Thanks, Barbara and Richard, for throwing light on the subject of insolvencies in 1825. I don't think the asterisks refer to spelling, since they appeared in the newspaper notice itself, not in a transcription. I was rather hoping they would indicate something like an estate instead of a living creditor. Any chance of that? Thanks for throwing more light on the nature of the newspaper notices. Susan On 2/28/09 3:01 AM, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote: > Sheriff sales were pretty common, then as they are getting to be today. And > they were pretty routinely reported in the newspapers at the time of year when > the delinquent property taxes were processed. I think they were often due to > unpaid / delinquent property taxes, but if someone had other personal debts an > unpaid creditor or group of creditors might get the sheriff to initiate > foreclosure on a debtor to get some compensation out of their unpaid debt. > Hence, and correct me if I'm wrong, but if someone appears in the sheriff's > sale list they could have been without real property too, i.e. a renter or > roomer in a relative's home. > > Richard