William Hathaway's Original Lancaster County Deed - 1666
I'm VERY slowly working on transcribing this deed. (Source: Lancaster County Court House - Deed Book 4, Folio 18) The old handwriting is tough and the deed is badly smeared. The many ellipses indicate illegible sections that I am still working on.
Despite long-held family tradition, this is not the original deed to the Enon Hall property, but is instead a deed to 100 acres located across the Rappahannock River in what is today Middlesex County. See this page for additional information about this.
You can read the 1762 Enon Hall deed, here.
UPDATE: I discovered today that the deed below was copied into the Middlesex County deed books in 1674. (Middlesex Order Book No. 1, page 13.) Between the two sets of handwriting I hope to be able to make out more of the deed and fill in some of the blanks below. (1/7/04)
William Downing (seal)
Memorandum: that I Elizabeth Downing the wife of the above mentioned Will: Downing... to ye sale of ye land above mentioned...
Updated January 19, 2002:
William Downing (Abt. 1648 - 1698) was a "tailor" married to Elizabeth Sandeford (Born Abt. 1652).
In 1688, remaining Downing property (322 acs.) is described as follows: "Beg. by the Indian Path to the Dragon Swamp, to Tho Williams plantation, by land of the Orphants of David Allison, neare the Bridge Road, by run of the Blockhouse Br, to Tho. Minns plantation." Patent Book 7, 640
David Allison's property, just south and east of present day Saluda, VA, was described as "Beginning by the Path side that goeth over the Great Swamp & joining the land of Abrham Moone & South West along the Path to a marked white Oak, N.W. 320 poles to a marked Pochickory, thence N.E. 160 poles to Mattapony Path, thence S.E. alongst the Path 160 poles, thence S. by E. to a first specifyed place."
These tracts adjoined the 100 acres purchased by William Hathaway in 1666. |
