A conundrum perhaps solved. The issue has always seemed strange to us that
Alexander Casteel (1800-1862) never gained legal registration of his
property during his lifetime. It has become clear that he bought some land from John
Camp, but was never able to obtain clear title in his name. During the
litigation to resolve his estate (1871), the issue was ultimately resolved, and
everyone agreed that the 100 acres, more or less, belonged to Alexander
Casteel, but had never been titled to him; the property was eventually sold to son,
Joseph Casteel, and the proceeds were divided among his heirs. Our
assumption has always been that perhaps Alexander could not gain full title to land
because he was Native American -- during a period when their rights were in
considerable flux. Or maybe Alexander was not allowed to own land for some
arcane and unknown reason? Another assumption was that perhaps Alexander
Casteel was somehow related to John Camp and that the property was ceded to him out
of “love and affection”, etc. None of the above ever panned out.
It now appears that perhaps the reason Alexander Casteel never held title to
his portion of the farm is that, under the terms whereby John Camp acquired
the land from his father, Sterling Camp, the land could not be sold or
transferred during the father’s lifetime. John Camp actually acquired other pieces
of land in the period 1831-1832, and we can’t prove that the land given to
him by his father is the land that was partitioned to provide a farm for
Alexander Casteel, but it seems probable, given the conditions. As it happened,
John Camp predeceased his father (22 Aug 1845), throwing the entire situation
into turmoil. Sterling Camp, the father, didn’t die until 15 April 1851.
Eleven years later, Alexander Casteel and his wife both died, and the glitch in
ownership registration became a significant issue. Although Alexander and
Susannah died in 1862, the litigation to resolve disposition of their property
didn’t occur until about seven years later, because courts were backlogged
due to the War Between the States. We suspect that, after the death of John
Camp, and the later death of his father, Sterling Camp, the issue of gaining
title to the land seemed a bit too overpowering for very poor, simple country
people, such as Alexander and Susannah Sherrill Casteel. Below, we've listed
the pertinent entries from the Land Records of McMinn Co TN.
McMinn County, Tennessee Deeds and Other Data
1820-1880
Researched, Compiled, and Edited
by
Reba Bayless Boyer
1986
or
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/tennessee/mcminn_land_records.htm
Deed Book A
Page 5
(40) 16 Jun 1821 John Walker Sr. to Sterling Camp of Roane Co.
Deed Book B
Page 10
(386) 29 Nov 1831 Nancy Hampton, James Tedford, George Wilson, Waden
Hampton, and Morgan Hampton to John Camp; part of John Walker’s reservation.
(387) 29 Feb 1832 John L. McCarty to John Camp; two undivided moieties of
land conveyed by John Walker Sr. to Wm. Hampton dec’d on 14 Jul 1831.
(392) 02 Dec 1831 James Tedford and George Willson to John Camp; their
undivided moiety; two of the heirs of Wm. Hampton dec’d.
(393) 24 Jul 1832 Sterling Camp to John Camp; $1.00; it is to be distinctly
understood that the land is a part of Sterling Camp’s real estate and that
John Camp does not have the power to convey said tract in Sterling Camp’s
lifetime.