I gave in and purchased an original 1868 land deed on Ebay. It was not for a relative, but it was for a land transaction in Hancock County, Illinois.

I decided it would be interesting to compare the original deed with the record copy at the local courthouse. The original deed is the original deed and the courthouse record copy, while the legal equivalent of the original, is still a derivative copy (in genealogical terminology) because it was created from the original. 

Record copies are supposed to copy the original deed, warts and all. Words that are spelled incorrectly on the original deed (one deed writer could not spell “Prairie” in “Prairie Township” for anything) are supposed to be spelled that incorrect way on the record copy. There’s usually a notation on the deed when a word is spelled wrong on the original document.

The attention to detail was necessary because the record copy is the legal equivalent of the original.

I’ll be interested to see how the original deed compares with the record copy. Stay tuned.