Using Metes and Bounds to Describe Property Boundaries
A common problem was to have a deed that did not describe the actual lengths and bearings (or headings) of the property lines, or state precisely where the land was located, except perhaps to a person standing there in 1850. Plats (maps) were rarely included – of the thirty or so deeds used for these maps, only two contained plats, and one of those did not show where the land was (local knowledge helped me place it). It was common to find a deed with language such as the following:
"Beginning on the river at the mouth of a ditch and near to the place where Platt’s Steam Saw Mill formerly stood; thence with said ditch (a straight line) to its termination near the base of a sand mound; thence southwestwardly to a small mott on the bluff; thence pursuing the same course that a line at right angles will intersect James M. Stanton’s upper line, and with that line to the river; and thence up the river to the beginning, will include the area or quantity of twelve hundred and eighty (1,280) acres."
The deed does say (elsewhere) that the river is the Lavaca, of course, but as to where Platt’s saw mill formerly stood, or where the ditch, the sand mound or mott was, is anybody’s guess. (I finally figured it out, though; or at least I made my guess.) But at least we know that this land is above Stanton’s land and is on the river and is 1,280 acres, so perhaps studying Stanton’s deed and others will give us enough clues to someday be able to draw this area on the Google map. And by using the Google "Area and Distance Calculator" we can ensure that any dimensions or areas stated in the deed are matched by the map we produce. (But even then, we may have problems getting the exact area, since the river may have changed course in the interim.)
This form of property description used by Thomas Haynes is known as “metes and bounds.” Rather than describe it myself, here’s an edited version of part of the Wikipedia description:
"Metes and bounds is a system or method of describing land or real property. The system has been used in England for many centuries, and is still used there in the definition of general boundaries. By custom, it was applied in the original Thirteen Colonies that became the United States, and in many other land jurisdictions based on English common law."
"Typically the system uses physical features of the local geography, along with directions and distances, to define and describe the boundaries of a parcel of land. The boundaries are described in a running prose style, working around the parcel in sequence, from a point of beginning, returning back to the same point. It may include references to other adjoining parcels (and their owners), and it, in turn, could also be referred to in later surveys. At the time the description is compiled, it may have been marked on the ground with permanent monuments placed where there were no suitable natural monuments."
"The term "metes" refers to a boundary defined by the measurement of each straight run, specified by a distance between the terminal points, and an orientation or direction. A direction may be a simple compass bearing, or a precise orientation determined by accurate survey methods. The term "bounds" refers to a more general boundary description, such as along a certain watercourse, a stone wall, an adjoining public road way, or an existing building."
"The system is often used to define larger pieces of property such as farms, where precise definition is not required or would be far too expensive, or previously designated boundaries can be incorporated into the description."
As we can see in the example given above, Thomas was big on the “bounds” part but completely absent on the “metes” (except for the total area expected) and in this particular example, even the bounds are weak, since some of them do not refer to specific points. For example, “the base of a sand mound” could be anywhere within a large area, as could “a small mott.” In this particular case, Thomas or someone he trusted would have had to go to the sand mound and place a stake to mark a specific point, then go to the mott and do the same. Eventually, a surveyor would have to be hired to determine where to place stakes out in the prairie so that the total area would be 1,280 acres, but that could be done only after measuring things along the river to determine the area of that end of the property. Or to put it another way, the gentleman selling the land could easily write down the bounds of the property, but then a surveyor would have to do the difficult work of determining the metes.
Thomas Haynes undoubtedly wrote the deed for each piece of property he dealt with, so he must have been the one who produced all of the vague property descriptions that I will keep complaining about. In his defense, they are vague to us now, although perfectly understandable back then. He wasn’t writing the descriptions for us; he was writing them for himself and his clients. Our problem was to somehow determine the actual metes of all of the properties he (and others) described with their bounds, deed by deed, until we had accounted for every acre of the 24,354 acres within the Ramon Musquiz Grant.
