Fauquier County, Virginia, Deed Book 31-423
This Indenture made and entered this 16th day of May in the year 1831 Between Geo. Green of the one part, Geo. W. Green of the second part and James T. Green of the third part -- the two first of the County of Fauquier and the last of the county of Prince William. Witnesseth, that the said Geo. Green stands justly indebted to the said James T. Green in the sum of eighteen hundred dollars with interest thereon from the first day of January 1825 till paid and the said George Green being desirous of securing the payment thereof together also with such interest thereon as may hereafter accrue, hath and doth by these presents for and in consideration of the premises and of one dollar to him the said Geo. Green in hand paid by the said George W. Green, bargain, sell and convey unto the said Geo. W. Green the following slaves to wit, Jude, Jesse, Bob, Jack, Law, Mary, Edward, Susan & Milly also two mares and their colts, six head of cattle, fifteen head of hogs, eighteen head of sheep, 4 feather beds, 13 chairs, three tables and a desk, a parcel of knives, forks and cooking ware, one McCormick and three shovel ploughs, & three pair of geer: all of which said slaves and this property are now in possession of him the said George Green, to have to told the said property including said slaves to him the said Geo. W. Green and his heirs forever forever -- In trust nevertheless that the said property shall remain and continue in the use and possession of the said George Green until the said James T. Green shall require the sale of the same -- on his doing which it shall be the duty of the said George W. Green to take possession thereof and after a public notice of the time and place of sale for at least two weeks shall proceed to sell the same or so much thereof as may be sufficient to pay first the expences of this deed, the recording thereof and the costs of said sale. Secondly shall pay to the said James T. Green the said debt together with all intst that may be due thereon and finally shall restore the balance if there be any to the said Geo. Green his ex'ors or ad'mrs. In witness whereof the parties afornamed have hereto set their hands and seals the day and date first written
George Green [mark]
Clerk's Office of Fauquier County Court May 16th 1831
This indenture was acknowledged in the office by George Green a party hereto and admitted to record as to him.
Teste.
[?] A. W. Smith, Clerk
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In general, an indenture deed is a contract between two or more parties. It's called an indednture because in the beginning, the contract was written once for each party, then the parts were cut apart with wavy lines that could be matched up to show that they belonged together -- the wavy lines were called indents. A contract binding on only one person, like a will, didn't need parts and so had smooth edges.
An indenture deed with a provision to nullify the sale if the debt were to be paid is a mortgage...but this one doesn't have that. And I don't understand what George W. is doing in the middle, unless he's serving as a sort of escrow agent. Puzzling.
Researched by Carolyn Green. Transcribed by Julia Langel, November 20, 2003