The Browne School: Property Transfers and Transactions

 Property Transfers and Transactions Involving the Browne School 

Milan Township, DeKalb County, Illinois

1847/1848 - United States Government & Silas J Wright

1853 - United States Government & Richard Pierce

1855 - Edwin Pearse & Richard Pearce

1857 - Elisha A Wright & Edwin Pierce

1869 - Richard Pearce & The School Trustees of the town of Milan, County of DeKalb and State of Illinois

1953 - The Trustees of Schools of Milan Township & Joyce (Aska) Faivre and Joseph Faivre Jr 

1954 - Joyce (Aska) Faivre and Joseph Faivre Jr & Helen Jeanette (Cook) Aska and Ronald Aska

1962 - The Prudential Insurance Company of America & Helen Jeanette (Cook) Aska and Ronald Aska

1965 - The Prudential Insurance Company of America & Helen Jeanette (Cook) Aska and Ronald Aska

1965 - Helen Jeanette (Cook) Aska and Ronald Aska & Donna and Kenneth Finnestad

1965 - Margaret (Olson) Cummins and Leonard Cummins & Donna and Kenneth Finnestad

1972 - Margaret (Olson) Cummins and Leonard Cummins & Donna and Kenneth Finnestad

1999 - Donna and Kenneth Finnestad & Arthur L Alberts

November 4, 1872 - Indenture

On November 4, 1872, Richard Pearse sold the land around the Browne school to John Munson.

The property sold for $2200.00 and the Browne school was mentioned in the indenture document as School District no 1:

“South half of the SouthWest Quarter of Section one (1) in Township Thirty nine  (39) North Range three (3) East of the third (3rd) Principal Meridian continuing Eighty (80) acres more or less; reserving to School District no 1, the right to use one half acre on the SouthWest corner for school purposes as long as they shall so desire to and actually so use it.”

1871 - Milan township, DeKalb county, Illinois plat map

The plat maps for the county of DeKalb, Illinois were updated in 1871.    

The lower portion of the Table of Contents lists the symbols which helps differentiate between churches and schools. 

The list of county officers and supervisors lists Milan township's first supervisor, Lewis McEwen who began his position in 1857.

The county map shows all 18 townships in existence as of 1871.

The Milan township plat map lists the rural schools numbered from 1 - 9.   The Browne school, Milan Township District #1 is located in Section 1 in the upper right hand corner of the map.

As you can see, Richard Pearse (R Pierce) owned the property surrounding the Browne school, which he had sold, then repurchased.   The portion owned by Benjamin Gould (B.S. Gould) had been sold by the Lock family to Lyman Truman on February 3, 1870, the same day as Richard Pearse had repurchased the area surrounding the Browne school.    

On March 1, 1870, Lyman Truman signed a contract with Benjamin Gould which is why (B.S. Gould) shows as the landowner north of Richard Pearse.

I do not know the reason the Milan Township District #1 received the name Browne School but it may have been for two reasons:

1) Richard Pearse and William Browne were the only original* owners of the properties around the Browne School in 1871.    William purchased his property September 26, 1853; the property in section 11 owned by Nathaniel Browne was transferred to him from his brother sometime between 1853 and 1871.

2) William Browne had school age children living near the school at the time, John, Grace and Elizabeth.

Richard Pearse, wife Mary and their son Charles moved to Malta after having sold the portion of the land that contained a residence.   Charles would have attended a school in Milan township.   The other landowners surrounding the Browne school, Russell Huntley, Simon Duryee and James A. Hodge were not living on their respective properties in 1871 and would not have had children attending the Browne school.

1871 was also the year of the Great Chicago Fire.

February 3, 1870 - Indenture

A year following the sale of the property surrounding the location of the Browne school, the Lock family sold the property in two parcels.     The south 60 82/100 acres of the northwest 1/4 and the north 82 68/100 acres of the southwest 1/4 of section 1 in township 39 north of range 3 east of the 3rd PM, total 143 1/2 acres was sold to Lyman Truman on February 3, 1870.

On the same day, a second transaction took place with a different buyer for the southern portion of the property.    The school was once again referenced in the document.  

 The property was identified as, "The South Eighty (80) acres of the South West Quarter of Section one (1) in Township thirty-nine (39) North Range three (3) East of the Third Principal Meridian (excepting about one half acre in the South West corner of said land used for school purposes)" was sold back in the amount of $2,500 to Richard Pearse.

