Stanley Matthews

“ By the very terms of the statute, the record of a deed is not original evidence, for it can be used only on proof of the loss of the original deed, or that the latter cannot be produced by the party offering the proof ”

“ All these items of evidence tended to prove the alleged mistake, and what was the correct description of the premises conveyed in the lost original deed, and were entitled to be considered, in connection with the certified copy of the record of the deed itself, as secondary evidence of its contents. In admitting and considering them the circuit court committed no error; what effect should be given to them, singly or together, was for that court, to whom the cause had been submitted, alone to determine.
We find no error in the record, and the judgment is affirmed. ”

“ Its whole effect can be accomplished, without in any manner displacing or superseding the common-law principles which authorized other modes of proving the contents of lost deeds and other instruments. It is in this light that the statute has been viewed and treated by the supreme court of Illinois. Bowman v. Wettig, 39 Ill. 416. In Nattinger v. Ware, 41 Ill. 245, it was decided that a deed, properly executed and acknowledged, but recorded with a misdescription of the premises, would protect the grantee against subsequent purchasers and incumbrancers. ”