any consul of the United States, or any court of any republic, state, kingdom, or empire having a seal, or before a mayor or chief officer of a city or town having a seal, or any officer authorized by the laws of such country to take acknowledgments and proof of his authority must accompany his certificate. The certificate of such court, mayor, or officer must be under their official seal. R. S. 276; Underwood, 311.

The wife need not be examined separately. The certificate of an acknowledgment taken before a justice of the peace residing within the state, but in another county than that in which the lands lie, must be certified by the clerk of the county commissioners' court. Id. 963, § 18.

A certificate of acknowledgment must state that the person was personally known to the officer to be the person whose name is subscribed to the deed or writing as having executed the same, or that he was proved to be such by a credible witness (naming him). Id. § 40.

INDIANA.-Acknowledgment, or proof by subscribing witness, may be: 1. If taken within the state; before any supreme or circuit judge, or clerk of a court of record, county surveyor, justice of the peace, auditor, recorder, notary public, or mayor of a city. 2. Elsewhere within the United States; before any judge of a supreme or circuit court, or court of common pleas, or clerks of said courts, any justice of the peace, or mayor, or recorder of a city, notary public, or Indiana commissioner. 3. Beyond the United States; before a minister, chargé d'affaires, or consul of the United States. No separate examination of a married woman is now necessary. Rev. Stat. (1852), c. 23.

An officer taking an acknowledgment need not affix an ink scroll or seal, unless he is an officer required by law to keep an official seal. Laws of 1858, 39, c. 13, § 3.

IOWA. Acknowledgment or proof may be made, within the state, before some court having a seal, or a judge or clerk thereof, or some justice of the peace, notary public, or a county auditor, or his deputy, or any deputy clerk of court. A deed made or acknowledged without the state, but within the United States, shall be acknowledged before some court of record, or officer holding the seal thereof, or before an Iowa commissioner, or before some notary public or justice of the peace; and when before a justice of the peace, a certificate, under the official seal of the proper authority, of the official character of the justice and of his authority to take such acknowledgments, and of the genuineness of his signature, shall accompany the certificate of acknowledgment. Code, § 1218, as amended by Laws of 1855, 75, § 2.

A deed executed without the United States may be acknowledged or proved before any [the words "court of any" seem to have been omitted here, in the statute] state, republic, kingdom, or province having a seal, or before any officer authorized by the laws of such foreign country to take acknowledgments; or any ambassador, minister, secretary of legation, consul, chargé d'affaires, consular agent, or any other officer of the United States in any foreign country, who is authorized to issue certificates under the seal of the United States; if he have an official seal, the certificate to be attested by the official seal, and in case the same is not before a court of record, or mayor, or other officer of a town having such seal, proof under the official seal of the proper authority that the officer was authorized by the laws of the country to do so, and that his certificate is genuine, must accompany it. Laws of 1855, 75, § 1.

If the grantor die before acknowledging, or if his attendance cannot be procured, or, appearing, he refuses to acknowledge, proof may be made by any competent testimony. In such case the certificate must state the title of the court or officer; that it was satisfactorily proved that the grantor was dead, or that his attendance could not be procured, or that having appeared he refused to acknowledge the deed; the names of the witnesses by whom the proof was made, and that it was proved by them that the instrument was executed by the person whose name is thereunto subscribed as a party. A separate examination of wife is not necessary.

KANSAS. No instrument affecting real estate is of any validity against subsequent purchasers for a valuable consideration without notice, unless recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county in which the land lies, or in such other office as is, or may be, provided by law.

If acknowledged within the state, it must be before some court having a seal, or some judge, justice, or clerk thereof, or some justice of the peace, notary public, or register of deeds, county clerk, or mayor of a city. Comp. Stat. (1862). If acknowledged out of the state, it must be before some court of record, or clerk, or officer holding the seal thereof, or before some commissioner to take the acknowledgments of deeds for this state, or before some notary public, or justice of the peace, or any United States consul resident abroad. If taken before a justice of the peace, the acknowledgment shall be accompanied by a certificate of his official character, under the hand of the clerk of some court of record, to which the seal of said court shall be affixed.

