what would you guess was going on here?
these two posts are 6'+ tall and OLD. the only two posts that tall in over 4000' of fence.
about 30' back off the fence line, i found this post, of similar size, that has been pushed over by the growth of the pictured mesquite, for who knows how long.
also, roughly 40' south of the first two posts there exists a water meter with a single 1" line coming out of it. the city water taps records indicate it has not been in use for a long while- their records don't indicate what was ever served. there is absolutely nothing within several thousand feet of this meter otherwise.
if you square off the area bounded by the posts, you're talking about a 30'x40' tract. there is zero evidence otherwise of any improvements existing here, at least for a very long time. cattle have been grazing on this (and about 400 acres around it) for decades.
luckily, nobody is holding a gun to my head, and i won't say definitively that it is what i think it is. i will, however, end up noting the area with the word "possible" included, and include the language from the last time a particular exception appeared in a deed for this land: 1935.
p.s.- one more hint: this is an exception that could throw a massive dent in the conveyance and/or development of the 400+ acres if not resolved.
My first guess
is a gate, possibly into a cattle chute or water trough, or, with the old water tap for a long-gone frontier cabin.
Get the locator out and look for old kitchen ware, door knob handles, nuts and bolts, or square-head cut-nails in the 30x40 area. Maybe it was fenced around the "house" to keep the cattle out. Or, back to the original, perhaps a corral.
My first guess
i concur that it was likely a gate, but not for either of the purposes you listed.
here's the exception that appeared in a 1915 deed, then the 1935 deed. both are listed as title exceptions, but no deed subsequent to the 1935 one makes mention.
"and there is also excepted therefrom that tract lying in the Southwest corner of the above described land and containing the graves of Benjamin Netherland, Mrs. Sallie Netherland and Mrs. Margaret Netherland, which are to remain in said land unmolested and to which access is reserved for the purpose of visiting and maintaining said graves,..."
My first guess
don't know why they would need water, unless to make the digging easier. :-$
Excepted To Who ?
Without living names to pass title to, the exception language is moot. I would say title continues to pass with the main tract, but the cemetery use is reserved/preserved.
Paul in PA
My first guess
my guess would be for the "maintenance". or it's completely unrelated and served something else further into the interior of the tract (which no longer exists).
this job has been fascinating. originally one tract, severed into over a dozen pieces over the years, and reassembled into the current state of 3, which will be conveyed as one. i've shot over 18,000 linear feet of interior barbed wire fences, probably 75% of which constitute the various severances over the last century. the remainder being used, apparently, mainly for the containment of cattle.
the line with the two 6' posts pictured is the line from last week's thread about taking or no taking. that piece in question amounts to about 750 square feet, based upon recovered fence posts along that line. it's really remarkable how snug the whole thing has fit against the last survey of record, some 15 years ago.
Excepted To Who ?
i agree- in a practical sense this is going to cause problems in terms of future use, specifically setbacks and restrictions.
Excepted To Who ?
i spent about 4 hours yesterday scouring about 10 acres of mesquite thicket at "the southwest corner" of the original 170 acre, looking for headstones, fenced off areas, anything giving clues. i found nothing else. when i found that water meter a couple weeks ago i couldn't figure out why it was there. when i read that title exception i didn't, at first, know where "the southwest corner" of the original 170 acres was. after reconstructing 80 years worth of deeds the lightbulb went off, which led to yesterday's mission.
bottom line is the client would REALLY like to know where this cemetery might be. i'm not going to tell them it's here, but if they're going to hire archaelogists, geotechs, whoever to look into this further, i don't have much reservation about pointing them to this area to start looking.
I am not sure of your obligation
to determine if it is a cemetery, but if it is determined to be a cemetery, and not registered with the County Clerk, you have 10 days to do so...
See 711.011
I am not sure of your obligation
i don't feel like i'm obligated. i just went back out to make sure i didn't miss it- that would be a giant headache.
That could be a makeshift catch pen for cattle or other livestock.
The four corners of a shelter. We would build a temporary camphouse by setting 4 posts or use nearby trees and stretch visqueene for walls and ceiling and place a taller pole in the center. Same can be said for tarps like a circus style tent.
Remote green house...........
