The sun. (Wilmington, Del.) 1897-19??, 1898-04-17
ANCIENT DOCUMENTS
Peculiar Legal Transaction ON Parch
ment Now Held by u. T. Collins

ment Now Held by u. 7. Collins
ofDOver.
staff Correspondence THE Sun.
DOVER, April l6.-It is always interest
ing to look over ancient writings o.
papers, if for no other purpose than t.
note the language employed and style c
photography and then to compare then
with what we, of the latter portion 0
the nineteenth century are familiar will
in our everyday life.
1t causes the mind to revert back to TIN
extent Of its capability, when all aetna
knowledge ceases and the imagination
must be brought into use in order t.
comprehend the difficulties which pre-
sented themselves to our forefathers wheI
| it became necessary to transact particu
lar business requiring either contract o.
deed in order to secure the parties inter
ested in their rights or ownership.
Two centuries ago business was moi
conducted in the rapid manner it is to-
day, and in everything pertaining to thu
granting of rights exchanging the owner
ship OF land or other valuable thing
there was more circumlocution employed
than there is today in securing the con
sent of the administration to protect the
honor and dignity of the United States
and the rights of her citizens from thu
savagery and hostility of an impecun
ious third rate nation.
Parchment was then used instead Of
paper, and ii in many cases required the
best part of the hide OF sheep to trans.
fer parcel of land from one person to
another, the custom of duplication and
"indenting.' requiring that at least two
perfect copies be made without the
slightest error or erasure, so that one
would be the exact counterpart of the
other, the ''indenture" proving the
validity fully as much as the signatures
attached, as chirography in those days
was not taught at every crossroads and
but few could write their own name SO
they could swear to it the day after
ward.
A parchment of this character is now
in the possession of MIR. X. T. Collins,
the proprietor OF Cedar Lane Farm, !"
who came into possession of it through
the purchase Of the property. The farm
is situated about three miles east of
Dover, and at one time was portion of
the old Rodney estate, which was the
birthplace of the forcfathers of the Rod
ney family now scattered throughout
the State OF Delaware.
When Mr.. Collins concluded to pur-
chase the land referred to he insisted
upon having clear title to his purchase,
and as the owners did not desire to go
to the expense OF hunting the records
for two centuries back. both in Delaware
and Pennsylvania, they turned over to
him number of the original copies of
the various deeds, which were from time
TO time drawn, as the land was divided
or transferred from father to son.
Among these deeds there is parch-
ment bearing the date of nearly two
centuries ago, before the State OF Della
ware was thought of and when this por-
ton of the country was included in the
State of Pennsylvania. 1t is a parchment
deed bearing the signature Of William
Penn and conveying to Moretn and
Rodney six hundred acres OF land, and
is drawn up with as much regard to de-
tail OF boundary as was possible at that
early day in the history of America.
Aside from the value Of the parchment
as a deed or as a relic, it is still more in
teresting in that it bears the royal seal of
King William in attestation of the valid
ity OF the grant This seal is made OF
substance similar t, our sealing wax,
round in form and encased in Il frame of
metal. 1t is attached to the parchment
by silk cords passed through the parch-
ment aid the ends imbedded in tie wax
OF the seal proper So that it cannot be
removed without destroying the seal or
severing the cord.
This deed Was recorded in the Rolls
Office at Philadelphia in Patent Book A,
Volume =, pages l04 and lO5, the 10Th of
sth month, l7Ol, thus showing that the
grant was among the early ones. From
memoranda made on the margin of the
parchment the charges for atfixing the
seal and recording and comparing was
IBID 2s, or an amount equal to about %j5,
which i'll those days was considered
quite considerable sum.
There are other deeds among the num-
Der which came into Mr.. Collins posses
sion, which are Of historic value AZ well
as OF considerable interest to one having
a taste for relics or mementoes of the
past. lie has one by whi;h Caeser Rod
ney and Elizabeth, his wife, CONVEYS
a parcel of land to Daniel Needham bear
ing date Of 9th mo. l72S." This deed
is recorded in Book l. pages Jag and l47,
k,n county, Delaware, and is signed by
William Penn.
This parchment is ''indel ted'' while
The one bearing date of.l7Ol is not, from
which it may he concluded that the Gus
tom OF indenturing came into vogue in
lie American colonies somewhere be-
.wcen the dates on which these two
documents were drawn, and it is pos
'lblc that from this old-ime custom
:ame the term:
This lEdenturc,' now so commonly
used on legal contracts in many OF the
states at the present time.
McCuILouGm.
George NJ. Boyd Of the PENNSYLVANIA
abroad company, pissed through this
'lty on Friday in a special Pullman
palace car, enrOute to Harrington