Transcription and notes © 2009 Peter and Thomas Johnson, who assert their moral right to be identified as the authors of this work
Transcription of an indenture dated 31st January 1865 and entered into between George W. Young and his wife Catharine as sellers and Joel W. Sherman as purchaser, relating to 53 acres of land on Tract 178 in Allegheny Township, Venango County, PA, and recorded on 4th August 1865 in Deed Book NN, pp.530-531.
[page 530]
[In margin]
Deed
G.W. Young et ux.[1]
To
J.W. Sherman
[Main body of text]
This Indenture made the Thirty first day of January in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty five Between George W. Young[2] and Catharine Young[3] his wife of Allegheny Township County of Venango, and state of Pennsylvania, of the first part and Joel W. Sherman[4] of Titusville Crawford County and State aforesaid of the second part. Witnesseth, that the said parties of the first part, for and in consideration of the sum of Fifteen thousand and Five Hundred dollars[5] money of the United States, to them in hand paid by the said party of the second part and before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt and payment whereof they do hereby acknowledge, hath granted, bargained, sold, released and confirmed, and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell, release and confirm unto the said party of the second part and to his heirs and assigns all that certain piece or parcel of land situate & being in Allegheny Township, County of Venango, and State of Pennsylvania, and being part of a larger tract of land designated on the maps of the land of the late Holland Land Company[6] by number one Hundred and Seventy Eight (No 178), And Bounded & described as follows, to wit Beginning at a post in the South line of the whole tract, the South East corner of land contracted for by Hester Mitchell, thence along the East line of said land North one Hundred and Sixty two perches and seven tenths of a perch to a post, in the centre of the Mill Road: thence along same, East Seventy Eight perches, and one tenth of a perch to a post; the North West corner of land contracted for by David Wilson, thence along the West line of said land South one Hundred and sixty two perches and seven tenths of a perch to a post in the North line of Tract No.177, and thence by the South West Seventy Eight perches and one tenth of a perch to the place of Beginning, Containing Seventy five acres of land more or less: The parties of the first part hereto reserve Twenty six and one half acres that measure off the North West corner of the above described piece of land with the buildings, House, Barn & orchard thereon, which was conveyed to and belongs now to Mrs. Mary Ellen Young[7] & in her possession at this time. This Deed now conveys fifty three acres that measure and use being the balance of the tract after taking out Mrs. Mary Ellen Youngs 26½ acres.
Together with all and singular the rights, liberties, privileges hereditaments and appurtenances whatsoever thereto belonging, and the reversions and remainders, rents, issues, and profits thereof, and also all the estate and interest whatsoever of them the said parties of the first part
[page 531]
in law or equity, of, in, to or out of the same, To Have and to Hold the premises hereby granted, or intended so to be, with the appurtenances, unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, to the use of the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns forever. And the said parties of the first part their heirs, executors and administrators, do hereby covenant and agree to and with the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns, that they the said parties of the first part their heirs, the above mentioned and described premises, with the appurtenances, unto the said party of the second part against the said parties of the first part, and their heirs, and against all and every other person or persons whomsoever lawfully claiming or to claim the same or any part thereof shall and will warrant and forever Defend by these presents,
In Witness Whereof, the said parties of the first part hath hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Sealed and delivered
in Presence of:
James L. Connely
Venango County, ss
)))
Stamp $15.50
George W. Young [Seal]
Catharine Young [Seal]
Before me, the subscriber, a Justice of the Peace in and for the said County, personally came the above named George W. Young and Catharine Young his wife and acknowledged the above Indenture to be their act and deed. To the end that the same might be recorded as such, She, the said Catharine Young being of full age, and by me, separate and apart from her said husband, duly examined, and the contents of the above indenture fully made known to her, declared that she did voluntarily, and of her own free will and accord, and without any coercion or compulsion on the part of her said husband, sign, seal, execute and deliver the same
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this Thirty First day of January A.D. 1865.
James P. Connely J.P. [Seal]
“Recorded August 4, 1865”
Notes:
[1] Abbreviation for “uxor”, Latin for “spouse”.
[2] George Washington Young, born ca.1802 in Lebanon, CT, died 27 November 1881 in Appleton City, MO.
[3] Catharine Young (née Miller), born 1805 in Buffalo, NY, died in Grant County, SD, after November 1889.
