Thanks so much to TreeMother <tonin1@airmail.net> for the great contributions about her ancestors! I wanted to pass along something that I learned about Sheriff's sale. When this sale was recorded in the Deed books, it will be listed under the Sheriff's name....not your ancestor who "lost" the property. In this instance she stated the Sheriff's name, but sometimes this is hard to locate. But if you think your people did own land at one time in a county, but just can't find where they sold it, you might try to search for it under a Sheriff's name. If you see one man's name listed often in the index, he possibly is the Sheriff....so take a look at an actual deed, and it would clarify if he was the Sheriff and the details of the sale. I believe in the deed itself, it will state your ancestor's name as the previous owner. 1. Sheriff's sale. Will be sold, on the first Tuesday in February next, at the court house in Twiggs County the following property...Lot No.31, in the 27th district, Twiggs County, taken as the property of Alexander Rozier, to satisfy Edward Lankford. listed in Twiggs Co. Sheriff's sale Feb. 1812.Land taken from Alexander Rozier to satisfy court order in favor of said Lankford. (Signed Matthew Hodges, Shff. ***This looks like it came from a newspaper abstract. Newspaper abstracts are great to indicate this type of sale....and also the sale of Negroes, as they sometimes even give descriptions and ages and names of the Slaves. Virginia