Paul, thank you for your response.

Actually what I meant to ask, and perhaps I phrased it wrong, is,
what am I looking at when I look at the images on the microfilm
rolls titled “Partly Proven Deeds”?  Are these the original deeds
with actual signatures, or are they copies that the clerk made?
They are obviously separate pieces of paper that were microfilmed.
Why were they kept separate by the Clerk and not recorded in the
deed books?

But the legitimacy of the instrument does bring to mind some other
questions I had regarding these transactions. In the court minutes
there are two different notations used in the entries regarding
deeds:  O.R., spelled out at places as Ordered Recorded, and O.C.,
also spelled out as Ordered Copied. Is there a distinction between
these two terms?

Also, one transaction was written in the minute book as “A Deed
from Lee & Wife to Wood proved by 2 Witns”. There is no notation
regarding copying or recording the deed. The document I found on
the Partly Proven Deeds microfilm is from Zachariah Lee and wife
Salley to Henry Wood. The deed is witnessed by three persons and
signed by Zachariah (his mark). Salley Lee did not sign the deed.
Is this a legitimate transaction, or did Salley’s failure to sign
releasing her dower negate it?

My third and last question is, if a man inherited property from
his father, was it exempt from his wife’s dower, or would she
still have had to sign the deed upon sale of that property?

Thanks for any enlightenment!

Harriet Lee Welch


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