Black's Law Dictionary:  "vendue: a sale; generally a sale at public auction; and more particularly a sale made under authority of law, as by a constable, sheriff, tax collector, administrator, etc."

Mary Jo Lanphear
Ontario County Archives

-----Original Message-----
From: Poor House Lady [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2001 9:04 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Auctioning of the Poor -- Legal term


We are trying to transcribe a document which is a record of the auctioning
of the poor of a town in 1832. (This is for posting on the history page of
our website called The POORHOUSE STORY -- which is a clearinghouse for
information about 19th century American poorhouses.)

It is easier to SHOW you what I am working with rather than just telling you
about it. So, if you would be so kind as to go to
http://www.poorhousestory.com/AUCTION_POOR.htm  you can view the document.

The Title of the document, written in the usual place on the back of the
tri-folded paper, and the first phrase use a term with which I am
unfamiliar. And, of course, I have the usual dilemna ... how do you look it
up (to check the spelling) if you don't already know how to spell it!

The title looks like ... Articles of Vandice
And the opening phrase looks like ... Articles to vendice (sp?)

We believe that it and the opening phrase in the body of the document
(below) are related to the derivation of the word "vendor" --
     Main Entry: ven.dor
Pronunciation: 'ven-d&r, for 1 also ven-'dor
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French vendeur, from vendre to sell, from Latin vendere
Date: 1594
Variant(s): also vend.er /-d&r/

Any help verifying this term would be greatly appreciated.

PS  I could e-mail a larger and somewhat clearer scan of the document than
was feasible to post on the website.
PPS We are also having trouble deciphering the name of the town and are
uncertain what state it was in. Sigh.

Thanks,
Linda Crannell
(aka=The Poorhouse Lady)