Document K.118 · deed · transcription: partial
Sussex County, N.J. Deeds 1806–1807 (DGS 008137039, item 1, images 150–151), book pages 232–235 — the deed of JOHN RICKARD of Greenwich Township, yeoman, and MARY his wife to JOHN COOPER of the Borough of Easton, Northampton Co., Pennsylvania, Esquire, made 17 March 1806: opening, receipt clause, granting clause, covenant of warranty, signature and witness block, and the acknowledgment taken the same day before Judge George Bidleman
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People named
| As written | Role | Identified as | What this document says |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Cooper of the Borough of Easton in the County [of] Northampton and State of Pensylvania Esquire | grantee | John Cooper Sr 1765–1851 candidate | residence: 17 Mar 1806, Borough of Easton, Northampton Co., Pennsylvania |
What this document records
What the document is
A recorded conveyance in fee, Sussex County deed book covering 1806–1807, spanning book pages 232–235 across two photographed openings (item-1 images 150 and 151).
The transaction
John Rickard of Greenwich Township, Sussex Co., N.J., yeoman, and Mary his wife convey to John Cooper of the Borough of Easton, Northampton Co., Pennsylvania, Esquire a tract in Greenwich Township for seven hundred dollars, by indenture dated 17 March 1806. The consideration is receipted on the same page over the grantors' attest.
Who signed and who witnessed
Both grantors signed their names — "John Rickard" and "Mary Rickard", each under seal. Neither signed by mark, which distinguishes this deed sharply from [K.114] / [K.115] / [K.116], the three Sussex deeds where Israel Cooper attests by his mark. Witnesses: Geo. Bidleman and John Phillips.
The witness was the judge
George Bidleman appears twice in the same instrument — as a subscribing witness on page 234, and on page 235 as "one of the Judges of the Court of Common pleas in and for the said County" taking the acknowledgment, the same day. A judge witnessing and then taking the acknowledgment of the instrument he witnessed is ordinary practice for the period, not an irregularity.
The wife was examined separately
The acknowledgment records Mary Rickard "being Seperate and apart from her husband examined" — the standard privy examination protecting a wife's dower, and the reason her name is in the instrument at all.
What this document does not say
No kinship of any kind is recited. The deed names no parent, child, sibling or prior owner by relationship, and carries no devise or partition recital. ⇒ It bears on where a John Cooper was and what he was called in March 1806, and on nothing else.
The catalog already held a john cooper deed
Docs/.../Sussex County Deeds 1805-1807 already holds "Liber N pages 348-349 — John Cooper to Nathaniel Hart DEED BODY" (DGS 008217656) with its own index and acknowledgment plates. That is a DIFFERENT book and a different transaction, and whether its John Cooper is this one is not addressed here — it is an identity question and belongs in a person file.