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Land transfers for NE ¼, Sec. 17, T. 99 N., R. 15 W., Jenkins township, Mitchell County, Iowa.
This was the land originally bought
by Michael Condon and then deeded to E.T. and Margaret Condon in
1886.
| Grantee | Grantor | Character of instrument | Date of instrument | File date | Plat |
| A.B. Bradley | None listed | None listed | None listed | None listed | |
| Fred C. Bradley | A.B. Bradley | W.D. | 11/13/1879 | 11/22/1879 | |
| Evalina Bradley | F.C. Bradley and wife | Q.C.D. | 9/28/1882 | 10/16/1882 | |
| Michael Condon | Evalina W. Bradley and husband | W.D. | 10/25/1883 | 11/21/1883 | |
| Patrick Lynch | Michael Condon and wife | W.D. | 5/29/1884 | 6/4/1884 | |
| Michael Condon | Patrick Lynch | W.D. | 3/3/1886 | 4/9/1886 | |
| Edwin T. Condon | Michael Condon and wife | W.D. | 12/6/1886 | 12/8/1886 | Book 2, page 17 |
W.D. = Warranty Deed; Q.C.D. = Quit Claim Deed
In Plat book 2, p. 17, the property
is listed under "Edwin F. Condon and Mary U. Condon, husband and
wife as joint tenants and not as tenants in common". This
indicates that the land was deeded to E.T.'s son, Edwin and his
wife, Mary Ursula Showalter after E.T.'s death.
A.B. Bradley is the first owner of the quarter-section shown in the county records. In the book 'The History of Mitchell County, 1883' (reprinted in 1975), it says that he moved to Iowa from Wisconsin in 1860 and purchased the land in section 17.
The land law in effect at this time was known as the 'Cash Entry Act', authorized by Congress in 1820. The way this system worked was that claims on land were made by early settlers and filed at a Federal Land Office by a registrar. In the 1850s Col. James Doran Jenkins was the registrar at Osage. [Jenkins township was named for him; probably also the Doran Post Office that was located west of Riceville.] The lands were sold at public auction, with a minimum bid of $1.25 per acre, receivable in cash on the day of the sale. It was generally understood that the settler who had selected and improved a claim first would have first chance to bid, and when the bid was received, the hammer came down instantly, stopping further bidding. Land which was not previously claimed was open to bidding from anyone, and speculators purchased large tracts of land in some parts of Mitchell County, delaying the further settlement of those areas due to the higher asking price of the land.
The land sales in Mitchell County were completed as of 1858, indicating that the land purchased by A.B. Bradley (in 1860) was in private ownership, either by an earlier settler or by a speculator. Bradley apparently farmed the land until 1879, when he transferred it to his son F.C. Bradley.
It was also noted in the 1883 book that Riceville was the only settlement in the township at that time. As noted in the book 'The Story of Mitchell County' (1973), McIntire wasn't established until 1889 when the branch of the Chicago Great Western Railway Company was run from Rochester, Minnesota to Mason City, Iowa. The site of David, about 1½ miles NW of the Condon property, is on the rail line, and wasn't established until 1892. The establishment of the rail line must have been a happy occasion for the Condons and Dorans, making their travels back to Rockford much easier.
© 1999-2013 Steven M. Condon. All Rights Reserved.
