Friday Find

Have you used FamilySearch’s Full Text Search?
If not, you need to try it out! I’ve just started exploring this new tool and already uncovered a wealth of records I might never have found otherwise. It’s powerful, fast, and surprisingly intuitive. However, like any tool, it has its limitations—and today’s Friday Find highlights exactly that.

The assumption is tempting: if the search can find a deed for your ancestor, surely it can find all the deeds for that name or location, right? Not quite. There are a few reasons why that assumption might lead to frustration:

• The record set may not have been filmed and therefore isn’t in the FamilySearch collection at all.
• The record might be restricted—meaning it’s not viewable or searchable from home.
• The record exists but wasn’t indexed well enough to be located through the full text search.

Here’s my example: I have a photocopy of an 1866 Henry County, Illinois deed where Rufus Mentzer and his wife Eliza sold lots in Kewanee to George Scott. Since the new experimental search includes transcriptions, I hoped to use it to generate a clean, copyable transcript. But no matter how I searched, I couldn’t find the record.

My photocopy didn’t have a full citation or film number, but it did include the book and page number. That led me to Henry County Deed Book 38, found on FamilySearch film #008204541.

With the film number in hand, I returned to the full text search. Still, no luck. Searches for “Eliza,” “Mentzer,” and even phrases like “undivided one-half” came up empty. The deed simply wasn’t findable through the tool.

In the end, while I couldn’t use the Full Text Search to transcribe the document, I walked away with an important reminder:
As exciting and helpful as this new feature is, it’s not a complete substitute for old-fashioned research. It’s a great starting point—but not the final word.

Even though the deed didn’t appear in the Full Text Search results, I was still able to locate it the traditional way—by browsing the digitized film using the book and page number listed on my photocopy. Since this deed is a valuable piece of my Mentzer family research, I’m including a full transcription below for reference. It not only documents a land sale but also offers a glimpse into the legal language and property processes of the time.

This Indenture, WITNESSETH THAT Rufus Mentzer and Eliza A. Mentzer his wife of Kewanee, Henry County, Illinois,
Grantor(s) herein, in consideration of the indebtedness hereinafter mentioned, and One ($1) Dollar to them in hand, paid by George H. Scott,
and Grantee, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, do hereby Grant, Bargain, Sell, Remise, Release and Convey unto the said Grantee the following described Lot, Piece or Parcel of Land, situate in the Kewanee County of Henry, and State of Illinois, to wit:

The undivided one-half of Lots Three (3), Four (4), Five (5), Six (6), and Nine (9) in Block Four (4) in Blishes addition to the town of Kewanee.

(50¢ U.S. Stamp affixed)

To have and to hold the same, with all the privileges thereunto belonging or in anywise appertaining, and all the estate, right, title, interest, claim or demand, in and to the same, either now or which may be hereafter acquired unto the said Grantee, his heirs and assigns,
In trust, nevertheless, for the following purpose: Whereas, the said Rufus Mentzer,
Grantor herein, is justly indebted upon a Promissory Note, bearing even date herewith, payable to the order of George H. Scott, in nine months after with ten per cent interest per annum (for the sum of three hundred dollars),
Now, in case of default in the payment of said note, or any part thereof, or the interest accruing thereon, according to the tenor and effect thereof, or in the payment of any taxes or assessments, ordinary or special, which may be levied or assessed against said premises, during the continuance hereof, then and in that case the whole of said Note, both principal and interest, shall thereupon become immediately due and payable at the option of the holder of said Note, and on the application of the legal holder of the said Promissory Note, the said Grantee, George H. Scott, (full power hereby given) or his legal representatives, after having advertised such sale twenty days in a newspaper published in Kewanee,
or by posting up written or printed notices in four (4) public places in the county where said premises are situated, (personal notice being hereby expressly waived), shall sell the said premises or any part thereof, and all the right and equity of redemption of the said Grantor, his heirs, executors, administrators or assigns therein, at public vendue, to the highest bidder for cash, at public sale before front door of Post Office in said town of Kewanee at the time appointed in said advertisement, or may adjourn the sale from time to time at discretion, and the said Attorney of the said Grantor, for such purpose hereby, constituted irrevocable, or in the name of the said Grantee or his legal representatives, shall execute and deliver to the purchaser or purchasers thereof, a Deed or Deeds for the conveyance in fee of the premises sold, and shall apply the proceeds of sale (1st), to the payment of all advances made by the party of the second part for taxes and assessments; and expenses for advertising, selling, and conveying, as aforesaid, including Attorney’s Fees; and (2d), the amount due on said note; (3d), rendering the overplus, if any there be, to the said Grantor or his legal representatives, at the office of said Grantee in Kewanee, and it shall be the duty of the purchaser to see to the application of the purchase money.

And the said Rufus Mentzer and Eliza A. Mentzer,
party ofthe first part, hereby expressly waive, release and relinquish unto said part of the second part, their heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, all right, title, claim, interest and benefit whatever, in and to the above described premises and each and every part thereof, which is given by or results from all laws of this State pertaining to the exemption of homesteads: PROVIDED, That the said Grantor and their heirs and assigns may hold and enjoy said premises, and the rents, issues and profits thereof, until default shall be made as aforesaid, and when the said note and all expenses accruing thereby shall be fully paid, the said Grantee George H Scott or his legal representatives, shall RECONVEY all the estate acquired hereby to the said premises, or any part thereof, then remaining unsold, to (and at the cost of the said Grantor or his heirs or assigns.)

And the said Rufus Mentzer and Eliza A. Mentzer,
Grantor covenants with the said Grantee and his legal representatives and assigns, that he seized in fee of the said premises, and
has good right to convey the same as in form aforesaid, that they are free from all liens or encumbrance of whatever name or nature, that they will, and his heirs, assigns, and legal representatives, shall FOREVER WARRANT AND DEFEND the same against all claims whatsoever, and will pay all taxes or assessments levied or assessed on the said premises, or any part thereof, during the continuance hereof, and pay the same ten days before the day of sale therefor.

WITNESS THE HAND AND SEAL of the said Grantor this fourteenth day of August in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-six.

IN PRESENCE OF

(Signed)
R Mentzer
Eliza Mentzer

---

STATE OF ILLINOIS,
Henry County } SS.

On the fourteenth day of August, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-Six before me C. C. Wilson, a Notary Public of Kewanee in the County of Henry and State of Illinois,
appeared Rufus Mentzer and Eliza A Menzer personally known to me to be the real persons whose names are subscribed to the foregoing Deed of Trust, as having executed the same, and acknowledged the execution thereof as their free act and deed, for the uses and purposes herein mentioned, and expressly waived and released all right, claim, benefit, privilege, advantage and exemption under any and all laws providing for the homestead exemption.

And the said Eliza A. Mentzer, wife of said Rufus Mentzer, (who is personally known to me to be the same person who subscribed the said instrument of writing) having had the contents of said instrument explained to her by me and being examined separate and apart from her said husband, did acknowledge said instrument to be her free act and deed; that she had executed the same, and relinquished her right of dower in the lands and tenements therein mentioned, and also all her rights and advantages under and by firtue of all laws of this State relating to the exemption of homesteads, voluntarily and freely, and without the cumpulsion of her said husband, and that she does not wish to retract.

Given under my hand and official seal

(Signed) C C Wilson, Notary Public