The court or person taking the acknowledgment must endorse upon the deed a certificate setting forth the following particulars: 1. The title of the court or person before whom the acknowledgment is taken; 2. That the person making the acknowledgment was personally known to at least one of the judges of the court, or to the officer taking the acknowledgment, to be the identical person whose name is affixed to the deed as grantor, or that such identity was proved by at least one credible witness (naming him); 3. That such person acknowledged the instrument to be his own voluntary act and deed.

If the grantor die before acknowledging the deed, or if, for any other reason, his attendance cannot be procured in order to make the acknowledgment, or if, having appeared, he refuses to acknowledge it, proof of the due execution and delivery of the deed may be made by any competent testimony before the same court or officers as are authorized to take acknowledgments of grantors.

The certificate endorsed upon the deed must state in this last case: 1. The title of the court or officer taking the proof; 2. That it was satisfactorily proved that the grantor was dead, or that, for some other cause, his attendance could not be procured to make the acknowledgment, or that, having appeared, he refused to acknowl edge the deed; 3. The names of the witnesses by whom the proof was made, and that it was proved by them that the instrument was executed by the person whose name is thereunto subscribed as a party.

The certificate of proof or acknowledgment may be given under seal or otherwise, according to the mode by which the courts or officers granting the same usually authenticate their most solemn and formal official acts.

Any court or officer having power to take the proof above contemplated may issue the neces

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

No instrument containing a power to convey, or in any manner affect real estate, certified and recorded as above prescribed, can be revoked by an act of the parties by whom it was executed, until the instrument containing such revocation is acknowledged and deposited for record, and entered on the entry-book, in the same office in which the instrument conferring the power is recorded.

Every instrument in writing affecting real estate which is acknowledged or proved, and certified as hereinbefore directed, may be read in evidence, without further proof. Kans. Comp. Stat. 1862, c. 41, §§ 15-24.

A married woman may convey her interest in the same manner as other persons. Id. § 9.

KENTUCKY.-A deed executed within the state can be acknowledged before the clerk of the county court where the property lies; or the deed may be proved by the subscribing witnesses, or by one of them if he can prove the attestation of the other; or by proof by two witnesses that the two subscribing witnesses are dead, or out of the state, and proof of the signature of one of them and of the grantor. In such case, the certificate must state the witnesses' names.

A deed executed out of the state, and within the United States, may be acknowledged before a judge and certified under the seal of his court, or before a clerk of a court, notary public, mayor of a city, secretary of state, or Kentucky commissioner, and certified under his official seal.

A deed executed out of the United States may be acknowledged or proved before any foreign minister, consul, or secretary of legation of the United States, or before the secretary of foreign affairs, certified under his seal of office, or a judge of a superior court of the nation where acknowledged. On making proof by others than the subscribing witnesses, the names and residence of the witnesses must be stated in the certificate. If a married woman is a grantor, the officer must explain to her the contents and effect of the deed separately and apart from her husband; and she must also declare that she did freely and voluntarily execute it, and is willing that it should be recorded. When the acknowledgment of a married woman is taken within the state, the officer may simply certify that the acknowledgment was made before him, and its date, and it will be presumed that the law was complied

,set.

LOUISIANA.-The authentication of instruments in the state is effected by the parties appearing before a notary, who reduces the contract to writing and signs it, together with them, in the presence of two male witnesses of at least fourteen years of age.

Without the state, and within the United States, acknowledgments and proof may be taken by Louisiana commissioners, and certified under their signature and seal; but the commissioner can only take such acknowledgment or proof where the party making it resides in the state or territory where the commissioner resides. Any acknowledgment made in conformity with the laws of the state where the act is passed is valid in Louisiana. Rev. Stat. (1856) 102, 103. In any foreign country, all American ministers, chargés d'affaires, consuls-general, consuls, viceconsuls, and commercial agents may act as commissioners. Id. 103.

