Register of Deeds
Department Head:
Kathy Hill
About Us
Welcome to the Lincoln County Register of Deeds Office. The Register of Deeds office can most appropriately be thought of as a library of local records. This office is a storage facility for a host of local documents. From land title transfers to birth, marriage, and death records, this office has a wealth of information about the local population from the beginning of Lincoln County to the present. Although these are only a few of the documents found in this office they remain some of the most widely requested by the general public.
THE WHIPPING BOYS:
Traditions defining many public ceremonies arose in times when the only public record was public recollection. Centuries ago, before publicly recorded deeds secured property owner's rights, buyers and sellers would gather witnessess, including ten small boys, and define the boundaries before exchanging a bag of gold for a symbolic clump of dirt. The men would then beat the boys to fix the transaction in their memories. This provided witnesses able to attest to the land sale covenant in the event a dispute arose, even decades later, in spite of limited life expectancies. Fortunately society has progressed and implemented new methods to record real estate transactions.
Contact Us
Register of Deeds Lincoln County
100 East 5th Street
Canton, SD 57013-1789
Phone: 605-764-5661
Fax: 605-764-5932
E-Mail:
rod@lincolncountysd.org