (Seal)
      (mark)
Simon Harrell (Seal)

Edgecombe County  February Court 1779~~

The Execution of the within deed of sale was duly proved in open Court by the Oath of Jesse Drake one of the subscribing Witnesses hereto.  Ordered to be Registered.  Test     Edward Hall CC" 

Edgecombe County (NC) Real Estate Conveyances, 1775-1779, Vol. 3, p.382, Microfilm Call #C.037.40005

As you can imagine, this deed was a BEAR to transcribe.  As a matter of fact, I had to call in help.  Ginger Smith of Genealogy by Ginger's Blog graciously spared her time and not only transcribed the words that eluded me, but taught me some tips in the process.  Following is an excerpt from the notes she sent me:

"In North Carolina documents written in the 1700s, you will often see letters that look like "fs" which are really two "ss" put together. So Jesse looks like Jefse or Jeffe. And Assign looks like Afsign. Also, in this deed, the person who wrote it made his Capital "E's" look like S's but you can see the difference when you look at his Capital "S's". His capital S's have a bottom loop that goes from the right across the bottom, then from the left over to the right across the top. His capital "E's" look like the Capital S's but have no bottom loop. So look at the small word after Heirs and you will see the abbreviated version of Executioners - the first time it is Exc^r and the 2nd time it is kind of mushed up as Ecr^s.

If "Said" is abbreviated, transcribe it as such - "Sd"

I'm not sure about the use of Consecrate. This deed was very oddly written, one I've not seen before. It used a LOT of additional not-needed words. My advice is to read more Edgecombe county deeds from the late 1700s to see if you can find some with these additional words. The typical deed says "granted, bargained, sold alienated and conveyed".

Thanks, Ginger!


If any of my readers have any insights to share pertaining to transcribing 18th and 19th century deeds, please feel free to leave a comment below. 

Exum (or Axum) Drake was my 5th great grandfather.

In addition, I am also descended from Harrells.  I am not sure how Edmund and Mary fit in, but I'd be very interested to find out whether they are my ancestors!