Research

Scope and Content Note

These notices list lands sold by the Comptroller for unpaid taxes and still unredeemed. Separate notices were published in a newspaper in each county.

Each notices lists parcels by location; by patent, tract, township etc., then by lot number; or if in a city or village, by street address. It also states the acreage (or foot dimensions of a building lot), the quantity of land sold and unredeemed, and the amount required to redeem the parcel from tax sale. Names of owners and purchasers are not included. The advertisements are clipped from newspapers and pasted into books. The notices were published six months before expiration of the two-year period allowed for redemption. If not redeemed, the lands were conveyed by the Comptroller to their purchasers.