Fenton Family Land Records, Wexford County, Michigan Liber 11 page 237

I am posting information gleaned from land records in the areas where our family’s ancestors resided. You can read more about this project in the overview. You may also check my deed record listing, which I will update frequently, but probably not every day. This group pertain to Papa’s Fenton ancestors who resided in Wexford County, Michigan.

John and George Fenton purchased this eighty in 1875, according to this deed, which was not recorded until 1881. The land is illustrated on this drawing from the old 1889 atlas¹. Why the deed showing the purchase of the land was not recorded until 1881 is beyond me. Perhaps it was forgotten.

On the deed recorded in Liber 7 page 25, on 11 July 1877, which was executed on 9 July 1877, John P. Fenton and Susie Fenton sold the east forty of this eighty acres. That land is outlined in red on my map. On the deed recorded in Liber 7 page 26, on 11 July 1877, and executed on 1 July 1877, John P. and Susie sold the west forty of the eighty acres. Both pieces were sold to Samuel Carpenter, who owned only the east forty when the information for the 1889 atlas was gathered. Maybe the fact that the Fenton’s purchase was not recorded was discovered when Carpenter sold the land, perhaps to the 1889 owner, Sarah Abbott.

Somewhere, there should be a quit claim deed in favor of John Fenton from George Fenton for the 80 acres, since John could not legally sell it without such an instrument.

1. E.L. Hayes & Co., Atlas of Wexford County, Michigan / compiled by Eli L. Hayes from government surveys, county and township records, and personal investigations and observations , Eli L. Hayes, (Chicago, Ill.: E.L. Hayes & Co., 1889), page 19; digital images, The University of Michigan. Michigan County Histories and Atlases. http://name.umdl.umich.edu/3928170.0001.001 : accessed 2 November 2009.