As far as I know, dower rights did extend to any real estate, not just the homestead, but, unless I'm forgetting something, I don't think I have a single deed from that period in Claiborne County relinquishing dower when the husband sold. Otherwise, I only see wives pop up when selling property they themselves inherited from someone or when selling their dower rights after the husband died. I'm not sure why dower release wasn't included as a matter of course; much of the other language used was boilerplate. Unfortunately, I've not see a good list by time period of the dower laws in Tennessee, so I'm not sure of the exact requirements. But, yes, it is rather surprising not to see dower releases all the time. On 4/16/07, Sharon Bryant <SharonBryant@cox.net> wrote: > > Phillip, > > Would it really have mattered whether the home was was on the land that > was being sold? > > If it was real estate wouldn't the wife have dower rights? > > Sharon > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Phillip Walker <phillip.walker@gmail.com> > *To:* Sharon Bryant <SharonBryant@cox.net> > *Cc:* tnclaibo@rootsweb.com > *Sent:* Monday, April 16, 2007 10:11 AM > *Subject:* Re: [TNCLAIBO] Question about deeds > > > I went back and looked at some of mine and see dower rights barely > mentioned -- unless the rights themselves are being sold at the time. Odd. > The dower laws changed over time, but there definitely was a dower law > through 1850 and at least into the 1880s. Most of the deeds I have, though, > are for extra plots of land, rarely the plot where the home stood. > > On 4/16/07, Sharon Bryant <SharonBryant@cox.net > wrote: > > > > I have been reviewing some old deeds which were copied and sent to me by > > CD. > > > > I noticed that there were no relinquishments of Dower rights for any of > > these deeds. > > > > Was this normal for pre-1850 Claiborne Co., TN deeds? > > > > Thanks, > > > > Sharon > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > TNCLAIBO-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > -- > Phillip A. Walker > phillip.walker@gmail.com > > -- Phillip A. Walker phillip.walker@gmail.com