Briggs Collection ● Land Records
Kirtland Township, Ohio ● 1830-1840
"LAND TRANSACTIONS OF THE SAINTS", KIRTLAND, OHIO, 183O's & 184O’s
aka
“The Briggs Collection”
Research by Lyle S. and Gladys A. Briggs, August 5, 1993
PREFACE
This work consists of information showing early Saint ownership of property in Kirtland, Ohio during the 1830's and 40's.
Why did we do it?
(1) We were asked. We had arrived in Kirtland to serve a one-year mission at the Newel K. Whitney Store Visitor Center on May 12, 1992, and had just begun to feel at home and competent with the tour script and procedures when Karl R. Anderson (Counselor in the Ohio-Cleveland Mission, directly involved with the Church owned Historic Sites in Ohio, local Church Historian and Author) asked us if we would use some of our free time to locate homesites of early Saints and especially that of Brigham Young. Little did we realize that for the next fourteen months (the duration of our mission, six weeks at home, and two months back in Kirtland on a "Special Church Assignment") we would never again have any "free" time.’ During this period, we estimate that nearly four thousand hours were spent extracting and typing approximately 1075 deeds and preparing 170 maps with accompanying partial abstracts.
(2) It was a labor of love. So often at the Visitor Center, folks who were descendants of the early Saints asked if we had information regarding their ancestors and, especially if we knew where they had lived in Kirtland. We were always saddened to have to tell them we had no information to help them in their search for homesites, the "garden plots" where their "roots" were nourished and grew physically, mentally, and especially spiritually. The spots where trials and tribulations were borne patiently and humbly in many cases, and where some sacrificed all they owned for only the first of several times.
(3) It is hoped that this work can be used by others to help turn the "hearts of the children to their fathers" and aid in fulfilling the Lord's promise "to build up Kirtland" (D&C 124:83). after the scourge was lifted by Ezra Taft Benson, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in 1979.
(4) We trust that this work may open up other areas for further research. Each deed tells a story of its own if only we would read between the lines. Why was that particular parcel of land purchased or sold? Why was property transferred to a wife or to a friend for just a short period of time? These and other related questions open up a wide vista of research possibilities. All of our work was not of a totally serious nature. There were times when humor crept in. Can you imagine naming a poor, defenseless baby boy "Billious” or "Carrot"? The girls weren't ignored either. On deeds, we found women whose parents exhibited their originality by giving them names such as "Thankful, Jerusha, Patience, Pearly, and Hortense." One mother even liked her own name so well that she passed it on to her daughter, "Experience." It is our sincere prayer that our labors will be beneficial to this and future generations.
INTRODUCTION
As a starting point for our research, we were given a BYU Computer Printout dated April 1980 of land transactions in Kirtland by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
LAND TRANSACTION SHEETS:
A land transaction sheet was designed for use on our project which allowed space to show parties involved in land transactions, date of sale, price, general location, acres, and the volume and page number where the deed could be located in county records.
Using the BYU Computer Print-out, a land transaction sheet was prepared for each member shown. Additional sheets were prepared for other members whose names appeared on deeds and were verified as members by using listings in the "Kirtland Heritage Book" compiled by Paula M. Shepard and the "Kirtland Elders' Quorum Record, 1836-1841," edited by Lyndon W. Cook and Milton V. Backman, Jr.
We designated buyers and sellers as members of the Church if they appeared as members on the lists referenced above. We did not differentiate between members in good standing and disfellowshipped, excommunicated, or apostate members.
When property was purchased by the wife of a Church member, it is shown on a separate land transaction sheet. If property purchased by a member was sold by the wife without the property being transferred by deed to her, the transaction was shown on the land transaction sheet under her husband's name. Power of Attorneys are also noted on the land transaction sheets. They were not copied or typed as there was no further identifying information than that noted.
DEED EXTRACTION AND FILING:
The sources for our research were the Deed and Mortgage Indexes and Deed Records for Geauga and Lake Counties. The Geauga County Records were on microfilm and were available in the Kirtland Stake Family History Center. The records for Lake County were ordered from the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. When they arrived in Kirtland they were accompanied with a note which read: "best available copy." We would have liked to see the worst copy! The quality was such that they were almost totally unreadable. As a result, we spent many hours in the basement archive room in the Lake County Administration Building in Painesville copying from the Deed Books which had been transcribed in the early 1900's from the original recorded deeds.
