Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 15.pdf/491

 Rh

446 A

CURIOUS OLD DEED. BY THOMAS W. LLOYD.

THE curious old deed from which the fol lowing extracts are taken is recorded in the Registry of Deeds at Sunbury, Northum berland county, Pennsylvania, and is dated October 9- 1793. Whereas, the Creator of the Earth, by pa role and livery of seizin, did enfeoff the par ents of mankind, to-wit, Adam and Eve, of all that certain tract of land, called and known in the planetory system, by the name of the Earth, together with, all and singular, the advantages, woods, waters, water courses, easements, liberties, privileges, and all others the appurtenances whatsoever there unto belonging, or in anywise appertaining. To have and to hoild to them the said Adam and Eve, and the heirs of their bodies law fully to be, begotten, in fee tail general, for ever, as by the said feoffment, recorded by Moses, in the first chapter of his first book of records, commonly called Genesis, more fully and at large appears. And whereas: the said Adam and Eve died seized of the premises aforesaid, in fee tail general, leaving issue, heirs of their bodies, to-wit, sons and daughters, who entered into the same premises and because thereof seized as tenants in common, by virtue of the dona tion aforesaid, and multiplied their seed upon the Earth. And whereas: in process of time, the heirs of the said Adam and Eve, having become very numerous, and finding it inconvenient to remain in common as aforesaid, bethought themselves to make partition of the lands and tenements aforesaid, to and amongst themselves; and they did accordingly make such partition, and whereas: by virtue of the said partition, made by the heirs of said

Adam and Eve, all that certain tract of land called and known, on the general plan of the said Earth, by the name of America, parcel of the said larger tract, was alloted, and set over, into certain of the heirs aforesaid, to them and to their heirs general, in fee simple, who entered into the same and became there of seized, as aforesaid, in their demesne as of fee, and peopled the same alloted lands in 'severally, and made partition thereof, to and amongst their descendants. And u'ltfrcas: afterwards (now deemed in time immemorial) a certain united people, called The Six Nations of North America, heirs and descendants of the said grantees of America, became seized and, for a long time, whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, had been seized, in their de mesne as of fee, of and in a certain tract of country and land, in the North division of America, called and known, at present, on the general plan of said North division of America, by the name of Pennsylvania, and whereof the said United Nations, being so thereof seized, afterwards, to-wit, in the year of Our Lord seventeen hundred and sixtyeight, by their certain deed of feoffment. with livery of seizin, did grant, bargain, sell, release, enfeoff, alien, and confirm, unto Thomas Penn and Richard Penn otherwise called the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania (among other things), the country called Buffaloe vallev, situate on the south side of the West Branch of the Susquehanna river, par cel of said country, called Pennsylvania, to hold to them, the said Proprietaries, their .heirs and assigns forever as by the same fe offment more fully appears.