Genealogy is often about the details.

That’s evident in this 1908 gossip column with local happenings from West Point, Illinois.

“Quite a large crowd was in West Point Friday to attend the land sale of Mrs. John Rampley. As the bids on the price of land were not as high as the law required, the sale of of the land was postponed.”

… as the law required…

That phrase is suggestive of the sale being the result of court action. What type of court action is not specified, but an initial search of court records should search for “Mrs. John Rampley” as either a defendant or a plaintiff. She is most likely involved if this sale resulted from court action.  Her first name will have to be determined as she’s not going to be listed in the court records as Mrs. John Rampley. If her name cannot be discovered, a search of the records still is probably fairly easy. It is likely there are few Rampleys involved in lawsuits in Hancock County in 1908. While West Point is somewhat close to the Hancock-Adams County line, the fact that the sale was in Hancock County suggests that if the sale was the result of court action, it was done in a Hancock County court.

Mrs. John Rampley could have been the defendant (eg. the case was a foreclosure), the plaintiff (eg. she was involved in some sort of title dispute). There is also the possibility that even though she was being sued or suing others that she does not appear in the defendants’ or plaintiffs’ index. Those indexes typically only include the name of the first defendant and the name of the first plaintiff. If she is further down the list, she will not appear in the index entry for the case. An effective search of court records will require a search of Rampley’s family members–not just her.

And whether Judge Mac[k] was in West Point on Friday because of the Rampley sale is not stated, but the coincidence is noted.