Deed Book X1, p.403 (image of p.403 in three parts: A, B, and C). This Indenture made and entered into this tenth day of January in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and Seventy three between Alfred C. Cross of the County of Anderson and State of Tennessee of the One part and William A. Cross of the County and State aforesaid of the other part. Witnesseth that the said Alfred C. Cross for and in consideration of the sum of One hundred dollars to him in hand paid the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged hath and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell convey and confirm unto the Said William A. Cross his heirs and assigns forever a certain tract or parcel of land containing thirty acres more or less on the Waters of Clinch river Beginning at a Black Oak on the top of the Chestnut ridge thence north fifty six east ninety five poles to a Stake in Jacksons line thence Southeast with Said line to a post Oak Jacksons corner thence North east with Said line to two Hickorys H. C. Peters corner thence with Peters line thirty poles to a Stake thence north eighty east twenty |
Alfred Carter Cross and Zipporah Peters were my third great grandparents. The indenture itself only mentions Alfred, but Zipporah also signed the deed. For many years, Alfred paid taxes on 35 acres of land in District 9 of Anderson County. This particularly parcel he was selling consisted of 30 acres, more or less. It's not clear at this point if this 30 acres was a part of the original 35 acres or if was a different parcel of land. Even if was the original parcel, it's not clear if was 30 of the 35 original acres, or if was the entire parcel and the 30 acre and 35 acre figures were just approximations rather than being exact figures. In any case, the original 35 acres had been owned by Alfred's father William Cross. Before William's death in 1844 all extant tax records reflect that William paid the taxes on the land, and after William's death all extant records reflect that Alfred paid the taxes on the land. But no deed or will or other legal document has been found that conveyed the property to Alfred after William's death. Deeds usually mention the civil district in which the property was located, but this deed does not do so. Nevertheless, there is enough information in the metes and bounds description of the property to determine that the property was in District 9. This is consistent with the idea that the property being sold was either the entirety of or a part of the original 35 acres on which Alfred paid taxes for many years. However, there is not enough information in the metes and bounds description to construct a map of the property without first researching the metes and bounds descriptions of adjacent properties. The land was being sold to Alfred and Zipporah's son William Alexander (Alex) Cross. Alex was the brother of second great grandmother Hulda Asberine (Asberine) Cross. The land was adjacent to the land of Henry Clark (Clark) Peters. Clark was Zipporah's brother. |
Deed Book X1, p.404 (image of p.404 in three parts: A, B, and C). five poles to a Stake at the road thence with the Said Road thirty-two poles to a Stake and White Oak thence South eighty west thirty two poles to a State and Spanish Oak thence north ten West twelve poles to a Stake thence north forty vie west twenty nine poles to a Stake in a line of a twenty acre Survey thence South fifty six west the said line to a dead Spanish Oak thence North thirty four west forty three poles to the Beginning with all and singular the woods, waters, water courses, and profits whatsoever to the Said tract of land belonging and all the estate right title interest property Claim and document of him the Said Alfred C. Cross his heirs and assigns forever unto the said William A. Cross his heirs and assignes forever. In Witness whereof the Said Alfred C. Cross hath hereunto set his hand and fixed his seal the day and year first above written. Signed Sealed acknowledged | and delive5red in presence of | Alfred C. Cross (seal) J. W. Scarbrough | Zipporah Cross (seal) Thomas C. Scarbrough | State of Tennessee | Personally appeared before Anderson County | me R.C. Dew Clerk of | the County Court for the County and State aforesaid Alford C. Cross and Zipporah the Bargainers with whom I am personally acquainted with and acknowledged that they executed the forgoing deed of conveyance for the purposes therein contained and Zipporah Cross wife of Alfred C. Cross aforesaid having been examined by me privately and apart from her husband acknowledged that she executed the Same freely, voluntarily and understandingly without compulsion or constraint from he Said husband. Witness my hand at Office in Clinton this 26 day of Feby 1873 R.C. Dew Clerk |
The witness John W. Scarbrough was the husband of Zipporah's sister Mary A. (Polly) Peters. The witness Thomas Calvin Scarbrough was John's son. |
