C. B. and William F. Sharp Property Sale to Delila Sharp, Livingston Co., Ky., 1888

On 22 November 1888, C. B. Sharp and his wife, William [Willie] F. Sharp, sold a 200-acre farm in Livingston County, Kentucky, to Delila Sharp, also of Livingston County, Kentucky, for $300.¹ A transcription of the deed follows the image.

[MS page 151]

Warranty Deed

C. B. Sharp	For the consideration of Three Hundred Dollars cash in
To / Deed	hand the receipt Whereof is hereby acknowledged, We C. B.
Delila Sharp	Sharp and William F. Sharp his wife of Livingston County
Tax & fees to be	Kentucky have sold and by these presents convey unto Delila
Pd. To A. Lowery	Sharp of same county & state, the following described tract
	or parcel of land, lying in Livingston County Kentucky.
Examined

[MS page 152]

	All Our right, title interest and claim which we now have or
	may hereafter have by inheritance or otherwise in and to the following
	described real estate, on the waters of Magilligan [McGilligan] Creek and
	bounded thus _ Beginning on a white oak and sassafras corner
	to Orvil Newman, thence S 78 E 72 poles to a white oak on the
	top of the bluff thence, N 30 E 31 poles to a black oak thence
	N 20 E 60 poles to a stone thence N 25 E 34 poles to an elm on the
	top of said bluff thence N 15 W 12 poles to a Stone, thence N 15½ E 85
	poles to a sweet gum in a branch corner to Stallions & Pace, thence
	down the branch with its meanders when reduced to a straight
	line N 71 W 36 poles to a sweet gum and over-cup oak thence down
	the branch again with its meanders N 55 W 68 poles N 79 W 14 poles
	to a hickory in Kidds line and with said line S 15 W 96 poles to a
	stone corner to Kidds thence S 79½ W passing a corner on two White
	oaks & hickory at 93 poles in all 151 poles to a hickory red oak and
	Elm on a branch thence up the branch with its meanders when
	reduced to a Straight line S 11 W 60 poles to a stone thence N 82 E 58 poles
	to a dogwood sapling thence S 22 W 58 poles to the beginning, containing
	Two hundred and Sixty acres more or less. This deed excepts Sixty acres
	of the S.W. corner off said tract deeded to W. P. Washer and wife.
	To have and To hold, said land and all the improvements
	thereon, to the Said party of the Second part her heirs and
	assigns forever, with covenant of General Warranty. In
	testimony Whereof I together with my Wm. F. Sharp who
	relinquishes all her right of dower & homestead in said land
	hereunto, sign our names, this the 22nd day of Novr 1888,
	C.B. Sharp (seal)
	Willie F. Sharp (seal)
	State of Kentucky}
	Livingston County }     I   J. M. Worten Clerk of the County Court
	for said county, Certify that the foregoing deed to Delila
	Sharp, was on the 22nd day of November 1888, acknowledged
	before me by C.B. Sharp & Willie F. Sharp his wife to be their
	act and deed, for the purposes therein contained. Given under
	my hand, this 22nd day of November 1888.
	J. M. Worten Clerk,
	By Allen Lowery DC
	State of Kentucky} Sct.
	Livingston County }     I   J. M. Worten, Clerk of the County
	Court for the County & State aforesaid do hereby Certify
	that the foregoing deed to Delila Sharp, was this day
	Lodged to be and is with this and the foregoing Certificate
	[Copy truncated here]

Commentary:

This transaction is between a son (C. B. Sharp) and his mother (Delila Sharp).² It is the second of a pair of transactions recorded on the same dates (22-23 November 1888). The first transaction (in a separate blog post) transfers property from Delila Sharp and to C. B. Sharp (also for $300). The net effect of the two transactions is a property swap.

This deed reveals that C. B. Sharp is married. The phrase "We C. B. Sharp and William F. Sharp his wife" says this and also the statement "Wm. F. Sharp who relinquishes all her right of dower & homestead in said land" reinforces it. In common law states, when a married man sold land, the deed would have a clause where his wife would relinquish her dower³ interest in the property. This would protect the new owner from having a widow attempt to claim her dower right in the property, in case the seller (her husband) died.

The metes and bounds property description in this deed, "Beginning on a white oak and sassafras corner ..." is the same as the property description of the farm in William C. Sharp's 1869 deed.⁴ No other Livingston County deeds have been found between 1869 and 1888, with C. B. Sharp as grantee. This suggests that C. B. Sharp acquired this property when his father's estate was settled. Probate records may exist which support this.

At the time this deed was signed, the original 260-acre farm had been split into two parts: the 200-acre parcel which is being transferred by this deed and a 60-acre parcel which was owned by W. P. and Ida B. Washer. This division reflects the wishes of William C. Sharp in his 1884 will: "5th I desire that my daughter Ida B. (now Ida B. Washer wife of W.P. Washer) have and receive for her portion of my estate, Three land notes held by me against her husband for about One hundred Dollars each amounting in the aggregate to about three hundred dollars."⁵

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1. Livingston County, Kentucky, Deed Book 16: 151-152, C. B. and William F. Sharp to Delila Sharp, 22 November 1888; recorded, 23 November 1888; Livingston County Clerk, Smithland. ^↩
2. Livingston County, Kentucky, Will Book C:92-93, William C. Sharp will, 2 June 1884; recorded 7 April 1885; County Clerk, Smithland. [See blog post: William C. Sharp's will, 1884, Livingston Co., KY, for a discussion of Charles's relation to Delilah.] ^↩
3. Henry Campbell Black, A Dictionary of Law (St. Paul, Minn. : West Publishing Co., 1910), 395, “dower.” ^↩
4. Livingston County, Kentucky, Deed Book 7:354-355, Web Owen to William C. Sharp, 22 May 1869; recorded, 6 July 1869; Livingston County Clerk, Smithland. [See blog post: Sharp Family Land Purchase, Livingston Co., KY, 1869] ^↩
5. Livingston Co., Ky., Will Book C:92-93, William C. Sharp. ^↩