Washington County (Utah). County Recorder Land certificates, 1856-1891.

On the front page of the first Washington County Deed Book, John D. Lee inscribed, "Book A, Containing the Records of all transfer or conveyance of lands or tenements and all other instruments of writing and documents thereunto pertaining." He was quoting the territorial legislature's ordinance describing the duties of county recorders (Compiled Laws of Utah, 1876. Chapter three, Approved March 2, 1850, p. 130). The 1852 legislature established regulations for the transfer and possession of real estate. They determined that a quit claim or deed must be recorded for every sale or transfer of property, and that no transaction would be valid unless so recorded. They further directed that the recorder should not record land to any person or make any transfer without a certificate that the land had been surveyed (Laws of Utah, 1852. "An Act Regulating Transfers of Possession of Land and Real Estate," p. 66-67). Land certificates verify ownership and certify that the land has been surveyed.They provide a legal description of the land, specify the number of acres contained therein, and were signed by the county surveyor and/or county select men. Washington County Deed Books A and B contain land certificates as well as some transfers of title. Deed Books C, E, and I contain land certificates only.

The first records in Deed Book A are land transfers in Fort Harmony. Individuals transferred title to a block of the New Harmony town survey and in addition a garden lot and melon lot, usually to John D. Lee. In 1857-1858 many individuals in Fort Harmony and Washington City transferred their land to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for and in consideration of their good feelings for the Church. These transfers included not only land, but personal property and livestock. In addition to these records which comprise the first pages of Book A, a few other transfers are mixed with the certificates in Books A and B.

The first land certificates were recorded in DeedBook A in 1862. They are brief statements something like the following: "This certifies that I have this day surveyed to Charles Matthews the following described tract of land situated in Panacca, Washington County. . . commencing at a cedar stake and running north 160 rods thence west 160 rods, thence south 160 rods, thence east 160 rods to the beginning, containing 160 acres, known as lot 1, block 1, plat D of the Panacca Survey. September 1869. Signed George A. Burgon, County Surveyor" (Deed Book I, p. 5). The last land certificate was recorded in November 1891.