Deed Book X1, p.405 (image of p.405 in four parts: A, B, C), and D). Received for record Feby 26th A.D. 1873 at 3 Oclock p.m. C. W. Cross Reg. Per Jno. E. Chapman D. Reg. This Indenture made and entered into this tenth day of January One thousand eight hundred and seventy three between Alfred C. Cross of the County of Anderson and State of Tennessee of the one part and John F. Cross of the county and State aforesaid of the other part Witnesseth that the Said Alfred C. Cross for and in Consideration of the Server of One hundred dollars to him in hand paid the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged hath and by these presents doth grant, bargain, sell, convey, and confirm unto the said John F. Cross his heirs and assigns forever a certain tract or parcel of land containing ten acres be the same more or less on the South side of the Chestnut ridge Beginning on a Chestnut thence North Sixty two east fifty seven poles to a Pine and Hickory South twenty eight east twenty eight and one half poles to a post Oak South Sixty two west fifty seven poles to two Hickorys thence north twenty eight west twenty eight and one half poles to the Beginning with all and singular the woods, waters, water courses, profits whatsoever to the Said tract of land belonging of him the Said Alfred C. Cross his heirs and assigns forever unto the said John F. Cross his heirs and assigns forever In Witness whereof the Said Alfred C. Cross hath hereunto set his hand and fixt (sic) his seal the day and year first above written, signed Sealed acknowledged | and delivered in presence of | Alfred C. Cross (seal) | Zipporah Cross (seal) J. W. Scarbrough | Thomas C. Scarbrough | |
The question of 30 acres vs. 35 acres arises again, except that this time it's in the other direction. Namely, Alfred and Zipporah were selling 10 acres to another son, John Fowler Cross. If they were selling 30 acres to their son Alex and 10 acres to their son John, then the total of 40 acres is too much to match the 35 acres that Alfred paid taxes on for many years. It's a mystery yet to be solved. The metes and bounds description for the 10 acres being sold to John does not align precisely with the metes and bounds description for the 30 acres that being sold to Alex. So perhaps the 10 acres plus 30 acres were not a partition of the original 35 acres owned by Alfred. However, the reference to Chestnut Ridge suggests that the two parcels were at least close to each other. Alfred and Zipporah probably still lived with either John or Alex after selling them the property, or at least Alfred and Zipporah probably still lived on on the property. The 1880 census shows Alfred and Zipporah living in their own house and next door to Alexander Cross and also next to the aforementioned Henry Clark (Clark) Peters. John Fowler Cross was living in Fentress County at the time of the 1880 census. So perhaps at the time of the 1880 census Alfred and Zipporah were living on the property that they had sold to John in 1873. Unfortunately, the 1880 census did not show any information about whether families owned or were renting, nor whether they were paying any real estate taxes. Of course, "living next to" in the context of census enumerations must always be taken with a grain of salt. The census enumerator might go down a road visiting adjacent houses and such houses would appear in the census to next to each other. But after reaching the end of the road the next house visited might have been somewhere else entirely. According to the metes and bounds descriptions, the property was a perfect rectangle, 57 poles by 28 poles, for a total of 1596 square poles. Ten acres is equivalent to 1600 square poles, so to the extent that the property was surveyed correctly, ten acre estimate for its size was very accurate. |
Deed Book X1, p.406 (image of p.406 in two parts: A and B). State of Tennessee | Personally appeared before Anderson County | me R.C. Dew Clerk of | the County Court of the County and State aforesaid Alford C. Cross and Zipporah Cross the Bargainers with whom I am personally acquainted and acknowledged that they executed the forgoing deed of conveyance for the purposes therein contained and Zipporah Cross wife of Alfred C. Cross aforesaid having been examined by me privately and apart from her husband ack nowledged that she executed the Same freely, voluntarily, and understandingly without compulsion or constraint from her Said husband. Witness my hand at office in Clinton this the 26th day of Feb 1873. R.C. Dew Clerk Received for record Feb. 26th A.D. 1873 at 3 Oclock p.M. C.W. Cross Reg. per Jno E. Chapman D.Reg. |
This page doesn't really contain any new information of any genealogical value. It's just the usual legal boilerplate where a wife is questioned separately from her husband to be sure that she is agreeable to the transaction in question without any undue pressure or coercion from her husband. |
This page last edited on 14 Jun 2020.