Deeds and name changes in the early 1800s
This is a question for someone who is very familiar with how these kinds of legal things work.
Here's the scenario: On 12 Apr 1812, Laura Hale signs as a witness on a deed made by her brother and mother, who are administrators of her father's estate. A little over a week later, on 21 Apr 1812, the deed is recorded: "Laura Hale" (under that name again) appears in court and swears that she witnessed them signing the deed.
That's normal stuff. But then Zachariah Warner also appears, and swears that "the said Laura was known to him as being the person described as one of the subscribing witnesses". I wonder: why is Zachariah's testimony needed?
Plot twist: Zachariah Warner married Laura Hale. The date of the marriage isn't really known, but you can estimate it as 1810-1814.
Here's my theory:
- Between 12 Apr and 21 Apr, Zachariah married Laura, so by the time the deed is recorded she is "Laura Warner".
- Since Laura's name has changed, someone has to explain why the Laura Warner in court is the one who signed as a witness, hence her husbands
- The scribe messed up, and copied the name "Hale" from document, rather than using the "Warner" name she had on 21 Apr.
Is this plausible? Am I reading too much into Zachariah's testimony?
Answers
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I've often seen a similar notation in court records, with one person attesting to the identity of another, even without a name change. In 1812, no one had a driver's license or other document as proof of identity.
And, depending on the location, the legal status of the woman may have been an issue as well, since women often could not own property or act independently without the support/permission of men.
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Ahem. It's fine to ask for "someone who is very familiar with how these kinds of legal things work" - but can I ask @CharlesRezk and anyone else with similar questions to specify where these events are taking place? My impression as a Brit is that legal eagles will need to know the state if it's in the USA, but I could be wrong there.
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@Adrian Bruce1 You've hit exactly on why I said, "depending on location," as a woman's status would not be the same in one of the New England states as in one of the Southern states, for example.
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"Since Laura's name has changed,…"
@CharlesRezk I'm not clear from your post when Laura's name changed or even that it did. You said that she signed it as Laura Hale and appeared in court as Laura Hale to acknowledge that. Then Zachariah Warner also appeared (it sounds like on the same day, but you didn't state that one way or the other, so I could be misinterpreting) and swore that "the said Laura" was known to him. "The said Laura" would mean Laura Hale which is the name of the woman that just appeared in court.
Zachariah Warner acknowledging knowing her as "the said Laura [Hale]" doesn't imply any sort of relationship other than that Zachariah is a known person in the community such as a JP, clerk of the court, minister or some other respected person who can be relied on. He's essentially acting like a notary would now: You show him an ID and sign something in his presence. Then he signs and stamps a document to confirm that the person that signed is the person they claimed they were.
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"Plot twist: Zachariah Warner married Laura Hale. The date of the marriage isn't really known, but you can estimate it as 1810-1814."
@CharlesRezk I'm not sure that Zachaiah Warner married Laura Hale - the relationship could be the result of an indexing/transcribing error, which in turn could lead to all sorts of entanglements. Can you share the PID's for Zachariah and Laura
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PIDs
Laura Hale
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/2Z3J-YX1
Zachariah Warner
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/LHZZ-16J1 -
Sorry, I forgot to give a reference. This is in Otsego county, New York. Zachariah and Laura are the ones linked to above. The actual deed is here, starting at the middle of the right-hand page: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9WT-SK1N?lang=en&i=215&groupId=2078654
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@CharlesRezk Why don't you add your thoughts as a Discussion on Laura's Collaboration page. Then you could contact the other submitters on her person page and ask them their thoughts. It might be more beneficial to talk with others who already know this family and this area. They will be able to add comments to your discussion just like we are here on FamilySearch Community.
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