More on Montgomery County Land

Back in March, I received some copies from the Montgomery County Court (courtesy of Wabash College student Paul Snyder, '16) of land deeds for my 6th great-grandfather Jacob Booher, and the disposition of his lands by his children. At the end of March I received another set of copies, this time from the neighboring Boone County (Indiana) Court. This is a closer look at those records.

In January 1873, my 4th great-grandfather James Vail named David Armstrong (my 3rd great-grandfather), husband of his daughter Easter Vail (my 3rd great-grandmother) as Executor of his will and testament. James died a month later. In February 1880, David conveyed a plot of land in Thorntown to James' widow, my 4th-great-grandmother Selina Hampton Vail.

The plot was located on the corner of Plum and Vine Street in Thorntown, as seen on the map from 1878.

Map of Thorntown, Boone County, Indiana, 1878.

The next deed in the set involved the survivors of James Vail to Nathaniel Krauss of Boone County for $3000. The transaction involved 63 acres spread across three plots of land, Section 6, Township 19, North Range 2 West.

Eleven years after the death of James Vail, Selina married Stewart Gibson in April 1884. She died in October 1886, so sometime between 1884-1886 and she and her husband Stewart executed an indenture conveying the following land to William E. Gardner of Montgomery County in exchange for $900: "the undivided one third of the East half of the South East quarter of Section 12 in Township 19 north of Range three west in Montgomery County containing 80 acres" (the land owned by her first husband James Vail, neighboring the original Jacob Booher land holding). "Also the south west quarter of the south west quarter of section six (6) forty acres, also the west half of the north west fractional quarter of section seven (7) eighty acres and west half of the west half of the south west fractional quarter of section seven (7) forty acres all in Township 19 north range two west in Boone County and the State of Indiana. Also a part of the north fraction of the north west quarter of section two (2) Township 19 North range two west...containing two acres." The indenture included eight acres in the same quarter, bringing the total to 250 acres.

There are more records in the set. Tomorrow's post will look at the land purchases of James Vail during his lifetime.