I am posting information gleaned from land records in the areas where our family’s ancestors resided. You can read more about this project in the overview. You may also check my deed record listing, which I will update with each post.
I have noticed that the next four deeds also refer to the same land as the one recorded in liber 9 page 332. This is another circumstance where an illustration will help me, and maybe it will make it easier for you, too.
| Recorded in (liber-page) | 9-332 | 9-581 | 9-582 | 9-583 | 9-584 | |
| Date signed | 4 Feb 1880 | 6 Dec 1880 | ||||
| Date recorded | 23 Nov 1878 | 17 Dec 1880 | ||||
| Grantor | William Backus | Auditor General, Michigan State Tax Deed 1874 Taxes | Auditor General, Michigan State Tax Deed 1875 Taxes | Auditor General, Michigan State Tax Deed 1876 Taxes | Auditor General, Michigan State Tax Deed 1876, 1877, 1878 Taxes | |
| Grantee | Mary J. Burdick | |||||
| Land | NW 1/4 of NW 1/4 Sec 28 & SW 1/4 of SE 1/4 Sec 15 all in T24N R10W | an undivided half of NW 1/4 of NW 1/4 Sec 28 all in T24N R10W & SW 1/4 of SE 1/4 Sec 15 | an undivided half of NW 1/4 of NW 1/4 Sec 28 all in T24N R10W & SW 1/4 of SE 1/4 Sec 15 | NW 1/4 of NW 1/4 Sec 28 T24N R10W | NW 1/4 of NW 1/4 Sec 28 T24N R10W | |
So, the verdict is (drum roll, please): Mary Jane Burdick purchased whatever interest William Backus had in these two pieces of property. It would appear to have been his initial investment and some property taxes on some pieces. He may have moved on to Chicago, or perhaps never resided in Michigan and purchased the property as an investment. But, for whatever reason, he was behind on his taxes.
All of these deeds must have given Mary a title to the property, since she is shown as an owner in the 1889 Atlas.1 You can see a diagram that I pieced together below, which shows Greenwood Township on the top, and Colfax Township on the bottom of a dashed line. The land marked in Colfax Township is the first land George Burdick purchased in Colfax from Erasmus Abbott. The property in Greenwood is that covered by the deeds listed above.
- E.L. Hayes & Co., Atlas of Wexford County, Michigan / compiled by Eli L. Hayes from government surveys, county and township records, and personal investigations and observations (Chicago, Ill.: E.L. Hayes & Co., 1889), page 29; digital images, The University of Michigan. Michigan County Histories and Atlases. http://name.umdl.umich.edu/3928170.0001.001 : accessed 2 November 2009.
