Trust Deed - W.A. Purvis to James L. Edwards

Trust Deed - W.A. Purvis to James L. Edwards

                                                                                    

 

This indenture made this the 21 December 1871 between W. A. Purvis of the first part and Jas. L. Edwards of the second part both of the county and State of North Carolina witnesseth whereas the said W. A. Purvis is justly indebted to the said Jas. L. Edwards the sum of two hundred and forty-seven 80/100 dollars and whereas the said W. A. Purvis is desirous to secure the payment of the said debt now therefore this indenture witnesseth that for and in consideration of the promises together with the further consideration of the sum of one dollar in hand paid to the said W. A. Purvis by the said Jas. L. Edwards the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged he the said W. A. Purvis hath granted, bargained & sold and by these presents do bargain grant & sell unto the said Jas. L. Edwards a certain tract of land lying and being in the county of Anson and the State of North Carolina on the waters of Westfield Creek and bounded as follows:

beginning at a stake in the state line 4th corner of R. Gaddy's tract & runs No. 15 Wst 38.35 Chs to a stake in McGugans line 3rd corner of the Gaddy tract then No. 88 Wst 11.40 Chs to a stake one pine pointer then So. 37.50 Chs to a stake in the state line then with the state line East 21 Chs to the beginning containing sixty (60) acres being the same land conveyed by Isham Wallace to Jas. L. Edwards to have & to hold the said land & promises and all & singular the ... hereditament's, woods ways waters, rents, improvements, profits and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining thereto to him the said Jas. L. Edwards, his heirs, executors, administrators in fee simple forever free & discharged from any & all encumbrance's whatever in special trust & confidence that the said Jas. L. Edwards shall & will hold, keep, use & apply the same in the use intended following and no other that is to say if the aforesaid debts and every part thereof together with the lawful interest that may have accrued & if the same shall not be (fully) paid off and satisfied by the said W. A. Purvis on or before the first day of January 1873 then and in that case it shall be lawful and shall be at the pleasure of Jas. L. Edwards having first advertised the same at the Court House in the town of Wadesboro and three other public places in the county of Anson the space of twenty days to proceed to sell the said land & premises at public auction to the highest bidder for cash money or such credit the said Edwards may think proper and convey the same by proper & sufficient assurances to the purchaser and all the proceeds and money arising from said sale to retain all necessary expenses of this trust and then payoff and discharge to himself the said debts and interest specified in the foregoing part of this trust that he shall pay all as such part as shall remain unpaid at the time of the sale & the over plus if any he shall pay or return to said W. A. Purvis or his representative in testimony, whereof the said W. A. Purvis doth set his hand & seal the day & date above written.

                                                                                             his

                                                                                       W.A. X Purvis {Seal}

                                                                                            mark

Signed, Sealed & Delivered in the presence of

S. J. Edwards 

Anson County. In the Probate Court Dee 30th 1871. Then the due execution of the foregoing Deed of Trust was proved by the oath of S. J. Edwards, the subscribing witness thereto let the deed with this certificate be registered.

J. M. Covington

Probate Judge 

Anson County. Jany 3rd 1872. This day the following Deed of Trust was duly registered in Trust Book No. 2, Page 360.

John Stacy

Register of Deeds

 Trust Deeds are in essence a promissory note or mortgage. In this case my great great grandfather William A. Purvis is borrowing $247.80 from James L. Edwards repayable on the 1st January 1873.

Instruments of this type were used in this area by farmers to purchase necessary supplies, seed & fertilizer, in order to plant their crops for the year and when the crops are sold the loan is repaid.

Then the cycle starts  all over again. 

This is the earliest trust deed that I have; a few years later the lender tacked on a 7% to 8% interest rate that was repayable along with the original loan. This seems to be excessive for this time period, 1860 and 1870's. I personally think it was an early form of usury.

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[1] Anson County, North Carolina, Trust Deed Book 2, Pages 363-365, W. A. Purvis to James L. Edwards; 21 December 1871, Register of Deeds, Wadesboro, Anson County, North Carolina. LDS Family History Library Film #1689098, Salt Lake City, Utah.