This Indenture made this Twenty fifth day of August in the year of our Lord one Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty four between John F Harrison and Parthena S his wife of the county of Sangamon and State of Illinois of the one part and Robert McNabb of the County and State aforesaid of the other part Witnesseth: That the said John F Harrison and Perthena S his wife for and in consideration of the sum of one Hundred Dollars to them in hand paid the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged have given granted bargained and sold and by these presents do give grant bargain and sell all their right title interest and estate in and to the following tract of Land viz being a part of the south West fractional quarter of section Thirty four in Township Eigteen north of Range six West and bounded as follows: Beginning on the margin of the Sangamon River at a Sassafras nine inches in diameter bearing S[South] 71 E.[East] 33 Links an ash fifteen inches in diameter bearing N[North] 81 West 36 Links thence south 43 chains and 42 Links to a Black Oak Eighteen inches in diameter bearing N 31 E 74 Links Sugartree twelve inches in diameter bearing South 49 W 84 Links thence East twelve chains and Thirty five Links to an Iron Wood six inches in diameter bearing N 78 W 68 Links thence North 37 chains and 58 Links to a Sassafras seven inches in diameter bearing S 85 W 23 Links thence down the river to the beginning1 To have and to hold unto the said Robert McNabb his heirs and assigns forever the above tract of Land together with all and singular the privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging and the said John F Harrison and Perthena S his wife do covenant to and with the said Robert McNabb to warrant and forever defend the title of said Land against the claim or claims of any and all person or persons whomsoever
In testimony whereof the said John F Harrison and Pert^h^ena S his wife have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written
John F Harrison  seal  Perthena S Harrison  seal 
[ certification ]
signed sealed and delivered in presence of
Bowling Green A Lincoln
[ certification ]
08/25/1834
State of Illinois
Sangamon County
Personally came John F Harrison and Perthena S Harrison his wife before the undersigned an acting Justice of the Peace for the County and State aforesaid personally known to said Justice to be the identical persons that executed the within deed and acknowledged the same to be their act and deed for the purposes therein expressed and Parthena S Harrison wife of John F Harrison being examined separate and apart from her Husband and made acquainted with the contents of this deed freely relinquished her dower right without the compulsion of her Husband2
Given under my hand and seal this 25 August 1834
Bowling Green J P[Justice of the Peace]  seal 
[ docketing ]
01/17/1835
Recorded Jan 17th AD 1835
1The land described here lay in Sangamon County in 1834; in 1839, the General Assembly carved out the northern part of the county to create a new county called Menard. The land described here is now situated in the central part of Menard County.
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, 1 page(s), Sangamon County Deed Book H, 101, Illinois Regional Archives Depository, University of Illinois at Springfield (Springfield, Illinois) ,