seal, and acknowledge the same, and that she is still satisfied therewith, such officer shall certify such examination and declaration of the wife, together with the acknowl edgment as aforesaid on such deed, &c., and subscribe his name thereto.

5. All deeds, powers of attorney, &c., for the conveyance or incumbrance of lands, &c., situate in this state, executed and acknowledged or proved in any other state, territory, or country, in conformity with the laws of such state, &c., or of this state, shall be as valid as if executed within this state, in conformity with this act.

The governor of the state may appoint commissioners to take acknowledgment of deeds, depositions, &c., residing out of the state to convey lands, or to be used in the

state.

State of Ohio,

Cuyahoga County,}

88.

Form of Acknowledgment.·

April 24, 1851. Personally appeared SAM HILL and MARY his wife, who acknowledged that they did sign and seal the foregoing instrument, and that the same is their free act and deed.

I further certify that I did examine the said MARY HILL separate and apart from her said husband, and did then and there make known to her the contents of the foregoing instrument; and upon that examination she declared that she did voluntarily sign, seal, and acknowledge the same, and that she was still satisfied therewith. (Seal.) JOHN ROGERS, Notary.

Rights of Married Women.

The interest of any married man in the real estate of his wife, and the interest he may have in any chose in action, demand, legacy, or bequest of his wife unless the same shall have been reduced to possession, together with all articles of furniture of hers given her by bequest or otherwise, or bought with her money, before or after marriage, are exempt from liability for the husband's debts.

DOWER. A widow is endowed of one full and equal third part of all the lands, tenements, and real estate, of which her husband was seized at any time during the coverture.

Rate of Interest.

THE legal rate is six per cent. On written agreement, any rate as high as ten per cent. If more be reserved, the excess is void.

Wills.

EVERY will shall be in writing (except nuncupative), and signed at the end thereof by the party making the same, or by some other person in his presence and by his express direction, and shall be attested and subscribed in the presence of such party by two or more competent witnesses, who saw the testator subscribe or heard him acknowledge the same.

Mechanics' Lien.

ANY person who shall perform labor, or furnish materials or machinery, for constructing, altering, or repairing, any boat, vessel, or other water-craft, or for erecting or repairing any house, mill, manufactory, or other building or appurtenance, by virtue of a contract or agreement with the owner thereof, shall have a lien to secure the payment of the same, upon such boat, vessel, or other water-craft, and upon such house, mill, manufactory, or other building or appurtenance, and the lot of land upon which the same shall stand. Every mechanic, or other person, doing or performing any work toward the erection or repair of any house, mill, manufactory, or other building or appurtenance, or the construction, alteration, or repair, of any boat, vessel, or other water-craft, erected under a contract between the owner thereof and the builder, or other person, whether such work shall be performed as journeyman, laborer, carman, sub-contractor, or otherwise, or any person who shall furnish materials for work so done, or materials so furnished, has not been paid and satisfied, may deliver to the owner of such building, or vessel, an attested account of the amount and value of the work and labor thus performed, or the materials thus furnished, and remaining unpaid, and thereupon such owner shall retain out of his subsequent payments to the contractor, the amount of such work or labor, for the benefit of the person so performing the same.

The person wishing to avail himself of the provisions of this law, must make out an account in writing, of the items of labor, skill, materials, &c., against the party owing him, and make oath thereto before a magistrate, and have the account so sworn to deposited with the recorder of the county where the labor was performed, within four months from the time of performing such labor, or furnishing such niaterals, &c., and file with this account a copy of any written contract, if such there be.

MICHIGAN.

Constitution adopted 1850-Square Miles 56,243-Population in 1850, 395,576.

Exemptions.

THE following property is exempt from levy and sale under any execution or upon any other final process of a court. All spinning-wheels, weaving-looms, with the apparatus, and stoves put up or kept for use in any dwelling-house; a seat, pew, or slip, occupied by any person or family, in any house or place of worship; all cemeteries, tombs, and rights of burial while in use as repositories of the dead; all arms and accoutrements required by law to be kept by any person; all wearing apparel of every person or family; the library and school books of every individual and family, not exceeding one hundred and fifty dollars, and all family pictures. To each householder, ten sheep with their fleeces, and the yarn or cloth manufactured from the same; two cows, five swine, and provisions and fuel for the comfortable subsistence of such householder and family for six months; to each householder all household goods, furniture, and utensils, not exceeding in value two hundred and fifty dollars; a sufficient quantity of hay, grain, feed, and roots, for properly keeping for six months the animals exempted as aforesaid; and any chattel mortgage, bill of sale, or lien, created on any property exempted, except what is specified in the next section, shall be void unless the same is signed by the wife.

