Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-09-28
A CHAPTER OF EARLY DAY LAW,
How Sheriff LaVgne Sold His Own Land
on Execution Without Claim for PAY,

How Sheriff LaVigne Sold His Own Land
on Execution Without a Claim for Pay.
There are lawyers and lawyers! and
there were shrewd practitioners at
the bar Of Justice years ago. MIR. Clar-
ence L. Powers, once a resident of this
county, candidate at one time for
superintendent Of schools, q cousin of
Lawyer L. p. Powers, has written an
interesting article touching upon the
court records Of Wood county. Mr..
Powers is now associate editor Of the
Milwaukee Journal and his article
was printed in that paper last Satnr-
lay. Mr.. Powers wrote:
When a court has ordered the sale
i land to satisfy 4 Judgment, it is the
.uty of the sheriff Of the county to
make the sale and to give his deed to
he purchaser. 1t is not often, per-
rapS, that q sheriff in performing this
}tiicial duty conveys his own property
TO another for a price which does not
20 into bis own pocket and without
he knowledge Of what the effect will
0e, but such cases have happened. At
east one such case is within the
knowledge of the writer of this article.
md it is perhaps a story worth print
ng. The sheriff who thus sold his
own property to another was EuZebe
LaNigne Of Grand Rapids. who died
last week at the age Of 81 years. 1t
was over thirty. perhaps forty years
ago. fer it is tWenly-Seven years since
| heard the story from the lawyer who
represented the purchaser Of the prop
erty, and even then it was an old story.
AS near as | can remember the story
ran like this:
The firm OF John Edwards x Co..
lumbermen. owned SaWmill at Port
Edwards, four miles below Grand
Rapids, on the west bank Of the Wis
cOnSin river. AnOld settler a French
man named joe Cheyallier, owned a
farm OF eighty acres adjoining the mill
property, and the mill company had
| often tried to buy it Of him. as it was
really necessary for the completion Of
! their water power. CheValIier under
stood the situation perfectly and held
! to his land perhaps for higher price
/ than he was offered. Matters ran
along until there was trouble in the
family and Cheyallier and bis wife
. st !tGi dGGu- lit IClC Tic I)IdCt anu us
wife remained living upon it. The
breach was too great to be repaired
and before Cheyallier left, not to re-
,pany, giving his individual deed
minus the signature of the wife.
SECOND CLAIMANT FOR PROPERTY.
Euzebe LaNigne was a shrewd bust
ness man in those days and he als(
understood the necessity Of the com
pany, so as a matter Of speculation he
bought the property Of Mrs. Cheyalliel
and put his deed on record. The mil
company obtained possession of the
property and he began an action in the
circuit court to recover it. The com
pany put the case into the hands O
its lawyer and after examining into thu
facts he came to the conclusion that
the property must be given up, as the
deed from the wife who was in posses
sion of the property. homestead. wa!
better title than that derived from
her husband who was not in possession
when he signed his rights away.
Temporary possession Of the prop
ertY was. however. OF considerable
value to the Edwards company. anC
because Of that fact it was decided Il
hold possession and to delay the cast
as long as possible to postpone the evi
day of trial which could, under the
circumstances, have but one result
Then came one continuance afte7
another under various legal preteXtS
and all the time the defendants attOr
/ ney was hunting for something. he die
not know what. which might turn the
scale of advantage and give his clients
the better title. And it came at last
but not until about six years haC
elapsed.
FINDS AN OLD JUDGMENT.
! The lawyer found it at Portag
when he was on his return home from