the statute is, "that all deeds, conveyances, bonds, and powers of attorney for the conveyance of real estate, or of any interest therein, shall be executed with a seal, either of wax, or wafer, or of ink; and all other instruments of writing to which, by law or the agreement of the parties, a seal is necessary, may be sealed by any of those methods." The sealing with ink is performed by making an indented circle or scroll at the end of the name, and inserting the letters L. S. therein; yet it has been decided that it is not necessary to the validity of a scroll as a seal, that any letters or word whatever, should be enclosed in it. [Kilgore vs. Powers, 5 Blackf., 22.]

No witnesses to the execution of a deed are required, if it be duly acknowledged before its delivery to the grantee therein. [R. S., 417, Sec. 14.] To enable an attorney to execute a deed lawfully, he must be thereunto authorized by. an instrument in writing, executed by his principal, and sealed and acknowledged in like manner as such conveyance would be required to be executed and acknowledged by the principal. [Id., Sec. 15.] No covenant will be implied in any conveyance of real estate, whether it contain real covenants or not; if a covenant of seizin, warranty or the like, be intended, the deed must express it.

As mortgages are but defeasible deeds, they come within the term "conveyances" used in the statute; and as no special provisions have been made in respect to them, their execution and attestation are left upon the same footing as that of absolute conveyances.

The effect of a deed is declared to be the passing of the incident as well as the principal, and that when lands are conveyed all tenements thereon and hereditaments thereunto appertaining also pass. [R. S., 423, Sec. 52.] A deed of laud, embraces all chattels real thereon, or affixed thereto; but no greater estate or interest shall be construed to pass by any conveyance than the grantor himself possessed at the delivery of the deed, or could then lawfully convey, except

that every grant and conveyance shall be conclusive as against the grantor and his heirs claiming from him by descent. [Id., 417, Sec. 23.]

Deeds containing any provision for the revocation or determination of the same at the will of the grantor, are declared by statute to be void as against subsequent purchasers, in good faith and for a valuable consideration; and all convey. ances or assignments in writing, or otherwise, of any estate or interest in lands, tenements or hereditaments, to hinder, delay or defraud creditors or other persons of their lawful suits, damages, forfeitures, debts or demands, are also void. [Id., 591, Sec. 16.] But in such case, it has been held, that the conveyance passes the title to the grantee, subject to the rights of creditors, and subsequent purchasers who claim under creditors, and cannot be questioned by the grantor himself, or by strangers who have no claim. [Burget vs. Burget, 1 Ohio R., 469. Barr vs. Hatch, et. al., 3 Ohio R., 395.]

VIII. THE PROOF AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF DEEDS AND MORTGAGES IN INDIANA.

To entitle any deed or mortgage to be recorded, it must be acknowledged by the party or parties executing the same, or proved by a subscribing witness thereto, or by proof of the handwriting of the parties thereto, or of any subscribing witness. Such proof or acknowledgment is required by statute to be made before a Supreme Judge, Judge of a Circuit Court, Justice of the Peace, Recorder, Notary Public, or Mayor of a city within the State, or before a Judge of a Supreme or Circuit Court, or Court of Common Pleas, Justice of the Peace, or Mayor or Recorder of a city, or Notary Public, of any other State, or before any Commissioner appointed by the Governor of this State in another State for such purpose, or before a Minister Plenipotentiary, Charge d'Affaires,

or Consul of the United States, in a foreign country. [R. S. Indiana, 418, Sec. 28.]

