Source:
Ledger, Tax Assessment Rolls of the Mecosta County Treasurer, 1890. RG 72-45, Volume 19, Colfax Township pages 1-29, State Archives of Michigan, Lansing.

The Extraction:
        The extraction entries are listed in the order they were recorded in the 1890 Tax Rolls ledger book.   The index lists all names recorded in the ledger in alphabetical order.   In some cases, names were noted in the ledger's "Remarks" column or notations were made between ledger columns.   Names that were not listed in the "Name of Owner or Occupant" column have been noted in the Transcription Comments.
        Only selected categories from the tax roll entries have been included in this extraction.   The transcription has been done as close to the original form of the ledger as possible including spelling, capitalization and punctuation.   If a letter could not be discerned, ? is used to indicate the unknown letter.

The Law Establishing the 1890 Taxation:
        The law governing the taxation of real and personal property as recorded in the 1890 Tax Roll ledgers was established by the 1889 Public Act No. 195.   As defined in this act:

Real property includes all lands within the State, and all buildings and fixtures thereon and appurtenances thereto, except in cases otherwise expressly provided by law;

Personal property shall include all goods and chattels within the State, all ships, boats, and vessels belonging to inhabitants of this State, whether at home or abroad, and their appurtenances;... all indebtedness due to inhabitants of this State above the amounts respectively owed by them... all shares in corporations organized under the laws of this State... all shares in banks organized in this State... all moneys...

Exempt from taxation:
1. All public property...
2. The personal property of all posts of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of all library, benevolent, charitable and scientific institutions incorporated under the laws of this State...
3. All houses of public worship...
4. All property of cemetery associations and lands used exclusively as burial grounds...
5. Library or school books of the value of $150, personal wearing apparel, all family pictures;
6. Furniture and utensils in use in any dwelling house of the value of $200; musical instruments not exceeding in value $150, and other personal property owned and used by any householder in connection with his house or business, of the value of $200;
7. All personal and real property of persons who, in the opinion of the supervisor, are by reason of poverty, unable to contribute towards public charges;

In Sections 12 to 15, the Act directs that every person of full age and sound mind in the township was to complete a statement of all his taxable property as it existed on the second Monday of April of the tax year and deliver it to the supervisor.   The supervisor was to make an assessment roll by the third Monday in May in each year.   This roll included the name of each person in the township to be taxed, a full description of their real property, and the value of their real and personal property.

Sections 31 and 32 of the Act state that the township treasurer shall remain in his office at some convenient place in the township on every Friday in December from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to receive taxes.... All taxes shall be collected before the first of February, unless the time for collection is extended.

How is the Description interpreted?

        The U. S. Public Lands Survey (USPLS) system is used to describe the location of land parcels in Colfax Township.   The Township is divided into 36 sections, starting with Section 1 in the northeast corner of the township.   The sections are numbered sequentially with 1-6 in the northern-most row, 7-12 in the second row, etc.   The section number sequence wraps back and forth so that Section 7 is directly south Section 6 on the west side of the township, Section 13 is directly south of Section 12 on the east side of the township and so on.

The sections in a township are one square mile (1 mile x 1 mile) which is equal to 640 acres, with the exception in Colfax Township that the far western sections (Sections 6, 7, 18, 19, 30, 31) are slightly smaller.   Property descriptions divide the sections into halves, quarters, halves of quarters, etc.   The largest division of the section is at the right end of the description and as you read toward the left the divisions become smaller parts of the section. The diagram below shows examples of typical descriptions for quarter sections (160 acres) and divisions of quarter sections--half of a quarter section (80 acres) and a 1/4 of a quarter section (40 acres):