By golly, I'm good. My guess was for a family cemetery. The water meter is odd.
My first guess
> here's the exception that appeared in a 1915 deed, then the 1935 deed. both are listed as title exceptions, but no deed subsequent to the 1935 one makes mention.
>
> "and there is also excepted therefrom that tract lying in the Southwest corner of the above described land and containing the graves of Benjamin Netherland, Mrs. Sallie Netherland and Mrs. Margaret Netherland, which are to remain in said land unmolested and to which access is reserved for the purpose of visiting and maintaining said graves,..."
Well, a quick google shows the grave of a Benjamin Netherland (1875-1892) in the Byrd Owen - Payne Cemetery.
Grave of Benjamin Netherland in Hays County near former Stringtown
and what is thought to be the grave of another Benjamin Netherland:
Another Netherland grave in the same cemetery near Stringtown
Benjamin at age 5
Note that his mother is Margaret.
Benjamin Netherland in household of Joseph Netherland, "United States Census, 1880"Name: Benjamin Netherland
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1880
Event Place: Precinct 1, Hays, Texas, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 5
Marital Status: Single
Occupation:
Race (Original): W
Ethnicity: American
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birthplace: Texas, United States
Birth Date: 1875
Spouse's Name:
Spouse's Birthplace:
Father's Name: Joseph Netherland
Father's Birthplace: Kentucky, United States
Mother's Name: Margaret R. Netherland
Mother's Birthplace: Louisiana, United States
Page: 47
Page Letter: C
Entry Number: 3169
Affiliate Film Number: T9-1310
GS Film number: 1255310
Digital Folder Number: 004244730
Image Number: 00350
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Self Joseph Netherland M 52 Kentucky, United States
Wife Margaret R. Netherland F 36 Louisiana, United States
Daughter Mary E. Netherland F 9 Texas, United States
Daughter Jane P. Netherland F 7 Texas, United States
Son Benjamin Netherland M 5 Texas, United States
Son John B. Netherland M 1 Texas, United States
Benjamin at age 5
> Note that his mother is Margaret.
Yeah, Mrs. Margaret Netherland is probably Margaret R. Netherland, b. abt. 1844 in Louisiana, in 1880 the wife of Joseph Netherland and, later, the mother of Joseph Netherland (b.1882) who is also interred in the same cemetery in Hays County. She was alive and age 55 per the 1900 census.
The obvious first guess is that is the cemetery referenced in the deed that the soloist is puzzling over.
The 1900 Census shows the Netherlands, Joe, Sr., his wife, Margaret, and son Joe, residing in Precinct 1 of Hays County, specifically North of the I.& G.N. R.R., which would mean that they probably were living along Hunter Road, near where the family cemetery now is.
> what would you guess was going on here?
>
> these two posts are 6'+ tall and OLD. the only two posts that tall in over 4000' of fence.
From the photo, I'd have to say that those gate posts don't look as if they've been in place since 1925 or earlier. Pending a closeup view, I'd guess they were set after 1960 or so.
Benjamin at age 5
Wow, seriously, thanks. An avenue I probably would never have gone down. :good:
Benjamin at age 5
> Wow, seriously, thanks. An avenue I probably would never have gone down.
I would recommend a subscription to ancestry.com to any surveyor. As a research tool, it will pay for itself when just such questions arise.
Benjamin at age 5
It's totally amazing what you can find online without paying the Ancestry.com fees. The photos from findagrave.com that Kent posted are a fine example of that.
Benjamin at age 5
> It's totally amazing what you can find online without paying the Ancestry.com fees. The photos from findagrave.com that Kent posted are a fine example of that.
Yes, but ancestry.com provides a common index for census, marriage, and death records as well as many city directories, actual burials, and some access to family trees that others have put together.
You can subscribe for just a month if you like. I use it often enough that I just have my subscription on automatic renewal.
I'm working on a dispute regarding a very large South Texas subdivision laid out in the first decade of the 20th century and one question was whether a particular surveyor who was County Surveyor for about thirty years thereafter was involved in the layout. Via ancestry.com, I found a document that he filed with the US Consul in Mexico that placed in him Mexico when the subdivision was surveyed and traced him to a county on the other side of the state before that. It's one of those answers that is hard to put a price tag on.