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Date Original
1826 February 23
Description
Jacob St. John originally purchased the Northwest quarter of section 11 of Township 14 North in Range 4 East in Lawrence County, Territory of Arkansas. He defaulted on his 1824 property taxes totaling $2.40, which led to his land being confiscated by the Sheriff of Lawrence County, Joseph Hardin. After advertising the foreclosure in the Arkansas Gazette, the land was auctioned off at Davidsonville courthouse where Townsend Dickinson placed the winning bid. For two dollars, 65 cents and one-half cent, Dickinson covered the taxes and fees to acquire all 160 acres.
Transcription
This Deed made and executed this third day
of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and twenty six Between Joseph Hardin sheriff of the County of
Lawrence in the Territory of Arkansas and Collector of the Taxes
therein of the first part and Townsend Dickinson of the
County of Independence and Territory aforesaid of the second
part witnesseth that whereas pursuant to an act of the
General Assembly of the Territory of Arkansas passed
October twenty ninth in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and twenty three "entitled an
act to regulate the collection of Taxed on military bounties"
The Auditor of the Territory of Arkansas did transmit
to the said Joseph Hard sheriff as aforesaid a list of the
Military bounty lands situated in the said County of
Lawrence, which had been patented by the United States
three years previous to the first day of June in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty four
and whereas the said Joseph Hardin as sheriff as aforesaid
did enter and list for taxation the following tract or quarter section
of Land in the name of Jacob St John, to wit, The North-
west quarter of section Eleven of Township fourteen North in
Range four East containing one hundred and sixty acres, lying
in the said county of Lawrence in conformity to the said law
and agreeable to the laws of the said Territory regulating
the collection of Taxes and whereas the term of sixty days
having expired since the receipt of said quarter section of land
for taxation and neither the said patentee or owner thereof
nor any other person or persons for him having paid the
taxes due on said quarter of section of land to the same Territory
or to the proper thereof authorized to receive the same
amounting to the sum of Two dollars and forty cents and
there being no personal estate of the said Jacob St John
whereon to lay and make distress for the same, Therefore
I the said Joseph Hardin as sheriff as aforesaid did proceed to
advertise and give notice according to law, that I would
sell at public auction on Monday the first day of November
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
twenty four at the court house door in the Town of Davidsonville,
the said County of Lawrence the said quarter
section of land, or so much thereof as would be sufficient to
pay the said taxes together with the costs and charges due
thereon for the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
twenty four which said advertisement containing the
name of the patentee and a particular description of said
quarter section of land and the amount of taxes due thereon
was published in the Arkansas Gazette a newspaper printed
at Little Rock in the said Territory and was also set up
at the court house door of said County of Lawrence at least
sixty days previous to the said day of sale and on the said first
day of November in the year aforesaid the said taxes costs
and charges on said quarter section of land still remaining
due and unpaid. I the said Joseph Hardin as sheriff as afore
said did proceed to sell at public auction at the court house
door of the said County of Lawrence the said quarter section
of land, or so much thereof as would be sufficient to pay the
said taxes costs and charges due thereon as aforesaid where
upon the said Townsend Dickinson bid and offered to pay
the taxes costs and charges due thereon for the whole quantity
thereof, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, and no
other person or persons budding or offering to pay the same for
a less quantity thereof the whole of the said quarter section of
land was thereupon struck off to him the said Townsend
Dickinson, which said taxes and costs and charges did amount to
the sum of Two dollars and sixty five cents and an half cents, and
the said Townsend Dickinson having paid to me
the said Joseph Hardin as sheriff as aforesaid the said sum of
Two dollars and sixty five cents and an half cents the receipt of
which is hereby acknowledged and the term of twelve months
the time allowed by law for the redemption of said quarter
section of land having expired since the day of the sale
thereof and the same not having been redeemed and the
said Townsend Dickinson having produced to me the
sheriff the certificate granted to him for said quarter
section of land at the time of the purchase thereof and
requiring of me a deed for the same. Now Kno ye that
I the said Joseph Hardin as sheriff as aforesaid by virtue
of the authority in me vested under the acts and proceedings
before mentioned, and in consideration of the said sum of Two
dollars and sixty five cents and an half cents received by me in manner
and form and for the purposes aforesaid, Hath granted
bargained and sold by these presents doth
grants bargain and sell unto the said Townsend Dickinson
his heirs and assigns the above described quarter section
of Land, hereby granting and conveying to the
said Townsend Dickinson his heirs and assigns all the right
title and interest of the said Jacob St John and all and every other
person or persons whomsoever in the same. To have and to
hold the above described quarter section of land, together
with all the privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging
or in any wise appertaining to him the said Townsend
Dickinson his heirs and assigns forever, as fully and absolutely
as I, the said Joseph Hardin as sheriff as aforesaid
and under the authority, acts, and proceedings aforesaid
might could or ought to sell and convey the same.
In Testimony whereof I the said Joseph Hardin
as sheriff as aforesaid have hereunto set my hand and seal
on the say and years first above written
Sealed and Delivered in presence of
AB Stuart
Elijah Kennedy
Physical Description
Deed, 7.75 x 12.5", 4 pages
Subjects
Land
Contributor
Reuben Richardson, County Clerk
Geographical Area
Davidsonville, Lawrence County (Ark.)
Language
English
Identifier
MSNE.0077, Townsend Dickenson deed
Resource Type
Text
Collection
Lawrence County (Ark.) land records, MSNE.0077
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives
Recommended Citation
Townsend Dickinson 1826 deed, Lawrence County (Ark.) land records, Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives, Powhatan, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
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Comments
Quite simply, the handwriting is beautiful. The writer was an artist with a pen. There isn't a misspelling, only one scratch out, perfectly even lines, and almost a work of art in the uniformity of his letter formation. Not only is this telling of how extensively the writer was educated, it also speaks to the long lost standards of his day. Penmanship was critical to a pupil's learning regimen and especially useful on the frontier where printed material would have been highly costly. Beautiful form aside, it's also amazing what a wealth of information one deed can hold. It mentions the Arkansas Gazette as being in print, reveals the legal processes of the time, identifies the Sheriff of Lawrence County, and demonstrates one of the uses of the courthouse at Davidsonville. There's so much information packed into one document with lovely, legible handwriting. - Meredith McFadden