| Background: |
In 1752 the Governor and Council established the Registry of Deeds and appointed a Registrar of Deeds to oversee. Deeds are written documents for the transfer of land or other real property from one person to another. The Registrar had the authority, as of 1772, to appoint for each county a deputy. |
| Contents: |
The land transactions of grantors (sellers) and grantees (buyers) found within these records include mortgages, deeds, and also leases, releases, liens, sheriff’s deeds, court orders, powers of attorney, wills, apprentice, sale of slaves, deed from Heirs, administrator’s deed, and agreements. The arrangement is chronological (by date of registration) and headings on each page include: Grantee, Grantor, Book & Page, Year of Registry, Location of Land, and Nature of Instrument.
The arrangement is as follows:
- Reel 1: Index to Deeds, 1785-1815; 1816-1845; 1846-1865
- Reel 2: Vol. A, 1785-1788; B, 1788-1799
- Reel 3: Vol. C 1799-1809
- Reel 4: Vol. D 1810-1818, 1818-1825
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| Finding Aids: |
: A three volume index is on reel 1. Within the Index, there are two alternating indices operating at the same time. One page in the book will list Grantors (sellers) and the next page will list grantees (buyers). Surnames beginning with ‘Mac ‘and ‘Mc’ are not indexed under the letter ‘m’ but rather under the first letter of the remainder of the surname. Once a name has been searched, the book and page numbers are required to find in the register. |
