The original post, “Money for Land I Cannot Find: Part I,” mentioned an estate that includes a receipt for sale of real property for which a deed of acquisition cannot be found. Unfortunately this early 19th century probate record from Coshocton County, Ohio, provided no other detail other than the amount of money received. There was a just an entry in the March 1829 accounting of the estate of Thomas Rampley that $45 had been received.

The reason no deed was located in this case was that Thomas didn’t own any real property at the time of his death. He was working on it and he wasn’t paying off a mortgage either. If he had been paying off a mortgage, there should have been a deed of purchase and a mortgage both recorded in the local records office.

He was partially through making payments on a credit sale of federal land. That’s why there was no deed–patents transferring title from the federal government were not executed until the sale was complete.

Thomas had been making payments his eighty-acre land claim and consequently had built up some equity in that property. It was actually his equity in the property that was being purchased and for which the $45 was received.