The certificate of acknowledment by a married woman must set forth an examination by the officer apart from the presence of her husband touching the freedom of her action, and that he informed her fully of the nature of her rights upon the property of her husband. As to execution by agent of a power to renounce a mortgage or privilege on the husband's estate, see id. 561.

MAINE.-Deeds are to be acknowledged by the grantors, or one of them, or by their attorney executing the same, before a justice of the peace or notary public within the state, or any justice of the peace, magistrate, or notary public within the United States, or any minister or consul of the United States, or notary public in any foreign country. Rev. Stat. (1857) 451, § 17.

When a grantor dies or leaves the state without acknowledging the deed, it may be proved by a subscribing witness before any court of record in the state; and in their absence by proof of the handwriting of the grantor and witness. Id. §§ 18, 19.

A certificate must be endorsed on, or annexed to, the deed. Id. § 23.

Acknowledgments and proof may also be taken without the state, but, according to the laws of the state, by a Maine commissioner; his certificate to be under official seal, and annexed or endorsed. Id. 629, §§ 1, 2. Private examination of wife not necessary.

MARYLAND. From the 24th article of the Code

of 1860 the following is taken, being the law of Maryland on the subject of acknowledgments.

Section 66.-" The following forms of acknowledgment shall be sufficient." Acknowledgment taken within the state of

Maryland.

66

county, to wit:

Section 67.-"I hereby certify, that on this in the year day of before the subscriber

[SEAL]

name of the married woman making the acknowledgment], his wife, and did each acknowledge the foregoing deed to be their respective act." Form of acknowledgment taken out of the county, to wit:

state.

"State of

missioner of a court of record, or any notary public, or justice of the peace. The officer must endorse on the deed a certificate of the acknowledgment, and the time and date of making it, under his hand.

"In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal Seal of of the court to be affixed (or have affixed my official seal), this day the Court. of ," etc. etc. Section 70.-"Any form of acknowledgment containing in substance the aforegoing forms shall be sufficient."

The acknowledgment is to be taken as follows:

If in the county or city within which the real estate, or any part of it, lies, before some one justice of the peace of county or city; a judge of the orphans' court for county or city; the judge of the circuit court for county; the judge of the superior court, court of common pleas, or circuit court for Baltimore city.

If acknowledged within the state, but out of the county where the land lies, before any justice of the peace where the grantor may be, with a certificate of the justice's character, as such, under seal of the circuit or superior court; before any judge of the circuit court; or judge of superior, circuit, or court of common pleas in Baltimore.

of the peace, master in chancery, or other officer, authorized by the laws thereof to take acknowledgments, or before a Michigan commissioner. In such case, unless the acknowledgment is taken before a Michigan commissioner, there must be attached a certificate of the clerk, or other proper certifying officer, of a court of record for the county or district within which the acknowledgment was taken, under his official seal, that the person subscribing the certificate was, at the date of it, such officer as represented; that he believes the officer's signature to be genuine, and that the deed is executed according to the laws of the state, territory, or district. A deed executed in a foreign country may be executed according to the laws thereof, and acknowledged before any notary public, or any minister plenipotentiary, extraordinary, or resident; any chargé d'affaires, commissioner, or consul of the United States appointed to reside therein.

The acknowledgment of a married woman of a deed, in which she joins with her husband, may be the same as if she were sole. Laws of 1875, p. 142.

If a grantor dies, or leaves the state, or resides out of the state, the execution of the deed may be proved before any court of record by proceedings given by the statute; and if the grantor is

If acknowledged without the United States, before any minister or consul of the United States, a notary public, or a commissioner of Maryland, as above.

When an acknowledgment is taken before a judge, the seal of the court must be affixed.

Code of Public General Laws, Art. 25:-No private acknowledgment by the wife is necessary. The acknowledgment is merely that the parties "acknowledge the foregoing deed to be their act," or to this effect.