All deeds extracted from microfilm and Deed Books were handwritten, then typed on deed information sheet. (It would have been nice if we had the experience necessary and access to computers so that all this information could have been computerized initially. It is our understanding that personnel within the Kirtland Stake will eventually computerize the information obtained during our research.) As the deeds were extracted, we proofread them back to the microfilm and proofread our typed copies back to the handwritten copies except for deeds taken from Lake County Deed Books. It was impossible to proofread the handwritten copies back to the Deed Books in the room where the records were kept as other people were also working in the room.
The deed information sheet was designed to readily show buyer, seller, record book reference, date of sale, location, acreage, price, and if houses or other buildings were noted in the deed. It also provided a section for the legal description of the property.
The deed information sheet also has a "sold to" section. In some cases this information was recorded when the lot sold was easily reconciled to the lot purchased. In many cases the lot purchased was larger than the lot sold. In other cases the lot sold was larger than the lot purchased. Perhaps the Ohio climate caused land to grow as well as crops, or laying aside facetiousness, perhaps later surveys established the acreage more exactly. In both cases, the "sold to" section was not completed to date. Further work on this section and the "tax data" section will be done as time for analysis becomes available.
Names are generally spelled on the deed information sheet as they appeared on the records. However, the spelling of names vary even within the deeds themselves.
We extracted all deeds located with a listed member's name. We did not research further to determine if there were more than one individual in Kirtland Township with the same common name such as William Smith, Samuel Brown, etc. The deeds themselves had no way of definitely identifying the purchaser. The purchaser's wife's name was not normally shown on the deed. The deed generally did show the name of the seller's wife if he was married at the time of the sale. She was required to be interviewed alone by a justice of the Peace, Court Clerk, Judge, or Notary Public and sign a statement on the deed that she was in agreement with the sale and terms of the sale prior to recording the deed.
To further identify a particular buyer or seller, dates of birth and death would be of value.
We have also included names with similarities and different spellings should it be ascertained later that they are Church members. As examples: John Hawden appears on a list as a member, but no land transactions were found under the Hawden Name. We therefor included deeds showing John Howden as one of the contracting parties as, perhaps, they are the same person. The same situation exists with John Morton (member) and John Norton. As another example of individuals with the same name, we cite John Johnson. John Johnson and John Johnson, Jr. are shown on separate land transaction sheets. However, upon the death of John Johnson, Sr., John Johnson, Jr. dropped the Junior designation. Additional analyzing of the land transaction sheets and deeds will be necessary to ensure that all deeds are filed under the proper name.
Witnesses have been recorded to provide additional information
on where particular Saints were at a given time and their involvement. For example, many times a neighbor or relative would be asked to witness a land transaction.
The recording date (the order in which deeds are filed in the County Record Books) reveal that deeds were not recorded until months and even years after the purchase.
The deeds are filed in alphabetical order under the purchaser's name if the purchaser is a member. If the purchaser is NOT a member, the deed is filed under the member seller’s name. A member is indicated by (M) , non-member by (N). Since the deeds were posted on the land transaction sheet as they were located, they are filed behind the land transaction sheet in that same order.
MAP PREPARATION AND FILING:
When the first survey was made in the Connecticut Western Reserve (now Northeastern Ohio) the Township of Kirtland was laid out five miles by five miles, divided into three tracts. Tract One consisted of Lots one (1) through fifty-two (52). Each lot was fairly uniform in size and in most cases contained between 100 and 105 acres. Tract Two originally was supposed to consist of lots fifty-three (53) through seventy-six (76). The lots were to be fairly uniform in two sizes. Sixteen were to be large lots and eight were half the size of the large lots. This was not to be. Nearly all the lots in Tract Two ended up being of different sizes and shapes with the largest lot being 502 acres and the smallest lot being less than 50 acres. The numbering system was also changed. The lots in Tract Two are now numbered 1 through 34. Tract Three consists of thirty lots numbered from 77 through 106. The lots are all rectangular in shape and range from 137 acres to 297 acres.
