Farwell Abstract Company was formed by John and Sam Aldridge on
October 29th, 1925. For nearly 100 years, the company has been providing abstract and title services to the residents in and around Farwell, Texas.

The brothers Aldridge were the only owners until it passed to Mr. Johnny Actkinson. Actkinson became a partner of the Aldridge Law Firm in 1973 and the two Aldridge brothers passed away in 1974 and 1977.

In 1988, Marion Rutter joined the firm and in 1997, Johnny was proud to welcome his son Jeff to the Agency. In 2016, the city of Farwell mourned the loss of Johnny Actkinson.

This placed both AARLaw and Farwell Abstract in the capable hands of Mr. Rutter and Jeff Actkinson who proudly carry on the tradition of both AARLaw and the Farwell Abstract Company.

 

About Farwell

Handling land titles and abstracts in Farwell, Texas requires a firm grasp of the history and legal battles surrounding the region. This is because at one time, New Mexico and Texas each fought over a narrow strip of land just west of town. Note what Wikipedia said about that dispute:

"For years there has been a simmering dispute over which state Farwell is lawfully a part of: Texas or New Mexico? The straight north-south border between the two states was originally defined as the 103rd meridian, but the 1859 survey that was supposed to mark that boundary mistakenly set the border between 2.29 and 3.77 miles too far west of that line, making the current towns of Farwell, Texline and a part of Glenrio appear to be within the State of Texas. New Mexico's short border with Oklahoma, in contrast, was surveyed on the correct meridian. New Mexico's draft constitution in 1910 stated that the border is on the 103rd meridian as intended. The disputed strip, hundreds of miles long, includes parts of valuable oilfields of the Permian Basin. A bill was passed in the New Mexico Senate to fund and file a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court to recover the strip from Texas, but the bill did not become law. Today, land in the strip is included in Texas land surveys and the land and towns for all purposes are taxed and governed by the State of Texas." - From Farwell, Texas Wikipedia

Of course, today that matter is settled, but there could be remnants of claims against properties as yet cleared from the books. This is the reason a title search is very important when purchasing properties in and around Farwell - just to be sure that all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. Better safe, right?

Farwell Abstract Building

Farwell Abstract is today located in two historic buildings in town. One is the Capitol Land Building and the other is the former First National Bank.

The additional space was needed long ago to handle the growing management of both the AARLaw legal business and the increased demand for proper title and abstract services.