In case of refusal or inability of the grantor to acknowledge his deed or mortgage, and where he shall have died after the execution but before acknowledgment thereof, a provision is made as follows: "If any grantor shall refuse to acknowledge any deed, conveyance, or instrument of writing, executed by him, which by law is required to be recorded, the grantee, or any person claiming under him, may apply to any officer authorized by law to take the acknowledgment of such deed, conveyance, or instrument of writing, in the county where the land lies, or where such grantor, or any subscribing witness resides; and such officer shall thereupon issue a summons to such grantor to appear at a certain time and place before such officer, to hear the testimony of the subscribing witness to the deed; and such summons, with a copy of the deed annexed, shall be served upon the grantor by such person as such officer shall designate, at least seven days before the time therein assigned for proving the deed, conveyance, or other instrument of writing. At such hearing, or at any adjournment thereof, the due execution of such deed, conveyance, or instrument in writing may be proved by the testimony of one or more of the subscribing witnesses thereto; or if they are dead, insane, or out of the State, then by due proof of the handwriting of the grantor or of any witness thereto; and if proved to the satisfaction of the officer, he shall certify the same on the deed, conveyance, or instrument in writing, and in such certificate shall note the presence or absence, as the case may be, of such grantor. If the grantor in any deed, conveyance, or instrument in writing required to be recorded shall be dead, or shall have left the State, or cannot be found, and shall not have acknowledged the same, it may be proved before any officer authorized to take the acknowledgment thereof, by the testimony of any subscribing witness thereto. If any such grantor shall refuse

to acknowledge any such deed, conveyance, or instrument in writing, or shall be dead or out of the State, and the subscribing witness or witnesses thereto are dead, out of the State, or cannot be found, the same may be proved before any officer authorized to take the acknowledgment thereof, by proving the handwriting of the grantor or grantors, or of any subscribing witness thereto. [R. S., Sec. 33.]

A copy of the unacknowledged deed may be filed with the Recorder as a "caution," which, during the ensuing thirty days, will have the same effect as recording. [See effect of recording, post 206.] But where the execution of a deed shall be proved, the proof must be made by a disinterested and competent witness; and the testimony taken, together with the name or names of the witness or witnesses, and place or places of his or their residence, are required to be set forth in the officer's certificate. Proof, however, of the execution of a deed is inadmissible where there was no subscribing witness to the same.

. In this State, as in Ohio, where a married woman joins in a conveyance with her husband, she is required to have the contents of the deed made known to her by the officer; and and on an examination, "private, separate, and apart from, and without the hearing of her husband," must acknowledge that she executed such deed or conveyance, "of her own free will and accord, and without any coercion or compulsion from her husband."

A married woman under twenty-one years of age, but over eighteen, in addition to the above, must obtain the consent of her father or guardian, who must declare before the acknowledging officer, that he believes that such release and relinquishment of dower is for the benefit of such married woman, and that it would be prejudicial to her, and her husband, to be prevented from disposing of the lands conveyed. [Id., Sec. 41.] Although, as a general rule, full age alone gives capacity to convey, a married woman over eighteen but un

der twenty-one years of age, may, if the above condition be complied with. And where a married woman joins in a power of attorney authorizing another to convey, the power is ineffectual to authorize a conveyance of her interest, except it be thus acknowledged.

If

The acknowledgment or proof must be certified, and which certificate is required to be endorsed upon the deed, or annexed thereto. [Id., Sec. 43.] Not, however, that the deed was on such a day acknowledged or proven according to law, but certifying that such and such acts were done and performed as in law, are required to be done by the grantor, or a witness or witnesses, to constitute a valid acknowledgment. There is a prevailing aptitude amongst public officers to err in this particular, and thereby frequently subject parties to great inconvenience, from defective certificates. Facts, not conclusions, are called for, in the certificate. the grantor appeared before the officer, let the certificate so state; if he were personally known to the officer, let it so state; if he were not known, but was identified by another, let the latter be named, and that he was sworn, and on oath testified that the person appearing as grantor was the same person who executed the deed: if such proof be satisfactory, concerning the identity, that should be stated. And if the deed were not acknowledged, but proved by a subscribing witness, or by proving the handwriting of the grantor, the certificate must contain the names, residence, and testimony of the witness or witnesses sworn. So also as to the making known to a married woman the contents and purport of a deed, and of her "private examination, separate and apart from her husband, and without his hearing;" the facts alone, not the conclusions of the officer, must be stated in the certificate.

This is required in cases where a married woman, under the age of twenty-one, but over eighteen years of age, acknowledges a deed or conveyance with the consent, and with the declaration, of her father or guardian, that her re