There must be added to the acknowledgments ⚫ of mortgages and bills of sale the affidavit of the mortgagee or vendee, that the consideration is true and bona fide as therein set forth. Id.

MASSACHUSETTS.-Acknowledgments of deeds are to be by the grantors, or one of them, or by the attorney executing the same.

They may be taken before any justice of the peace of the state, or before any justice of the peace, magistrate, or notary public, or Massachusetts commissioner, within the United States or in any foreign country; or before a minister or consul of the United States in any foreign country. Gen. Stat. (1860) 467, §§ 18, 19.

When acknowledgments are taken out of the state by a justice of the peace, there should be appended a certificate of his appointment and authority, made by the secretary of state or clerk of a court of record.

The wife is not required to be examined sepa- | rate and apart from her husband.

If the grantor dies, or leaves the state, the execution may be proved by a subscribing witness.

MICHIGAN.-A deed executed within the state may be acknowledged before any judge or com

the deed, he must be summoned to attend. Rev. Stat. 1846, c. 65, ss.; 2 Comp. Laws, 1857, 840 (2733), §§ 14–20.

MINNESOTA. Within the state; before a judge of the supreme, district, or probate court, or a clerk of said courts, or before clerks of United States circuit and district courts for the district of Minnesota, a notary public, justice of the peace, register of deeds, court commissioner, county auditor, town clerk, city clerk, or recorder of a village. Laws of 1876, p. 59; Laws of 1877, p. 186; Laws of 1878, p. 103.

Without the state, and within the United States; the deed may be executed according to the laws of the state, territory, or district where executed, and acknowledged before any judge of a court of record, notary public, justice of the peace, or before a Minnesota commissioner.

In a foreign country, the execution may be according to its laws, and the acknowledgment may be before a notary public therein, or any minister plenipotentiary, extraordinary, or resident, chargé d'affaires, commissioner, or consul of the United States, appointed to reside therein, to be certified under the hand of the officer, and, if he is a notary, under his seal.

The separate acknowledgment of a married woman is not necessary.

Proof by witnesses may be taken before any court of record, when the grantor dies, or resides out of the state, or refuses to acknowledge. Minn. Comp. Stat. (1858), c. 35, §§ 8–26.

MISSISSIPPI.-When in the state, deeds may be acknowledged, or proved by one or more of the subscribing witnesses to them, before any judge of the high court of errors and appeals, or a judge of the circuit courts, or judge of probate, any

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

clerk of any court of record, who shall certify the same under the seal of his office, or any justice of the peace, or any chancellor, or member of the board of county supervisors, whether the lands be within his county or not.

When in another state or territory of the United States, such deeds must be acknowledged or proved, as aforesaid, before a judge of the supreme court or of the district courts of the United States, or before any judge of the supreme or superior court of any state or territory in the Union; or any justice of the peace, whose official character shall be certified under the seal of some court of record in his county or by a Mississippi commissioner.

When out of the United States, such acknowledgment or proof may be made before any court of record, or mayor, or other chief magistrate of any city, borough, or corporation of such foreign kingdom, state, nation, or colony, or before any ambassador, secretary of legation, or consul of the United States to the kingdom or state, nation or colony; and the certificate in such cases must show the identity of the party, and that he acknowledged the execution of the deed, or that the execution was duly proved; or, if made before an ambassador, minister, or consul, then as such acts are usually certified by such officer. In the same way, a married woman residing without the United States may acknowledge her conveyance of lands or right to dower.

The real property or right of dower of a married woman does not pass by her deed, either jointly with her husband or alone, without a previous acknowledgment, on a private examination apart from her husband, before the proper officer, that she signed, sealed, and delivered the same as her voluntary act and deed, freely, without any fear, threats, or compulsion of her husband, which the certificate must state. Rev. Code (1857), 311, art. 28-32.

