The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-17


they paid and 100 per cent. profit. $21, 767. 20
Note-Their profits on the transaction are
In addition to the natural increments on the
investment out of the soil. Most of the
land was farm land and was titled at an
advantage over land in more remote por-
tons of the county.
There has been some difficulty in calcu-
lating their profits When the Milers and
Coopers bought their land it was bought in
bulk and the deeds did not give the price
per acre that they paid All the deeds state
the lump price. The price has been divided
by the number of acres to arrive at the
average cost an acre. This was necessary
especially with regard to the Miller transac-
lions. as Miller did not convey to the city
all the lands he had bought at various
times. Below is given the result of an ex-
haustive research among the records in the
Office of the county recorder, the abstracts
held by the city and the ordinances of the
Council, as well as options furnished by the
owners, showing in detail the profits on the
Miller and Cooper transactions in real
estate. They are not lacking in interest.
THE MILLER TRACTS.
Hiram w. Miller purchased from Flavius
J. and Ellen N Meyers, Feb. 90 1890, sixty
five acres of land, part of the northeast
quarter of Section Is, for $1,000, as shown
by the deed records. The price paid was
a little less than Sos an acre. BY Some sort
of imitation process, when Miller sold to
the city there were 6S.S acres in this tract.
The city paid $13,7eO, which was 5000 an acre,
a gain of 1872 an acre in eight years and
half. The administration accounts for the
imitation in, acreage by saying new surveys
showed there was more land than Millers
decd conveyed to him from the Meyerses in
nj NJ
paid for the sixty-fve acres $500 when
they bought it from ]. H. and Salome Mey-
ers. eleven years before they sold 1t to the
Millers for $1,000. gaining 81 1900. Meyers
gained $500 on this tract in eight and one
half years. Miller gained nearly four times
as much as they in two and a half years
less time. This sixty-five-acre tract is as
sessed for taxation at $500 and $7O0 i'm
provement: total, $4,000 The city paid $916
more for the land than it is assessed for
taxation.
Oct. H. 1887. Henry and Eva l.. Schurman
conveyed to Hiram w. Miller 1888 acres of
land in Sections "a, IS, 80 and q for the
lump sum of $2S.5O0, an average price of a
little less than $120 an acre Several lesser
tracts were conveyed together in the deed
to Miller He did not sell all of this COM
bined tract to the city. What he did sell
of IL was 1908 acres, for $50O12 The lands
he conveyed to the city are in a blanket
deed covering all of them, for $6S, 772, in
Guiding the $1S,76O paid for the sixty-five-
acre Meyers tract above. There is nothing
in his deed to the city to show the price he
was paid for the land by the acre. but his
option to the city stipulated that he would
take $500 an acre for 100 acres and $500 an
acre for 50.05 ceres The average price paid
to the Schurmanns having been $120 an acre,
the 1908 acres cost him s1S.OOS.06, making
his profit on the portion of the Schurmann
land sold to the city $32,00S.4O. The average
price having been $120 an acre, his profit
an acre on the 100 acres sold for $500 was
sleo, and on the 5O.0S acres sold at $500 was
$3.50 an acre.