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The Deed is Done


So, recall when I said I had found the actual deed. If you look at an earlier picture, I found the entry for the conveyance of a grant from Coauhila y Tejas to Manuel Becerra. Since the deed is a written legal document transferring ownership of property from one person to another person it is a way of the government entity at the county level to legitimize the conveyance. So, it seems like back in the days, the county clerk would transcribe a legal instrument like a grant, a warranty, a court decision, etc. I looked at a lot of the Mexican land grants that were recorded as deeds in their books, the county clerk often took their time writing these long, beautiful pages in Spanish or English detailing by pencil the grant in question. As luck would strike, the county clerk who legitimized the grant by recording it as a deed in the books did a bad job copying what was on Becerra's land title. As you can see below, it was done by pencil, it was done rather cheaply where they would sketch in the seal and in this case this person did a terrible job copying the Spanish words from the legal title of Becerra to the book. They rather just mangled many of the Spanish words just to record it in the books as a deed. Not much bells and whistles in this transfer to legitimize the grant. It was done in a manner that seems haphazard. I did ask the clerk to make photocopies of this deed as recorded in the books and I'll post those later. Anyhow, the point is, is that I'm looking for legitimacy and I found it!

 

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