MISSOURI. Within the state; before a court having a seal, or before a judge, justice, or clerk thereof, a notary public, or some justice of the peace for the county where the land lies. Without the state, and within the United States, by any notary public, or by any court of the United States, or of any state or territory, having a seal, or the clerk of such court, or before a Missouri commissioner. Without the United States, by any court of any state, kingdom, or empire, having a seal; or before the mayor or chief officer of any city or town having an official seal; or by any minister or consul of the United States, or notary public, having a seal.

The certificate must be endorsed on the instrument. If granted by a court, it must be under its seal; if by a clerk, then under his hand and the seal of his court; if by an officer having an official seal, then under his hand and seal; if by one who has no seal, then under his hand.

No acknowledgment must be taken unless the person offering to make it is personally known to at least one judge of the court, or to the officer taking it, to be the person whose name is subscribed, or unless he is proved to be such by at least two credible witnesses. The certificate must state this fact, as well as the fact of acknowledgment; and, if the identity was proved by witnesses, their names and residence must be stated. 1 Rev. Stat. (1855) 358, §§ 16-21.

If the deed is attested by a subscribing witness, proof of the execution of the deed may be made by the subscribing witness before one of the officers mentioned, and the certificate must state the residence of the witness, and that he is personally known to the officer so certifying. Id. §§ 22-30.

A married woman's relinquishment of dower may be acknowledged in the same way; but no such acknowledgment can be taken unless, in addition to the requirements in the case of other grantors, she is made acquainted with the contents of the conveyance, and acknowledges, on a separate examination apart from her husband, that she executed the same (and, if it is a relinquishment of her dower, that she relinquishes her dower in the real estate therein mentioned) freely, and without compulsion or undue influence of her husband. The certificate must set forth these facts, as well as those required to be stated in a certificate of acknowledgment by any other party. Id. §§ 31-39.

MONTANA. Within the territory; before the secretary of the territory, some judge or clerk of a court having a seal, a notary public, a justice of the peace, the county clerk and ex-officio county recorder. Without the territory, and within the United States; before some judge or clerk of any court of the United States, or any state or territory having a seal, a notary public, a justice of the peace, or commissioner appointed by the governor of the territory for that purpose. If taken by a justice of the peace, his official character must be certified to under the seal of the court, tribunal, or officer within and for the county in which such justice may be acting, which has cognizance of his official character.

The certificate must state that the person acknowledging the execution is personally known to the officer.

The certificate of an acknowledgment by a married woman must state that the officer first made her acquainted with the contents of the instrument, and that on examination, separate, apart from, and without the hearing of her husband, she acknowledged that she executed the same freely and voluntarily, without fear or compulsion or undue influence of her husband, and that she does not wish to retract the execution of the same.

NEBRASKA. Within the state; before some court having a seal, or some judge, justice, or clerk thereof, or some justice of the peace, or notary public. Without the state; before a Nebraska commissioner, or before some officer authorized, by the laws of the state or country where the acknowledgment is made, to take the acknowledgment of deeds.

The certificate must be endorsed upon the instrument, and must set forth the title of the court or officer; that the person making the acknowledgment was personally known to at least one of the judges of the court, or to the officer, to be the identical person whose name is affixed to the deed as grantor, or that such identity was proved by at least one credible witness (naming him); that such person acknowledged the instrument to be his voluntary act and deed.

The certificate of acknowledgment or proof may be under seal or otherwise, according to the mode by which the court or officer usually authenticates the most solemn official acts. Laws of 1855, 165, §§ 10-16, 18.

All acknowledgments taken by an officer having no seal must be accompanied with a certificate of a clerk of record or other proper officer of the district, under official seal, that the officer taking the same was the same as represented therein at the date thereof, that the signature is genuine, and the acknowledgment in conformity to law. Gen. Stat. 1873, pp. 141, 239, 343, 494, 873, 877. No separate examination is required in taking the acknowledgment of a married woman. All deeds should have at least one subscribing wit