This Indenture made this third day of September in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight hundred and thirty
two between Ransom Lane & Nancy his wife of the County of Sangamon and State of Illinois of the one part and James Goldsby of the County & State aforesaid of the other part Witnesseth that the said Ransom Lane and Nancy his wife for and in consideration of the sum of five hundred & sixty dollars to them
in hand paid the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged before the signing sealing
and delivering of these presents have given granted bargained and sold and by these
presents do give grant bargain and sell all their title interest and Estate in and
to the following described tracts or parcels of land to wit the East half of the South
East quarter of section Eleven in Township seventeen North of Range seven west in
the district of lands subject to sale at Springfield Illinois containing eighty acres also the North half of the East half of the North East quarter
of section thirteen Township seventeen North in range seven west of the 3d Principal Meridian containing forty acres also the west half of the North West quarter
of section twelve Township seventeen North in range seven west of the 3d principal Meridian Containing Eighty acres1 To have and to hold to the said James Goldsby his heirs and assigns forever the above described premises together with all and
singular the privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining
and the said Ransom Lane and Nancy his wife do hereby for themselves their heirs executors and administrators covenant
to and with the said James Goldsby his heirs and assigns forever to warrant and defend the title of said land against
the claim or claims of all persons claiming or to claim tittle to the same.
In testimony whereof the said Ransom Lane and Nancy his wife have hereunto set their hands and seals this day
Ransom Lane
seal
<Page 2>
and year first above written
her | ||
Nancy | X | Lane seal |
mark |
[ certification
]
09/11/1832
09/11/1832
State of Illinois
Sangamon County
Sangamon County
Personally came Ransom Lane and Nancy Lane his wife before the undersigned an acting Justice of the Peace for the County and
State both personally known to said Justice to be the same Persons that executed the
within deed and acknowledged the same to be their act and deed for the purposes therein
contained and nancy Lane being examined separate and apart from her husband and made acquainted with the contents
thereof freely acknowledged the same as a relinquishment of her dower without the
compulsion of her husband.2
Given under my hand and seal this 11th day September 1832
Bowling Green
J. P.[Justice of the Peace]
seal
2“Dower” is a term that refers to the legally protected lifetime right of a woman to
one-third of her husband’s lands and personal property. Dower was intended to provide
for the support of a widow and her children. Because of this, a husband could not
convey property without the consent of his wife.
Christopher A. Schnell, “Wives, Widows, and Will Makers: Woman and the Law of Property,”
in In Tender Consideration: Women, Families, and the Law in Abraham Lincoln’s Illinois (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003), 129, 133; Joan R. Gundersen, “Women
and Inheritance in America,” in Robert K. Miller Jr. and Stephen J. McNamee, eds.,
Inheritance and Wealth in America (New York: Springer Science and Business Media, 1998), 94.
Handwritten Transcription, 2 page(s), Sangamon County Deed Book F2, 240-41, Illinois Regional Archives Depository, University of Illinois at Springfield (Springfield, Illinois) ,