[4] Joel W. Sherman had already enjoyed considerable success in the oil business. It is said he came from Cleveland to Titusville on foot in the summer of 1861 with “very limited means, but could command a small capital belonging to his wife. He obtained a lease on the Foster farm, and commenced to put down a well by hand. He had a fine show of oil, but long before reaching any considerable vein, the wife’s funds gave out. Working by hand was no longer possible on account of the depth of the well, and there was no means at hand of purchasing a horse. After working until something should turn up, an interest in the well was finally exchanged for a horse, and the work proceeded. But after a while the work became too onerous for the poor horse, and the well was once more at a dead stand. At last a farther interest in the well was bartered to two men who owned a small engine, and the work once again went forward. But coal was expensive, and none of the partners were able to purchase, and the work was suspended. A sixteenth interest was now offered for sale in order to purchase fuel, when, after waiting for a time, it was disposed of for eighty dollars and an old shot gun. The money and perhaps the shot-gun were just about expended, and the spirits of the partners down to the lowest ebb, when the bit plumped into a cavity that at once yielded fifteen hundred barrels per day [this was March 1862]. The partners in faith and sorrow, now had no longer need for either the dilapidated horse nor the little engine that had done them such good service; nature worked the pump on her own account, and all the owners had to do was to barrel the oil, and receive the proceeds. This well decreased to seven hundred barrels, and at the end of about two years became a pumping well. It is now a valuable well of that description, and is doing its owners good service”: Rev. S.J.M. Eaton, Petroleum: a history of the Oil Region of Venango County, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1866, pp.148-149. It is estimated that the well generated revenues of $1.7 million over its life, of which Sherman earned $1 million: see Taro Toyoda, “Oil Rush: Looking for the Land & Petroleum”, in Osaka Keidai Ronshu, vol.54, no.2 (July 2003), pp.187-218 (http://www.osakaue.ac.jp/gakkai/pdf/ronshu/2003/5402_ronko_toyoda.pdf).
[5] $15,500 in 1865 is equivalent, in purchasing power terms, to approximately $210,000 in 2008: Lawrence H. Officer and Samuel H. Williamson, “Purchasing Power of Money in the United States from 1774 to 2008”, MeasuringWorth, 2009. URL [www.measuringworth.com].
[6] The Holland Land Company was the vehicle used by a group of Dutch investors to purchase vast tracts of western New York State and western Pennsylvania.
[7] Mrs. Mary Ellen Young is probably Mary (May) Eleanor Young (née Hamil) (born 9 April 1831 in New York City), who was the widow of G.W. Young’s first son Julius Caesar Young (born 7 September 1826 in Lebanon, CT, or in Pennsylvania, died 21 July 1861 in Pleasantville, Venango County, PA). She later married E.O. Savage on 10 September 1866 and had a further six children before her death on 6 January 1910.
Transcription of an indenture dated 31st January 1865 and entered into between George W. Young and his wife Catharine as sellers and Joel W. Sherman as purchaser, relating to 53 acres of land on Tract 178 in Allegheny Township, Venango County, PA, and recorded on 4th August 1865 in Deed Book NN, pp.530-531.
[page 530]
[In margin]
Deed
G.W. Young et ux.[1]
To
J.W. Sherman
[Main body of text]
This Indenture made the Thirty first day of January in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty five Between George W. Young[2] and Catharine Young[3] his wife of Allegheny Township County of Venango, and state of Pennsylvania, of the first part and Joel W. Sherman[4] of Titusville Crawford County and State aforesaid of the second part. Witnesseth, that the said parties of the first part, for and in consideration of the sum of Fifteen thousand and Five Hundred dollars[5] money of the United States, to them in hand paid by the said party of the second part and before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt and payment whereof they do hereby acknowledge, hath granted, bargained, sold, released and confirmed, and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell, release and confirm unto the said party of the second part and to his heirs and assigns all that certain piece or parcel of land situate & being in Allegheny Township, County of Venango, and State of Pennsylvania, and being part of a larger tract of land designated on the maps of the land of the late Holland Land Company[6] by number one Hundred and Seventy Eight (No 178), And Bounded & described as follows, to wit Beginning at a post in the South line of the whole tract, the South East corner of land contracted for by Hester Mitchell, thence along the East line of said land North one Hundred and Sixty two perches and seven tenths of a perch to a post, in the centre of the Mill Road: thence along same, East Seventy Eight perches, and one tenth of a perch to a post; the North West corner of land contracted for by David Wilson, thence along the West line of said land South one Hundred and sixty two perches and seven tenths of a perch to a post in the North line of Tract No.177, and thence by the South West Seventy Eight perches and one tenth of a perch to the place of Beginning, Containing Seventy five acres of land more or less: The parties of the first part hereto reserve Twenty six and one half acres that measure off the North West corner of the above described piece of land with the buildings, House, Barn & orchard thereon, which was conveyed to and belongs now to Mrs. Mary Ellen Young[7] & in her possession at this time. This Deed now conveys fifty three acres that measure and use being the balance of the tract after taking out Mrs. Mary Ellen Youngs 26½ acres.
