Executor of D. Doty deceased vs. Stephen Doty et al. is a case heard by the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County, Ohio, in the July Term 1834. It is a valuable source of genealogical information for the descendants of Daniel Doty (c1755-1832) and Samuel Doty (1765-1829).
Parties to the case[]
The case was brought by the executor for Daniel Doty (c1755-1832). The defendants were the heirs of Daniel Doty and the heirs of his brother Samuel Doty (1765-1829). The proceedings of the case contain two lists of all the defendants, including the husbands' names of married daughters and the names of the children of deceased children. The second list gives some details not contained in the first. The first list is as follows:
- Margaret Doty, widow relict of the said Daniel Doty deceased and Serring Doty, John Doty, Sarah Bolman, Nancy Gimble, Margaret McClatchey, and Eunice Collins, children and heirs at law of the said Daniel Doty, deceased, and Aaron Austin and Hannah his wife, Jesse Doty, Jacob Doty, Moses Davison and Elizabeth his wife, William Doty, John Doty, John Moore and Prudence his wife, Joseph Doty, Daniel J. Doty, Daniel McClatchey and Rachel his wife, Stephen Doty and Elijah Doty children and heirs at law of Samuel Doty deceased, and Mary Doty widow relict of the said Samuel Doty deceased, and John Doty, Elija Doty, Hannah Doty, Mary Doty, Charlotte Doty, Margaret Doty, Levi Doty, James Doty and Jane Doty, children and heirs at law of Samuel Doty Junior, deceased, and Jackson Davison, Samuel Davison, Mary Jane Davison, James Davison, Isabella Davison and Elizabeth Davison, children and heirs at law of Mary Davison deceased.
Page 19 of the case containing the first list.
The second list is as follows:
- The said Daniel Doty deceased left as his heirs at law and legaties his widow Margaret Doty and his children Serring Doty, John Doty, Sarah Bolman late Sarah Doty, Nancy Gimble late Nancy Doty, Margaret McClatchey late Margaret Doty who is married to James McClatchey and Eunice Collins late Eunice Doty all of whom reside in the County of Butler. Said Samuel Doty died in the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty nine leaving as his heirs at law his children Hannah who is married to Aaron Austin, Jesse Doty, Jacob Doty, Elizabeth who is married to Moses Davison, William Doty, Samuel Doty deceased, John Doty, Mary Davison married and deceased, Prudence who is married to John Moore, Joseph Doty, Daniel Doty, Rachel married to Daniel McClatchey, Stephen Doty, David Doty deceased without issue, and Elijah Doty. Said Samuel Doty also left a Widow Mary Doty to whom he devised a life estate in the land which he held in said quarter. The said Samuel Doty Junior has since died leaving as his heirs at law his children John Doty, Eliza Doty, Hannah Doty, Mary Doty, Charlotte Doty, Margaret Doty, Levi Doty, James Doty and Jane Doty all of whom are minors. The said Mary Davison is also dead leaving as heirs at law her children Jackson Davison, Samuel Davison, Mary Jane Davison, James Davison, Isabella Davison, Eliza Davison all of whom are minors. The said William Doty, Joseph Moore and Prudence his wife and Joseph Doty reside in the State of Indiana. Moses Davison and Elizabeth his wife and Elijah Doty reside in the State of Illinois. The heirs of Samuel Doty junior deceased reside in Hamilton County, Ohio and all the others as your orator believes in the County of Butler, Ohio.
Background[]
In 1814 the brothers Daniel and Samuel Doty purchased from Thomas Donalds the northwest quarter of section 8 in Liberty Township, Butler County, Ohio, which they held as tenants in common each of them being entitled to the undivided half thereof. The land they purchased was a square one-half mile on each side containing approximately 160 acres. Subsequently in the same year of 1814 they sold 20 acres from the northwest corner of their property and 20 acres from the southeast corner. Then, also in 1814, the brothers divided the parcel by a line running from north to south through the middle of it, Samuel taking the east side and Daniel the west. A survey showed that Daniel's part contained 77.88 acres, and Samuel's 69.34 acres. No deed or other written instrument was ever executed by Daniel and Samuel to record their division of the property.
When Samuel died in 1829 his part of the property passed to his heirs as listed above. In 1830 Samuel's son Stephen entered into a contract with his uncle Daniel to purchase his 77.88 acre parcel on the west side of the quarter section in exchange for the 20 acres in the southeast corner of the quarter section which had been sold by the brothers Samuel and Daniel in 1814 and an adjoining 15 acres taken from Samuel's estate plus $325 to be paid in five annual installments. Daniel Doty died in 1832. His will directed that the thirty-five acres he was to receive from the contract with Stephen be sold and the proceeds divided among his heirs. Stephen refused to provide Daniel's executors a deed for the 35 acres until they provided him with a deed for the 77.88 acres. This they could not do, because the original division of the land in 1814 had not been recorded. Likewise, Stephen refused to pay any part of the $350 until he received a deed for the 77.88 acres. At this impass, the executors of Daniel Doty decided to sue Stephen and all of the other heirs of both Samuel and Daniel, asking the court to confirm the original division of the land and permit the issuance of the deeds necessary to fulfill the contract.
Proceedings[]
At the March Term of 1833 the executor of Daniel Doty presented his complaint and the defendants were ordered to appear on the third Monday in June, 1834. In June the case was continued to the fourth Monday of September, 1834, at which time Stephen Doty presented documents to show that he had purchased the 35 acres he had contracted to sell to his uncle Daniel. One was the bond by which Daniel and Samuel agreed in 1814 to deliver a deed for 20 acres in the southeast corner of the quarter section. The bond had been sold several times as indicated by multiple endorsements. On May 18, 1818, it was purchased by Samuel's son John J. Doty, and on September 7 of that year he conveyed it to his brother Samuel Doty Junior, witnessed by his cousin Daniel Doty Junior and his brother Joseph Doty. In a final endorsement, Samuel Doty Jr. assigned the bond to Stephen Doty. The second document presented by Stephen to show his ownership of the 35 acres he had contracted to sell was an agreement dated January 13, 1828 by which Stephen's father Samuel sold him 16 acres adjacent to the 20-acre parcel in the southest corner of the quarter section for $160. The agreement was witnessed by Samuel's son David.
The Court decreed that the partition of the quarter section in 1814 was valid, as were the documents presented by Stephen Doty. It ordered that the terms of the 1830 contract between Daniel and Stephen Doty be fulfilled.
Other genealogical information[]
- In 1814 when they sold 20 acres in the southeast corner of their quarter section, Daniel Doty lived in Warren County and Samuel Doty in Butler County, Ohio.
- On September 21, 1815, Samuel Doty's son-in-law Aaron Austin witnessed a document in Butler County, Ohio.
- On January 30, 1828, when Samuel Doty sold 16 acres out of his 69.34 acre parcel to his son Stephen, they were both living on the 69.34 acre parcel.
- The 1830 contract between Daniel Doty and Stephen Doty mentions that James McClatchey occupies the 35 acre parcel to be delivered by Stephen to Samuel. This is almost certainly the James McClatchey who married Daniel Doty's daughter Margaret.
- The sheriff of Butler County, OH, reported on the third Monday in June, 1835, that Jackson Davison, Samuel Davison, Mary Jane Davison and Eliza Davison, the children of Mary Davison, could not be found in Butler County.