A common problem was to have a deed that did not describe the actual lengths and bearings (or headings) of the property lines, or state precisely where the land was located, except perhaps to a person standing there in 1850. Plats (maps) were rarely included – of the thirty or so deeds used for these maps, only two contained plats, and one of those did not show where the land was (local knowledge helped me place it). It was common to find a deed with language such as the following:
"Beginning on the river at the mouth of a ditch and near to the place where Platt’s Steam Saw Mill formerly stood; thence with said ditch (a straight line) to its termination near the base of a sand mound; thence southwestwardly to a small mott on the bluff; thence pursuing the same course that a line at right angles will intersect James M. Stanton’s upper line, and with that line to the river; and thence up the river to the beginning, will include the area or quantity of twelve hundred and eighty (1,280) acres."
The deed does say (elsewhere) that the river is the Lavaca, of course, but as to where Platt’s saw mill formerly stood, or where the ditch, the sand mound or mott was, is anybody’s guess. (I finally figured it out, though; or at least I made my guess.) But at least we know that this land is above Stanton’s land and is on the river and is 1,280 acres, so perhaps studying Stanton’s deed and others will give us enough clues to someday be able to draw this area on the Google map. And by using the Google "Area and Distance Calculator" we can ensure that any dimensions or areas stated in the deed are matched by the map we produce. (But even then, we may have problems getting the exact area, since the river may have changed course in the interim.)
This form of property description used by Thomas Haynes is known as “metes and bounds.” Rather than describe it myself, here’s an edited version of part of the Wikipedia description:
"Metes and bounds is a system or method of describing land or real property. The system has been used in England for many centuries, and is still used there in the definition of general boundaries. By custom, it was applied in the original Thirteen Colonies that became the United States, and in many other land jurisdictions based on English common law."
"Typically the system uses physical features of the local geography, along with directions and distances, to define and describe the boundaries of a parcel of land. The boundaries are described in a running prose style, working around the parcel in sequence, from a point of beginning, returning back to the same point. It may include references to other adjoining parcels (and their owners), and it, in turn, could also be referred to in later surveys. At the time the description is compiled, it may have been marked on the ground with permanent monuments placed where there were no suitable natural monuments."
"The term "metes" refers to a boundary defined by the measurement of each straight run, specified by a distance between the terminal points, and an orientation or direction. A direction may be a simple compass bearing, or a precise orientation determined by accurate survey methods. The term "bounds" refers to a more general boundary description, such as along a certain watercourse, a stone wall, an adjoining public road way, or an existing building."
"The system is often used to define larger pieces of property such as farms, where precise definition is not required or would be far too expensive, or previously designated boundaries can be incorporated into the description."
As we can see in the example given above, Thomas was big on the “bounds” part but completely absent on the “metes” (except for the total area expected) and in this particular example, even the bounds are weak, since some of them do not refer to specific points. For example, “the base of a sand mound” could be anywhere within a large area, as could “a small mott.” In this particular case, Thomas or someone he trusted would have had to go to the sand mound and place a stake to mark a specific point, then go to the mott and do the same. Eventually, a surveyor would have to be hired to determine where to place stakes out in the prairie so that the total area would be 1,280 acres, but that could be done only after measuring things along the river to determine the area of that end of the property. Or to put it another way, the gentleman selling the land could easily write down the bounds of the property, but then a surveyor would have to do the difficult work of determining the metes.
Thomas Haynes undoubtedly wrote the deed for each piece of property he dealt with, so he must have been the one who produced all of the vague property descriptions that I will keep complaining about. In his defense, they are vague to us now, although perfectly understandable back then. He wasn’t writing the descriptions for us; he was writing them for himself and his clients. Our problem was to somehow determine the actual metes of all of the properties he (and others) described with their bounds, deed by deed, until we had accounted for every acre of the 24,354 acres within the Ramon Musquiz Grant.