20 Wis. 449 | Wis. | 1866
The circuit court ruled out a tax deed to H. Modlin, under which the appellant claims title to the land in dispute, because it had not the private seal of the clerk executing it, but only the official seal of the board of supervisors of the county; and this is assigned for error. The deed was executed under the authority given by section 109, ch. 15, R. S 1849. That section provides that the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county “ shall'- execute in the name of his county, as clerk of the board of supervisors thereof, under, his hand and seal, to the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, a deed of the land remaining unredeemed,” &c. It appears plain to us that the statute requires — not the seal of the county — but the seal of the clerk executing the deed. The law of 1852, which prescribed the form of a tax deed, also required the individual executing the deed to use his own seal. The act of 1854 altered this, and provided a form requiring the seal of the county. And the rule is, that where the statute is silent respecting the manner of sealing a deed, the private seal of the person executing it is to be used. Black, on Tax Tit., 433, 434. It follows that the official seal of the county should be used only when there is a clear statutory provision requiring it.
The appellant also claims that he proved a good title to the land under a tax deed to Eastman for the non-payment of the taxes of 1841. It is maintained by the respondent that this tax deed is void, because the title to the land, at the time the taxes
By the Court. — Tbe judgment of tbe circuit court is affirmed.