November 6, 1869 - Indenture

Eleven months following the purchase of land adjoining the property on which the Browne school was located, an indenture was filed on November 6, 1869.

November 6, 1869 Indenture

Edwin Pierce* paid $500 to his father, Richard Pearse resolving a mortgage dated March 16, 1858.    I do not have a copy of that mortgage but according to this indenture document, it is located in Book 13 of mortgages, page 338.   If anyone obtains a copy of the original mortgage, please let me know in the comment section.    

What makes this document unusual is that the outstanding debt was not resolved and filed prior to Richard Pearse selling the property to James Lock in February of 1869.     By today's standards, Mr. Lock would not have had clear title to the property at the time of purchase.

A secondary issue that remains unanswered is why would Edwin take out a mortgage on a property 3 years after he had already transferred the property to his father?    Documents are missing between these transactions which would explain the sequence of events.   Again, if anyone can track down the transactions involving the 'South West Quarter (SW 1/4) of Section One (1) Township Thirty Nine (39) North of Range Three (3) East of the 3rd Principal Meridian" that I have not posted (between the years 1853 and 1869), please contact me by posting a comment.

*The Pearse family changed the spelling of their name to Pierce.

February 2, 1869 - Indenture

On February 2, 1869, the location (but not the building or the name) of the Browne school was mentioned in an indenture document. Richard and Mary Pearse sold 223 6/10 acres to James Lock for $7,826.00 which excluded the school grounds with the following language:  "(excepting one half acre in southwest corner of the southwest quarter of the Section Township and range above mentioned)".

February 2, 1869 Indenture

This is the first document I have located since the purchase of the lot by the School Trustees of the town of Milan that specifically mentions the property allocated for the Browne school though it does not name the school.    Unfortunately this document does not indicate whether the school structure existed at the time of this transaction.

Property transferred to James Lock

The two portions of land purchased by James Lock are shown above using the 1868 plat map.

May 24, 1865 - Indenture

On May 24, 1865, Richard Pearse sold the southwest 1/4 acre of Section 1, Township 39 North, Range 3 East of the Third Principal Meridian for $1.00 to The School Trustees of the town of Milan, County of DeKalb and State of Illinois.

Commencing at the corner stone of the SW corner of Section one (1) and running east twelve (12) rods thence north ten (10) rods thence west twelve (12) rods thence south ten (10) rods to the place of beginning in the town of Milan in the county of DeKalb and State of Illinois.

Here is the county Grantee index:

Grantee Index

The entry for the index is the 3rd from the bottom of the page.

Below is the warranty deed signed by Richard Pearse and wife,  Mary:     

Indenture

This indenture states "these premises shall be used for school site".     It also states "The said school trustees are to enclose the above described premises with a good three (3) board fence and keep the same in repair".

This warranty deed was filed on June 3, 1865.   

For historical context, the month prior to this transaction, the country witnessed the end of the Civil War and the assassination of President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.    Milan township provided thirty-eight soldiers to the Union army.

December 20, 1853 - Land Warrant

The second transaction involving the land where the Browne school would eventually be built occurred on December 20, 1853 and obtained by Richard Pearse.

Illinois Public Land Purchase Record

This warrant may have been the first document since the initial land bounty granted to Silas J Wright in 1847.     I have ordered the supporting documents and will post upon receipt.

December 15, 1855 - Warranty Deed

The first document I have encountered transferring the portion of the property where the Browne school would eventually be built was dated December 15, 1855.   This warranty deed transferred the property from Edwin Pearse to his father, Richard Pearse.

The property was purchased by Richard for $355.77 transferring 3 plots of Section 1 of Township 39, Range 3 east:

- 163 28/100 acres of the southwest 1/4
- 80 50/100 acres of the east 1/2 of the northwest 1/4 
- 40 83/100 acres of the west 1/2 of the northeast 1/4

The southwest corner of the first plot listed above would be carved out for the Browne school.   The legal description of that portion of land would be defined as:

The West 12 rods of the South 10 rods of the Southwest Quarter of Section 1, Township 39 North, Range 3, East of the Third Principal Meridian in DeKalb County, Illinois, also described as follows:  Commencing at the corner stone of the Southwest corner of Section 1, Township 39 North, Range 3 East of the Third Principal Meridian, and running thence East 12 rods; thence North 10 rods; thence West 12 rods; thence South 10 rods; to the place of beginning, situated in the County of DeKalb and State of Illinois.