I often run across deeds, that Go in Cardinal directions. When I get to the field, there is an ancient fence running at a diagonal, and it SEEMS to me that the landowners did some measuring, brought it to an abstractor, who Converted it to a series of cardinal directions, Something like this:
...Thence South 40 yards;
thence East 5 yards;
thence East 10 yards;
thence South 20 yards;
Etc.
This seems to happen often enough, (Like they are avoiding the diagonals) that there is a custom, of "Avoiding confusion" and "Simplifying" via this means. There should be a discussion about it. What's to call it, etc.
I have seen it all over the country... well I have seen it in Texas, California, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. So, for this old guy, that's close nuff to "all over".
Can any of you shed some light on this mechanism?
Thanks
Nate
I've come across many lawyer and owner created descriptions that use cardinal directions when they are 40 or more degrees off.
Most of them were either aligned along a road or waterway.
Sounds like they were actually translated into CARNIVAL directions... ARRRGH-
The only superior evidence is that which you haven't yet found.
Most of the of the lines I run across like that have the letters -erly after the cardinal direction. It give me a clue that the north line will run somewheres towards the area between Hawaii and Africa, with the likelihood of it being towards Canada instead of Brazil.
Intent of the grantor. The cardinal directions are a shorthand way to express the intent to be parallel with the nearest section or subdivision lines.
Sometimes I glimpse a historic trend of obfuscating title by changing descriptions ... A lot in a plat or an aliquot part becomes a metes and bounds description, bearings changed to cardinal, etc.