Fairmount Park Commission (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Researchers investigating the history of Fairmount Park properties should be familiar with the briefs of titles which accompany many of the title papers assembled during the 1860s and 1870s. This was when the City of Philadelphia acquired most of the initial properties which comprised Fairmount Park. These briefs were prepared in order for the Fairmount Park Commission to be assured that a good and clean title was assumed by them. In most cases, the briefs cover the entire history of the property from the patent granted by William Penn or his commissioners until the acquisition by the Fairmount Park Commission. The conveyancers, attorneys and others who prepared these briefs consulted not only the public records of the Recorder of Deeds and the clerks of the various courts, but occasionally had access to the original deeds and mortgages which had been passed through the ownership of the land. Many of these deeds, mortgages and other instruments were eventually given to the Park Commission at the time of the property’s acquisition. Others were retained by the former owner for various reasons. In many cases, the compilers of the briefs consulted documents which have never been recorded. Indeed, the Fairmount Park Title Papers contain an unrecorded deed from 1686 and several other unrecorded instruments from the early 1700s.

The Brief of Title generally is a detailed accounting of the history of the property ownership. It will list the date of the transfer, the dimensions of the property, the date of acknowledgment, and the date of recording and the book and page in which the recorded instrument may be found. Occasionally, the consideration will also be mentioned. If there are any court proceedings relating to the property, then the docket entries will be reproduced. Any changes in ownership through death, inheritance, marriage, et al, will also be noted. The compiler of the Brief often is mentioned, as well as an opinion from a lawyer that the Brief as presented illustrates a clean title to the property.

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