The Peter and Rachael (Gay) Turck family in Wayne Co. deeds (part 2)

Today’s post continues our series where we use deed records to follow the lives of the Peter and Rachael (Gay) Turck family—including young Mary Turck—from the 1820s through their emigration to Mequon in 1837. This post will make more sense if you read our previous Monday: Map Day! and The Turcks – Catskill to Palmyra, 1828.

Earlier, we discovered that on April 21, 1828, Peter Turck of Catskill, Greene county, New York, bought 76 acres of land in Palmyra Township, Wayne County, New York. He paid $1,475.00 “cash in hand” to the sellers, Ellera and Catherine Potter. The record of this transaction was found on pages 266-267 of the Wayne County, New York, Deed Books, Vol. 12.

Four and a-half years later…

Today’s 1832 deed, in which Peter Turck sells the same land that he purchased in 1828, is recorded in the same deed book, immediately following the (apparently delayed) recording of his 1828 transaction. This new 1832 land sale covers parts of pages 267-268 of Vol. 12 of the Wayne County, New York, Deed Books:

Turck, Peter, indenture to sell land, dated December 29, 1832, Wayne County, New York, Deed Books, Vol. 12, page 267-268, FamilySearch.org, “United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975,” database with images, New York, Wayne, Deeds 1832-1834, vol 12-13, image 141 of 664. Click to open larger image in new window.

What’s it say?

This Indenture, made the twenty ninth day of December in the in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty two between Peter Turck of Palmyra in the county of Wayne + state of New York, and Rachel his wife of the first part, and John S. Stoutenburgh of Manchester in the county of Ontario and state aforesaid of the second part, witnesseth, that the said parties of the first part for and in consideration of the sum of two thousand dollars to them in hand paid by the said party of the second part, the receipt whereof is hereby confessed and acknowledged, have granted, bargained, sold, aliened, remised, released and conveyed; and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell, alien, remise, release and convey unto the said party of the second part, and to his heirs and assigns forever, all that certain tract or parcel of land, situate in the town of Palmyra, aforesaid, bounded as follows, viz: on the north by lands owned by Gardner Hicks, on the west also by lands owned by Gardner Hicks; on the south by lands owned by Seth Parker + Marcus Cole, on the east by lands owned by the heirs of Job Durfee, deceased, and lands now or lately owned by Levi Hicks, containing seventy six acres, as the same was conveyed to Elery Potter by the agent of the Pultney Estate, subject to a certain mortgage executed by the said Peter Turck to the said Elery Potter bearing date the twenty first day of April in the year eighteen hundred and twenty eight to secure the payment of five hundred dollars with interest (all the interest on which up to the first day of November last has been paid) which said mortgage has been assigned by the said Potter to Abraham Spear of Macedon in the county of Wayne, and which the said Stoutenburgh is to pay, and for the payment of which he has agreed, which said agreements forms part of the consideration above mentioned.

I’m going to add a break in the text here. This initial part of the deed (above) contains a lot of information, some of it new, and some of it confusing. We’ll come back to that shortly. Meanwhile, page 266 continues with the usual legal boilerplate:

Together with all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in anywise appertaining, and the reversion and reversions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues, and profits thereof; and all the estate, right, title, interest, claim and demand whatsoever, of the said parties of the first part, either in law or equity, of, in, and to the above bargained premises with the said hereditaments and appurtenances; to have and to hold the said premises above conveyed described to the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, to the sole and only proper use, benefit and behoof of the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns forever. And the said Peter Turck, for himself, his heirs, executors and administrators, does covenant, grant, bargain and agree to and with the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, against

The deed concludes on the top of the facing page 267:

that at the time of the ensealing and delivery of these presents, he is well seized of the premises above conveyed as of a good, sure, perfect, absolute and indefeasible estate of inheritance in the law in fee simple. And that the above bargained premises in the quiet and peaceable possession of the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, against all and every person or persons lawfully claiming or to claim the whole of any part thereof, except under or by virtue of said mortgage he will forever warrant and defend. In witness whereof, the parties of the first part have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Peter Turck {seal}
Rachel Turck {seal}
Signed, sealed and delivered }
in the presence of Theron R. Strong, Th. P Baldwin}
State of New York}
Wayne County} ss: On this 29 December 1832 came before me personally appeared before me the within named Peter Turck and Rachel his wife to me known as the same persons described in and who executed the within indenture and severally acknowledged that they had executed the same and the said Rachel on a private examination apart from her husband, acknowledged that she had executed the same freely, without fear, threat or compulsion from her said husband.
Th. P. Baldwin, Judge Wayne
County Courts

A true copy, recorded January 1st, 1833 at 12 O’Clock M. /s/ Cullen Foster Dep Clerk

What’s going on?

