Nancy Dodge sent the *Mailing List* a record of a bond which pertained to Philip Chelf. No one else has come forward with an explanation of its contents, so I will take a stab at it, even if the only accomplishment thereby is that someone else shoots it down.
At an unspecified time, Philip Chelf purchased 548 acres of land from James Belford, but Belford failed to give Chelf a deed. Therefore, Philip's title to the land was in doubt. In the course of time, Philip sold the land to Morton Christopher and to John Clore, Jr., but he could not give them a clear title to the land because he had none to give. Now one might think that Christopher and Clore would have asked Chelf for a bond, in case they had future trouble with their right to the land. That is, you would think that they would be the ones to ask for protection.
On the contrary, Philip Chelf asked the purchasers, to whom he could not give a title, to give him a bond insuring that he (Chelf) would be protected against any future arguments over the land. These two purchasers were joined by Michael Wilhoit in giving the bond. While this seems backwards to me, it might be reasonable if Chelf had disposed of the land at a cut rate price. "I will sell you the land at a reduced price if you will protect me from any future disagreements about the title." Philip perhaps wanted to sell the land and to be totally clear of any future responsibility for the action.
Three men were co-signers on the bond. Two of three were the purchasers of the land. Michael Wilhoit seems to have no economic interest in the deal. Are there any relationships to be discerned between the three and Chelf? Morton Christopher married Elizabeth Wayland, the daughter of Adam Wayland and Elizabeth Blankenbaker. Adam was the son of the immigrant, Thomas Wayland. Morton's father was William, whose brother, John, is said to have had associations with the (Edward) Ballengers.
Assuming that the Michael Wilhoit was the older one in the community, his wife was Mary Ballenger. Perhaps there is a connection between the Ballengers, Christophers, and Wilhoits. John Clore, Jr., married Margaret Blankenbaker, the daughter of Michael. John was the nephew, by marriage, of Barbara Yager Clore Chelf.
Of the two witnesses, John Sampson is an unknown, and seems out of place in the transaction between several Germanna people. The name John Hanesefer is really John Stonecipher, a known German.
Was the land transaction between Chelf and Christopher and Clore strictly economic? Or were there other factors? In the next Note we will show that most of the people were living in the same neighborhood. Broadly, I will identify the location of the 548 acres where Clore and Christopher were apparently living.
(22 Jan 01)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.