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An auction is worth seeing in actionEstate auctions are part of our past Even tcday in this area, they are quite common Hie sale bin or list of what will be auctioned off is often pub llshed In the DRK usually on Thursday or Friday editions. Also the sale bills may be displayed in local stores, banks and businesses Auctions are a quick, efficient way to dispose of personal effects and/or real estate. Oftentimes when someone dies, an auction is planned by- the heirs. Sometimes the family Just divides the property among themselves. But tf they can't agree on whom will get what, then all the personal possessions of the deceased will be sold at public auction, and the heirs will divide the money proceeds afterwards Often the heirs come to the auction and bid on special items that are dear to their memory and sometimes two heirs or relatives wlU bid m one item and it will sell for much more than it is worth Emotions play a big part in auctions Enemies and rivals erf ten fight It out by bidding on an Item, and the top bid wins that unusual argument as to who gets H. But the loser can take comfort by saying 1 made that old ..really pay for that!The auctioneer in times erf the pest was often referred to as ■colonel, His auctioning was a series of bids Interspersed withHISTORICALLYYOURSBY DALLAS KRUMM OF WAtASH COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETYfiller sounds or syllables. Del lb erate fast speaking crften excited the crowd and bidders and slow thinkers often would bid at a level higher than they intended. Some bidders would get caught up in the bidding and pay much more than they had intended and some people would bid on something because “it was so cheap. Grandma Crum told this writer years ago a bargain is something you can t use at a price that you can t resist. and that is so true at auctionsThe auctioneers distinctive selling voice and pitch used to be called crying and they were paid a preagreed-upon price or percentage for their services. Today that percentage may vary from 15-30 percent depending upoo the auctioneer.The clerk Is a vital part of the auction. They usually are close to the auctioneer or cncr and list the ktcmts), who buys them(often identified in this century by a buyer number) and the price.While searching in the Wab ash County Clerk's records in the estate records, an Interesting sale biU was discovered. It was of an auction held on September 10, 1866 It was hdd north orf Friendsvllle. It was of personal effects orf Francis Marlon Crum, the brother erf this writer's great grandfather. William Anthony Crum. It described the items sold, the buyer and the pncc.This farm sale was held Just after the Civil War when farming tools were In great demand and the veterans still had some of their money from what they'd sent home during their military service. The highest price paid $75.5). was for a two horse wagon Several items brought ten cents. Including a rocking cradle and an evidently Junk or worn out one-horseplow. Soto of the buyers in eluded: James Foster, D.O. Daley, Jerry Birkett. Hugh FYye. John GUkinson. Joel Couch. James P. McNair. Jacob Lither-land. Edward Plxky. Robert Birkett. George Oman. Joshua Buchanan. Benjamin Taylor. William H. Wilkinson. Davis Reed. John Williams. Lewis Hlnderliter. Orange W Pool. John Birkett. L.W. Daly. James A. Banks. John Youngken. WU lam Anthony Crum. N.B. Brown. E.S. Prout. Jonathan Either land and Lewis Williams. The crier was Griffith Mundy and he charged » tor crying the sale.This Infoimatioi. is important to family historians and genealogists as it helps show who lived or was in the area at that time So a search of old court house estate records can be helprful in locating an ancestor or relatives in an area at a cer tain time. But usually only auc-lions ordered by court-appointed executors or administrators of estates (done when someone dies without a valid will being found) are to be found in old estate flicsIf you ham never been to an auction, try It • you don't have to bid. Just watching bidders and seeing what an item brings can be interesting. Yes, you too can enjoy seeing or being a part of our local past auctions.
Newspaper Details
Mount Carmel Daily Republican Register
Mount Carmel, Illinois, US
Fri, Nov 29, 1996
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
George C.
VA, USA 28 May 2017
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