Mortgage Deed of William Green Jr. to Reuben Radford, 15 January 18331
Know all men by these presents that I William Green Jr of the county of Sangamon and State of Illinois for and in Consideration of the Sum of Two Hundred dollars
to me in hand paid the recept whereof I ^do^ hereby acknowledge have Given Granted bargained and Sold and by these presents do
^Give^ grant bargain and sell all my right title Interest and estate in an to The west half
of Lot ^number^ five North of main Street in the 1st Survey in the Town of New Salem in the coun^ty^ and state aforesaid together with all and Singular the appertainances there unto
belonging or in any wise appertaining there unto unto Reuben Radford his heirs and assigns for Ever In testimony ^whereof^ I have here unto set my hand and seal this fifteenth day of January in the year of our Lord one Thousand eight hundred and thirty
three2
William Green Jr seal [ endorsement
]
01/15/1833
01/15/1833
The condition of the above obligation is such if the Said William Green Jr. shall
comply with the requisites of Two promisary Notes made and executed on this day for
the sum of one hundred and Eighty eight dollars and fif^ty^ cents Each payable to the said Reuben Radford the above deed of bargain to be Null
and Void and of non affect But if he the said William Green Jr shall3 prove Insolvent and utterly unable to comply with the demands of said Notes the above
deed of bargain is to remain in full force and virtue at Law In testimony whereof the Said William4 Green Jr and Reuben Radford have here unto set their hands this 15th of January 1833
William Green JrRuben Radford[ certification
]
07/10/1833
07/10/1833
This day personally appeared before the undersigned a Justice of the peace in and
for Said County Abram Lincoln whose name appears signed as a subscribing [witness?] to the [annexed?] deed of conveyance the Said Abram Lincoln being personolly Known to me to be the
person whose name appears subscribed to the said deed and the said Abram Lincoln after
being Duly Sworn deposeth and Saith that the said ^was^ deed executed and delivered in his presence by William Green whose name appears subscribed
to the said Deed that the the said William Green whose name appears subscribed to the said deed is the real person
who executed the Same and that he the said Abram Lincoln subscribed his name as a
witness in his Presence and at his request Given under my hand and seal this 10 day of July 1833
Robert Conover J P[Justice of the Peace] seal [ docketing
]
08/01/1833
08/01/1833
Recorded August 1st AD 1833
1Clerks transcribed the mortgage deed into Sangamon County Deed Book F1, shown here,
and also into Deed Book F2. The original document has not been located.
2In 1833, Abraham Lincoln and his partner William F. Berry ran one of three general stores in the village of New Salem. When Reuben Radford’s
store was ransacked by locals in January 1833, he sold his building and stock to William
Greene, who immediately sold it to Lincoln & Berry. Lincoln and Berry signed promissory notes to cover the purchase of their initial
business as well as Radford’s building and stock. By April 1833, Lincoln and Berry’s
store had failed and in 1835 Berry died, leaving Lincoln to pay the partnership’s
debts.
Promissory Note of William F. Berry, Abraham Lincoln and William Green to Reuben Radford; Vanbergen v. Lincoln et al., Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=140678; David Herbert Donald, Lincoln (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995), 47, 49, 54.
Handwritten Transcription, 1 page(s), Sangamon County Deed Book F1, 471, Illinois Regional Archives Depository, University of Illinois at Springfield (Springfield, Illinois).