Calumet & Chicago Canal & Dock Co. v. Russell

Citations

• 68 Ill. 426

Syllabus

<p>1. Acknowledgment oe deed—evidence to overcome certificate of. The official certificate of the acknowledgment of a deed for real estate, must prevail over the unsupported testimony of an interested party, in the absence of proof of fraud or collusion.</p> <p>3. Where the records showed that a husband, on May 30, 1837, conveyed, by deed of that date, a tract of land, his wife joining in the execution thereof, and the certificate of acknowledgment thereof, made by a justice of the peace of the county where the grantors resided, showed that the grantors, who were personally known to him, appeared and acknowledged the same, and the relinquishment of dower by the wife, which deed was duly recorded in the grantors’ county, and on bill by the wife, in December, 1871, for dower in the premises, she testified that she had no recollection of executing and acknowledging the deed, and was very positive she never did, and gave as a reason that, for some time before and after the time the deed purported to be executed and acknowledged, she was absent in the State of Virginia: Held, that such testimony, wholly uncorroborated, could not prevail over the evidence afforded by the officer’s certificate, and that the testimony, to overcome such certificate, must, after such a lapse of time, be of the clearest and strongest description, and so convincing as to leave no doubt of its truth.</p> <p>3. Same—substantial compliance with the statute is sufficient. The doctrine of this court is, that a certificate of the acknowledgment of a deed need not be in literal compliance with the statute, but that it is sufficient if there be a substantial compliance.</p> <p>4. Same—design of statute as to married women. Prior to the act of 1873, relating to conveyances, it was the design of the law that a married woman should be informed of her true position and the real nature of her interest in the land to be conveyed, and this will be presumed to have been done by the officer, from his certificat