Sunday, January 26, 2025

7,000 acres

 

FamilySearch. Barren County, KY. Sept 1852.

I've managed to find two more court cases through FamilySearch Labs' full-text search involving my 4th-great-grandfather William F. Read. These cases were filed in Barren County, Kentucky and Shenandoah County, Virginia by John Montague and John Curd. The Barren County case began in September 1852, when the plaintiffs filed suit claiming that they had a partnership with Read as their agent to purchase two tracts of land totalling 7,000 acres in Shenandoah and Warren County, Virginia, spanning Powell Fort Mountain.

Google Maps. Present day location of Powell Mtn.

A conveyance was drawn by attorney John Freeman of Page County, Virginia (possibly a cousin of William F. Read), and signed by the parties on 28 April 1851. An extract from the court file showing the conveyance is below.


FamilySearch. Court file, 1852.

Montague and Curd claimed Read had committed fraud and owed them $150 for expenses paid to Read in support of his journey to Virginia and Maryland to execute the land sale. Read countered, stating he did sign the note but had not committed fraud. William said he went to Virginia first to inquire whether the land could be purchased, returned to Barren County and purchased a horse, saddle and carriage, then returned to Virginia and Maryland and negotiated the purchase for $2500. Read said when he returned from the second trip, he informed the plaintiffs he thought there was a silver mine on the property. He also also said the parties (particularly Curd) agreed to settle and let him out of the partnership. Read asked for the action to be transferred to equity court out of the criminal court.

Montague and Curd continued their case in both Barren County and in the courts of Virginia. In Kentucky, they tried to assert a claim on the property purchased in trust by Rice C. Ballard in 1847 for Emily A. H. Read and children. There are several documents in the file from 1854 and 1856 on this, including an order from the Deputy Sheriff of Barren County to seize the land in Barren County and sell it at auction in order to settle the debt.

The Reads filed a response in April 1856, rejecting the claims made by Montague, Curd and the deputy sheriff. William F. Read died in Barren County on 19 September 1865. In 1866, a deed was entered into the Shenandoah County Court granting the fourth partner in the case, Emanuel Huffman, the shares of William F. Read and John Montague in the 7,000 acres.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.