Burdick Family Land Records, Wexford County, Michigan Liber 7 page 606

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 remember this piece of land, George Burdick purchased E1/2 of the NE 1/4 of T23N R10W from Erasmus D. Abbott. The price was $200.

Now, George is selling 1/2 of the land to his son-in-law, John P. Fenton:

The price is higher, perhaps a reflection of improvements made to the land. Looking closely at the old 1889 atlas¹ shows the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter is a fractional 40. That means that allowances were made for the curvature of the earth along the north line of the township, and this area is not a full 40 acres. It is just over 10 acres short, and I was confused at the time I made the extraction. However, the old map shows it perfectly: 29.97 acres.

You can see that adjustments were made all along the Township line, all the property seems to be fractional, a portion of a 40. the plots just below are are listed as a full 40 acres. You can also see that in 1889, or whenever the data from the 1889 atlas was collected, George W. Burdick owned both pieces, and there appears to be a house on each part.

1. 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.