Washington County (Utah). County Recorder Deeds (Washington), 1875-1949

In March 1867, Congress passed "An Act for the Relief of the Inhabitants of Cities and Towns upon the Public Lands" (Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations, of the United States of America, vol. XIV, chap. CLXXVII), which established county probate judges as intermediaries to distribute land and adjudicate ownership for individuals living in surveyed communities on the public domain. As the Washington County probate court proceeded to follow this direction, the county recorder established a new set of deeds books for Washington City and Harrisburg. The first records in these books are conveyances from the federal government to the probate judge followed by conveyances to individual claimants in these communities (Deed Book H). Thereafter, the documents in this series include a wide variety of deeds and other land related documents. Deed Book H also contains mining deeds and notices of location for the Harrisburg mining district. All books in this series contain court decreesusrelating to estate settlements, preemption and homestead certificates conveying land to individuals from the United States government, and state land certificates conveying land to individuals from the State of Utah. Washington deed books also include a few miscellaneous records such as powers of attorney, affidavits of identity, and bishop's certificates . Deed Record Book R 2 and R 3 contain numerous tax deeds, in which property was sold to recoup delinquent taxes.