Maps were made of each lot on which Saints owned at least one parcel. Additional maps were made of a lot where members bought or sold only a part of an original parcel.
In order to locate a parcel of land within a lot, it was sometimes necessary to review earlier deeds and deeds of adjacent parcels, some of which were owned by individuals who were not members of the Church. (In most cases, these deeds were not copied.) The reason this was necessary was because many legal descriptions of property used boundaries of adjacent parcels as their boundaries without reference to direction or distances.
Distances indicated on the deeds were converted from rods, chains, and links to feet and then changed to inches based on the scale used for each map. The maps are filed in numerical order first by Tract Number, then by Lot Number, and then by Map Number. Partial abstracts of title are filed facing the map to which, it applies. In the case of sub-lots in Lot Number 30, partial abstracts of title are filed by Block Number and finally by Sub-Lot Number.
PARTIAL ABSTRACTS:
A partial abstract was prepared for each parcel which was a division of a Lot. The abstract indicates seller and buyer, member (M) or non-member (N) and date of purchase. The abstract doesn't consist, in all cases, of an unbroken chain of ownership as we were only concerned with ownership by members of the Church. When ( ) without a purchase date enclosed appears, it indicates that the owner listed previously to the brackets was shown as the
seller on a deed we had copied, was referenced on a deed of adjacent property and that we did not copy the deed showing that individual as a purchaser because he/she was a non-member, or that no deed could be located. When ... is shown after the brackets (with or without a date enclosed), it indicates that we are not certain that the ownership chain is unbroken. When ( ) appears where normally membership of the individual would be indicated, it simply means that we are uncertain of the membership status of the individual whose name follows.
RECONCILIATIONS AND FINAL AUTHORITY:
Should there be a difference on the land transaction sheet and the maps, we refer you to the deed itself and noted corrections.
(1) Some deeds had incorrect Lot or Tract Numbers. This was determined by the legal description and corrected when found.
(2) Some deeds had incorrect directions, i.e. east when it should have been west. This was found as maps were being prepared and the direction to close the property boundaries became apparent.
(3) The deed is not always explicit as to the size of the parcel in regard to acreage. For example, the deed may give gross acreage and reserve a portion and at other times use the net acreage after deducting the reserved piece without differentiating between the methods. The net acreage 'was used upon preparation of the maps where it could be readily determined. As these inconsistencies and errors were found, corrections were made or noted on the land transaction sheets and deed information sheets. However, we are not certain all of them have been corrected at this time correct boundaries.
RECORDING PRACTICE:
It was a common custom not to record land purchases until the time of the sale of that property. This practice gives a different picture on the disposition of land when the saints left the Kirtland area.
In many cases, land purchased by the saints in the 1830*s was not recorded until after .it was sold in the 1840's or even later. This problem is compounded by the fact that Kirtland was part of Geauga County until 1840 and in Lake County after that date. Therefore, land purchased in Geauga County in 1835 could be recorded as a purchase in Lake County if the sale were after 1840.
We also found that some saints gave a Power of Attorney to Almon Babbit, Church representative, or to a friend or neighbor to sell their property after they had departed from the Kirtland area for Missouri or Illinois. This would account for some property being sold which was previously considered abandoned.
CLOSING:
It is hoped that not only will these maps and deeds provide information as to property the saints owned, but they will also:
(A) Encourage research into journals to' determine which properties contained their actual residences. Other than an occasional note that a home was located on the property the deeds do not provide this information. Some land was purchased for speculation only.
(B) Motivate research to find the rest of the story as to the conditions and reasons for some transactions and identification of additional Kirtland Church members. For example:
(1) Why did Emma Smith purchase 8 acres of land?
(2) Which properties belonged to the Church in the Prophet's name, and which belonged to him personally?
(3) Why was property bought and sold on the same date at a loss?
(4) Why did Joseph Smith transfer ownership of most of his holdings to William Marks in April 1837?
(5) Why did Newel K. Whitney "sell" his home and store to Orson Hyde about six months before Elder Hyde left on his mission to England in 1837 and then "bought" it back about a year later?