Together with all and singular the rights, liberties, privileges hereditaments and appurtenances whatsoever thereto belonging, and the reversions and remainders, rents, issues, and profits thereof, and also all the estate and interest whatsoever of them the said parties of the first part
[page 531]
in law or equity, of, in, to or out of the same, To Have and to Hold the premises hereby granted, or intended so to be, with the appurtenances, unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, to the use of the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns forever. And the said parties of the first part their heirs, executors and administrators, do hereby covenant and agree to and with the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns, that they the said parties of the first part their heirs, the above mentioned and described premises, with the appurtenances, unto the said party of the second part against the said parties of the first part, and their heirs, and against all and every other person or persons whomsoever lawfully claiming or to claim the same or any part thereof shall and will warrant and forever Defend by these presents,
In Witness Whereof, the said parties of the first part hath hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Sealed and delivered
in Presence of:
James L. Connely
Venango County, ss
)))
Stamp $15.50
George W. Young [Seal]
Catharine Young [Seal]
Before me, the subscriber, a Justice of the Peace in and for the said County, personally came the above named George W. Young and Catharine Young his wife and acknowledged the above Indenture to be their act and deed. To the end that the same might be recorded as such, She, the said Catharine Young being of full age, and by me, separate and apart from her said husband, duly examined, and the contents of the above indenture fully made known to her, declared that she did voluntarily, and of her own free will and accord, and without any coercion or compulsion on the part of her said husband, sign, seal, execute and deliver the same
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this Thirty First day of January A.D. 1865.
James P. Connely J.P. [Seal]
“Recorded August 4, 1865”
Notes:
[1] Abbreviation for “uxor”, Latin for “spouse”.
[2] George Washington Young, born ca.1802 in Lebanon, CT, died 27 November 1881 in Appleton City, MO.
[3] Catharine Young (née Miller), born 1805 in Buffalo, NY, died in Grant County, SD, after November 1889.
[4] Joel W. Sherman had already enjoyed considerable success in the oil business. It is said he came from Cleveland to Titusville on foot in the summer of 1861 with “very limited means, but could command a small capital belonging to his wife. He obtained a lease on the Foster farm, and commenced to put down a well by hand. He had a fine show of oil, but long before reaching any considerable vein, the wife’s funds gave out. Working by hand was no longer possible on account of the depth of the well, and there was no means at hand of purchasing a horse. After working until something should turn up, an interest in the well was finally exchanged for a horse, and the work proceeded. But after a while the work became too onerous for the poor horse, and the well was once more at a dead stand. At last a farther interest in the well was bartered to two men who owned a small engine, and the work once again went forward. But coal was expensive, and none of the partners were able to purchase, and the work was suspended. A sixteenth interest was now offered for sale in order to purchase fuel, when, after waiting for a time, it was disposed of for eighty dollars and an old shot gun. The money and perhaps the shot-gun were just about expended, and the spirits of the partners down to the lowest ebb, when the bit plumped into a cavity that at once yielded fifteen hundred barrels per day [this was March 1862]. The partners in faith and sorrow, now had no longer need for either the dilapidated horse nor the little engine that had done them such good service; nature worked the pump on her own account, and all the owners had to do was to barrel the oil, and receive the proceeds. This well decreased to seven hundred barrels, and at the end of about two years became a pumping well. It is now a valuable well of that description, and is doing its owners good service”: Rev. S.J.M. Eaton, Petroleum: a history of the Oil Region of Venango County, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1866, pp.148-149. It is estimated that the well generated revenues of $1.7 million over its life, of which Sherman earned $1 million: see Taro Toyoda, “Oil Rush: Looking for the Land & Petroleum”, in Osaka Keidai Ronshu, vol.54, no.2 (July 2003), pp.187-218 (http://www.osakaue.ac.jp/gakkai/pdf/ronshu/2003/5402_ronko_toyoda.pdf).
[5] $15,500 in 1865 is equivalent, in purchasing power terms, to approximately $210,000 in 2008: Lawrence H. Officer and Samuel H. Williamson, “Purchasing Power of Money in the United States from 1774 to 2008”, MeasuringWorth, 2009. URL [www.measuringworth.com].
[6] The Holland Land Company was the vehicle used by a group of Dutch investors to purchase vast tracts of western New York State and western Pennsylvania.
[7] Mrs. Mary Ellen Young is probably Mary (May) Eleanor Young (née Hamil) (born 9 April 1831 in New York City), who was the widow of G.W. Young’s first son Julius Caesar Young (born 7 September 1826 in Lebanon, CT, or in Pennsylvania, died 21 July 1861 in Pleasantville, Venango County, PA). She later married E.O. Savage on 10 September 1866 and had a further six children before her death on 6 January 1910.