I’m not completely sure about some particulars of this transaction. But here are the main points:

• On December 29, 1832, Peter Turck “and his wife, Rachel,” sold the 76 acres of land in Palmyra Township, Wayne County, New York that Peter had purchased on April 21, 1828
• The 1832 buyer was one John S. Stoutenburgh, from neighboring Ontario county, New York
• On April 21, 1828, Turck paid $1,475—cash in hand—to the sellers, Ellera/Elery Potter and his wife Catherine Potter
• On December 29, 1832, Turck received $2,000—cash—from purchaser Stoutenburgh, apparently realizing a profit $525 on his 1828 land investment

But that’s not all…

There’s more to this transaction than the Turcks’ apparent profit of $525 (and this is the part that’s not completely clear to me). Apparently, back on April 21, 1828, when Peter Turck paid $1,475 cash to the Potters for their 76 acres he also obtained a $500 mortgage from Mr. Potter, namely:

[…] a certain mortgage executed by the said Peter Turck to the said Elery Potter bearing date the twenty first day of April in the year eighteen hundred and twenty eight to secure the payment of five hundred dollars with interest (all the interest on which up to the first day of November last has been paid) […]

In 1828, why did Peter Turck pay cash for his 76 acres and also take out a mortgage for $500, plus interest? I don’t know, but I wonder, did Peter need a little extra cash to get his new farm going? Was this $500 mortgage the 1828 equivalent of someone in 2021 taking out a homeowner’s equity loan to improve the cash flow of a farm/business startup? That’s the most logical interpretation I can think of.

Whatever the reason for Turck’s $500 mortgage, it appears he had no trouble making the regular interest payments. And when it came time to sell the 76 acres in 1832, he got purchaser Stoutenburgh to not only pay $2,000 for the 76 acres of land, but Turck got Potter to assign the mortgage to one Abraham Spear of neighboring Macedon Township, with the understanding that part of purchaser Stoutenburgh’s $2000 would also pay off the mortgage:

[…] which said mortgage has been assigned by the said Potter to Abraham Spear of Macedon in the county of Wayne, and which the said Stoutenburgh is to pay, and for the payment of which he has agreed, which said agreements forms part of the consideration above mentioned.

Any realtors or lawyers reading this?

This is where I could use some expert analysis and explanation. Realtors or lawyers, how do you interpret this deed? Do I understand it correctly, that on April 21, 1828, Peter Turck bought land for $1,475 cash, and also arranged a mortgage of $500 principal with the original seller, Mr. Potter?

And then, when it came time for Turck to sell his land, the payoff of the $500 principal that Turck owed to Potter for the mortgage was included in the total $2,000 paid by purchaser Stoutenburgh to Turck? But if the loan was paid off as part of the 1832 deal, why was it assigned to Abraham Spear of Macedon? Did Spear agree to, as we say now, “open a $500 line of credit” for Stoutenburgh? I’m confused.

In any case, it looks like the Turcks came out at least a little bit ahead on the deal. In 1828 Peter Turck paid $1,475 cash for his new 76 acres in Palmyra, and borrowed an additional $500 from Potter, a total expenditure-plus-debt of $1,975. Four-and-a-half years later, Turck received $2,000 from Stoutenburgh, which appears to have covered the original purchase price of the 76 acres, plus the $500 loan principal, and a small profit of $25. Readers, do you agree? Or am I missing something?

Turck neighbors in December, 1832

As we discussed previously, legal land descriptions in the original U. S. states, such as New York, used the older method of citing neighboring parcels and their owners as points of reference. At the end of 1832, Peter Turck’s Palmyra Township parcel was bounded by almost all the same neighbors as in 1828. The 1832 neighbors were described as:

• North side, land of Gardner Hicks [unchanged from 1828]
• West side, more land of Gardner Hicks [unchanged]
• South side, lands of Seth Parker and Marcus Cole [Parker replaces Isaac Durfee]
• East side, lands of the heirs of Job Durfee, deceased, “and the lands now or lately owned by” Levi Hicks

In a future post, I’ll share some Wayne County maps from the 1850s that mark land owner’s names and locations as they existed some 15 to 20 years after the Turcks left for Wisconsin. We’ll see if we can use those maps to locate this 1828-1832 Turck property more precisely.

Looking ahead

I know, from other sources, that Peter Turck moved to neighboring Macedon Township sometime around 1832. We’ll look for more information about that and other Peter and Rachael (Gay) Turck land purchases and sales in Wayne County between 1832 and 1836 or 1837. We’ll find and decipher those deeds and see what light those transactions can bring to the Turck family’s life near the Erie Canal, before their move to Mequon.

And at some point, we need to go back to Greene and Columbia counties and see where Peter Turck got the capital he used to buy land in Wayne county. I’ve been looking at the grantor and grantee indexes in the Greene and Columbia deed books, and it looks like our man Turck already had some experience buying and selling real estate before he got to Wayne county in 1828.

Of course, there’ll also be a few surprises. And a map or two, naturally.

Be well, Stay safe.