|
An Analysis of the Legitimacy of the
"Deed Rock" Deed
by
Scurv Dawg
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was the first to
enact a recording act so that
"Every man may know what estate or
interest other men may have in houses, land or other hereditaments"
and was initially established to protect a grantee where a grantor
remained in possession. The Massachusetts recording statue was
enacted in 1652 and the law provided that no conveyance would be
valid unless it was
"By deed in writing under hand and seal"
accompanied by livery of seisin, or the acknowledgement and
recording of the deed. In 1697 the recording statue was amended and
provided that a recorded deed was valid to pass title without any
other act or ceremony. However if a deed was recorded without an
acknowledgment it was not valid except as to the grantor and the
grantor’s heirs. In 1836 this last part of the statue was revised to
include the grantor, the grantor’s heirs, the grantor’s devisees,
and persons who have actual notice. The purpose of the revised
statute is to prevent fraud where the grantee (having actual notice
of a prior conveyance) who takes a subsequently executed deed could
defeat the title of a prior valid deed simply by being the first to
record.
Scurv Dawg investigating the
situation
William G. Hall did not have his
name, date or an acknowledgment chiseled in Deed Rock. Even if the
rock was loaded and hauled to the Registry for recording it would
not be transcribed into the record books for because it wasn’t a
duly executed and acknowledge instrument. Whether the Almighty was
able to take "livery of seisin" would be a theological debate. The
term derives from French origins, livery meaning to deliver
and seisin to take possession. The livery of seisin ceremony
was established under English common law and brought to America. The
parties involved in the land transaction would meet at the property
and the grantor (owner) would hand to the grantee (buyer) a small
parcel of dirt, stone or branch from the property being conveyed.
The grantor would make a statement as to his intent to convey the
property and vacate the same. This would effectuate the closing of
the transaction by grantee accepting the parcel represented his
taking delivery and sizing the property and holding under his
possession. Traditionally the ceremonial process was called
feoffment with livery of seisin, feoffment translated as a gift and
was a grant of lands as a fee. The parties involved were known as
the feoffor and the feoffee. It’s unclear whether God took
possession of the property, but it is clear that Solomon Parsons as
God’s representative who paid consideration for the property took
possession of it open and notorious to the world that was Worcester
for over 40 years. It can also be argued that the conveyance created
a “Resulting Trust” which arises when one person pays all or a
specific portion of the consideration for a conveyance of property
taken in the name of another. Also it is not illegal to deal with
property under an assumed name as long as there is no intent to
commit fraud. Even if you just considered Solomon Parsons a squatter
he would be an adverse possessor and have a claim to the ownership
of the land as William G. Hall who held record title failed to bring
an action to recover the land within 20 years.
It can be argued that William G.
Hall intended to pass and deliver title to the property either to
God or his agent. He accepted payment, and notice of Hall’s intent
can be seen on the 1886 City of Worcester Assessors Atlas, which
clearly labels "Deed Rock" on Plate 26. William G. Hall maintained
the record title. Any takings, attachments, betterments or
assessments would be made against him as record owner. However, his
Deed Rock was not on record with the Registry of Deeds. Anyone
reviewing the registry records without notice of his deed to God
Almighty would conclude that William G. Hall was the record owner.
And it came to pass that God
created clouds around the title to his land in Worcester. The
Almighty was not going to physically appear and take title. Solomon
Parsons, his heirs or assigns, could not convey title to the
property without court confirmation. William G. Hall, his heirs or
assigns, would have difficulty conveying the property, as notice of
conveyance of God’s acreage was well known, and shown on the
Assessor Maps in 1886. The property could have remained clouded
indefinitely, except that Abel Swan Brown (a/k/a A. Swan Brown), a
large land owner adjacent to God’s "Ten Acres" appeared to be
encroaching on the holy land base upon the 1886 Atlas. Since the
“Hermitage” was in the process of becoming his "Hermitage Country
Club" he would need to resolve any title issues to the land if he
intended to legally acquire it. A. Swan Brown took title to the
property from the heirs of Solomon Parsons by deed dated November
24, 1894 and recorded with the Worcester Registry of Deeds at Book
1461, Page 166. However, this deed alone did not clear the title to
the property. The heirs of William G. Hall (the "record owner")
conveyed to Luther C. Brown and Irving S. Brown (heirs of A. Swan
Brown, who died September 6, 1899) took title to the property by
deed dated November 18, 1904 recorded with said Deeds at Book 1795,
Page 265. A. Swan Brown’s estate, Luther C. Brown and Irving S.
Brown subsequently included God’s Ten Acres in a deed to Henry Batjer recorded December 7, 1904 with said Deeds at Book 1795, Page
442, 444. Batjer then conveyed it to the Hermitage County Club at
Book 1844, Page 469.
What happened to God’s interest in
the parcel he was conveyed? Around the time of the deed to the
Hermitage County Club the Worcester Atlas no longer labels Deed Rock
on their plats. The 1922 Worcester Atlas Plate 13 only shows the
Hermitage County Club property as a 274.15 acre parcel which
incorporates the Deed Rock parcel. God as grantee in the Deed from
William G. Hall never took delivery, never recorded his deed and
never made an attempt to clarify his chain of title either through
subsequent conveyances or by court order. God may have been able to
exert some authority over his land if he had stepped forward as
beneficiary of the Resulting Trust prior to the conveyance by the
heirs of Solomon Parsons but, alas, he did not. Since Massachusetts
law only requires a 50 year search of title provided that there is a
record deed good on its face value fifty years or more before the
current date. Once a good start deed is established within the last
50 plus years a recorded document in the chain of title would have
to indicate a potential problem to merit a look at the record title
prior to that start deed. The deeds referenced above make no
reference to the Deed from William G. Hall to God.
REFERENCES:
Ancient Charters 86; 1
Massachusetts Colonial Records
Massachusetts Practice Real Estate
Law, Eno and Hovey
Massachusetts General Laws
Worcester County Registry of Deeds
|
