1851 mortgage

You might find this interesting.  In 1851 in Ohio County a man (William H. Leach) borrowed $212.69 from another man (Job L. Arnold) and the loan was to be repaid in one year. To secure the debt the borrower gave the lender a mortgage on some domestic animals - two horses, two cows, & ten hogs.  The "mortgage" was recorded in the Clerk's Office.

What this transaction does not include is payment of interest, which is odd.  It also doesn't say who will have possession of the animals, although I feel sure that the borrower kept possession of the animals because if the lender took possession he would have to spend money to feed them during the year.

Anyway, this was a business deal from 1851.

I think the borrower was William Howard Leach (1817-1900), the husband of Mary Ann Thomas, and the son of William Brooks Leach and Diannah (Atherton) Howard. They are found living in Ohio County in the 1850 and 1860 census; afterwards I think they moved to Arkansas (as did many people due to the difficult economy following the Civil War).  They later moved to Oklahoma.