The tools, implements, materials, stock, apparatus, team, vehicle, horse, harness, or other things, to enable any person to carry on the profession, trade, occupation, or business, in which he is wholly or principally engaged, not exceeding în value two hundred and fifty dollars.*

By the corstitution, the personal property of every resident of this state, to consist of such property only as shall be designated by law, shall be exempted to the amount of not less than five hundred dollars, from sale on execution or other final process of any court issued for the collection of any debt contracted after the adoption of this constitution, January 1, 1851.

Homestead-Exemption Law.

A HOMESTEAD consisting of any quantity of land not exceeding forty acres, and the dwelling-house thereon and its appurtenances, to be selected by the owner thereof, and not included in any recorded town-plat, or city, or village; or instead thereof, at the option of the owner, a quantity of land not exceeding in amount one lot, being within a recorded town-plat, or city, or village, and the dwelling-house thereon and its appurtenances, owned and occupied by any resident of this state (not exceeding in value fifteen hundred dollars, by the constitution of 1851), shall not be subject to forced sale on execution, or any other final process from a court, for any debt or debts, growing out of or founded upon contract, either express or implied, made after the third day of July, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight. Said homestead is exempt during the minority of his children, and if no children but widow, it shall be exempt, and rents and profits thereof shall accrue to her during her widowhood, unless she is the owner of a homestead in her own right.

The property exempted in this division, except mechanical tools, and implements of Lushandry, are not exempt from execution in judgment for purchase-money of the same.

Trave

Such exemption shall not extend to any mortgage thereon lawfully obtained; but such mortgage or other alienation of such land by the owner thereof, if a mar ried man, shall not be valid without the signature of the wife to the same, unless such mortgage shall be given to secure the payment of the purchase-money or some portion thereof.

Whenever a levy shall be made upon the lands or tenements of a householder, whose homestead has not been selected and set apart by metes and bounds, such householder may notify the officer, at the time of making such levy, of what he regards as his homestead, with a description thereof, within the limits above prescribed, and the remainder alone shall be subject to sale under such levy.

If the plaintiff in execution shall be dissatisfied with the quantity of land selected and set apart as aforesaid, the officer making the levy shall cause the same to be surveyed, beginning at a point to be designated by the owner, and set off in a compact form, including the dwelling-house and its appurtenances, the amount specified in the first section of this act, and the expense of said survey, shall be chargeable on the execution, and collected thereupon.

After the survey shall have been made, the officer making the levy may sell the property levied upon, and not included in the set-off, in the same manner as provided in other cases for the sale of real estate on execution; and in giving a deed of the same, he may describe it according to his original levy, excepting therefrom by metes and bounds, according to the certificate of the survey, the quantity set off as aforesaid.

Any person owning and occupying any house on land not his own, and claiming such house as his homestead, shall be entitled to the exemption as aforesaid. Nothing in this act shall be considered as exempting any real estate from taxation or sale for taxes.

Mechanics' Lien.

EVERY building shall be subject to the payment of the debts contracted for work or material in the erection and construction thereof, when the building or any part thereof, is constructed under contract entered into by the owner with any person to do work or furnish materials; provided such lien shall not attach unless the contract is made in writing and signed by the owner of such building or by some person duly authorized by him, and recorded in the registry of deeds for the county where the land lies.

Every person furnishing labor or materials for erecting or repairing any building or the appurtenances thereof by contract with the owner of any piece of land, shall have a lien on the whole piece of land, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, for the amount due him therefor; provided the contract is in writing, and signed by the owner of the land or some one duly authorized by him, and recorded in the registry of deeds for the county where the land lies.

The lien ceases at the expiration of six months after the time when the money or the last instalment shall become payable, unless a suit shall have been commenced to enforce such lien within said six months.

Chattel Mortgages.

No chattel mortgage is valid as against creditors and purchasers and mortgagees in good faith, unless the mortgage or a true copy thereof shall be filed in the office of township clerk of the township, or city clerk of the city where such mortgagor resides. Every such mortgage shall cease to be valid as against creditors, subsequent purchasers, and mortgagees in good faith, after the expiration of one year from filing the same, unless within thirty days next preceding expiration of the year, the mortgagee, his agent or attorney, shall make and annex to the instrument on file, an affidavit setting forth the interest which the mortgagee has by virtue of such mortgage in the property therein nientioned, and the mortgage must be renewed from year to year, in manner aforesaid.