Archival Resources: Probate Cases

Probate is defined as "The legal process in which a will is reviewed to determine whether it is valid and authentic. Probate also refers to the general administering of a deceased person's will or the estate of a deceased person without a will. The court appoints either an executor named in the will (or an administrator if there is no will) to administer the process of collecting the assets of the deceased person, paying any liabilities remaining on the person's estate and finally distributing the assets of the estate to beneficiaries named in the will or determined as such by the executor." Read more at: Probate Definition | Investopedia

If you can get your hands on an estate case or probate case, you will likely find a wealth of information. A probate file may contain the subject's last will and testament, itemized lists of possessions and real estate, financial documents, lists and testimonies of living beneficiaries and next of kin. The records may also include information concerning employment, burial, funeral services, and the residence(s) of the subject's spouse and children.

Below is an example of a Last Will and Testament, which was transcribed and uploaded onto Ancestry.com for public viewing. Notice the land descriptions in the second paragraph. Legal land descriptions can help genealogists to pinpoint the exact location of an ancestor's property. Wills often end up in title abstracts of properties and residences to demonstrate changes made to property lines over the years.

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According to The Dales of Eastern Shore Maryland and Tennessee, 1986, Clarice G Neil.

Last Will & Testament of John Dale, Senior (1723-1786)

In the Name of God Amen. This 29th day of September 1785. I John Dale Senior of Worcester County and State of Maryland, Being of sound and Perfect mind and memory, thanks be given to God, and Calling to mind the mortality of my body, and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die do make and order this my last Will and Testament that is to say Principally and first of all I give and Recommend my Soul into the Hands of almighty God that gave it and my Body I recommend to the Earth to be Buried in a Christian Like manor at the Discretion of my Executors hereafter Named and as touching our worldly Estate wherewith it hath boon Pleased God to bless me with in this life I give, demise and dispose of the same in the following manor and form:

Item: I give and Bequeath to my Son James Dale all my lands to the southernmost side of a dytch that leads down by Ephraim Catho------ and thence up and with the said dytch Till S74 West of Poles Will Strich and marked chestnut White Oak and from the said Oak N 68 W 49 Poles to intersect with a dytch that leads down by Seth Hardman Whaleys with all the appurtenances to the said lands belonging to him his heirs and assignees forever.

Item: I give and bequeath to my aforesaid Son James Dale one Cow & bottles after the decease of his mother to him his heirs and assignees.

Item: I give and bequeath unto my Son Jessy Dale all the land that I have in possession called Bear Quarter with all the appurtenances to the said lands belonging to him his heirs and assignees for ever.

Item: I give and bequeath unto my aforesaid son Jessey Dale one Sow and Pigs to him his heirs and assignees.

Item: I give and bequeath unto my Son John Milbourn Dale all the Remaining Part of my Lands with all the appurtenances to the said Lands Belonging, to him his heirs and assignees forever.

Item: I give and bequeath unto my aforesaid son John Milbourn Dale on Sow and pigs to him his heirs and assignees.

Item: I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Mary Dale one Bed and furniture, one Cow and Calf, two Ewe and Lambs, one Chest to her her heirs and assignees.

Item: I give and bequeath to my Daughter, Tabitha Dale one Bed and furniture, one Cow and Calf, two Ewe and Lambs, one Chest to her her heirs and assignees.

Item: I give and bequeath unto my aforesaid son John Milbourn Dale one Little Desk to him is heirs and assignees.

Item: I will and order that after my Debts and Legacies are paid the Remainder of my Estate be Equally divided between three of my Daughters Vis. Mary Dale, Martha Baker, & Tabitha Dale their heirs and assignees.

Item: I will and appoint my well Beloved wife Tabitha Dale and my Sons James Dale my only and sole Executors of this my last will and Testament.

Lastly I do hereby declare and confirm this to be my last will and Testament in Witness whereof I have here unto set my hand and affixed my Seal the Day and year First above written.          

 John Dale (seal)

Signed, Sealed, Published and Declared by the said John Dale to be his last will and Testament, In Presence of us:
Josiah Dale
Thomas Dale
Lipporah Baker

Worcester County. The 13th day of November Anne Dom. 1786 then came Tabitha Dale and made oath on the Holy Evangels of Almighty God that the foregoing Instrument of writing is the true and whole Will and Testament of John Dale late of Worcester County deceased that hath come to the hands of possession and that she doth not know of any other. ----Before John Wise Ref. W. W. C. Worcester County. The 13th day of November Anno Dom. 1786 then came Josiah Dale late of Worcester and Thomas Dale two of the subscribing witnesses to the foregoing last will and Testament of John Dale late of Worcester County deceased and made oath on the Holy Evangels of Almighty God that they did see the Testator therein named Sign and Seal this Will & that they heard him Publish Pronounce and declare the same to be his last Will and Testament that at the time of his signing he was to the best of their apprehensions of a sound and disposing mind memory and understanding and that they with Lipporah Baker the other subscribing witness to this will Respectively subscribed their names as witnesses to this Will in the Presence and at the Request of the Testator and in the presence of each other. Before John Wise Reg. W. W. C.

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Family History Case Study: Martin family history

This is a follow-up post to one we did back in November. Below is what amounts to a family group sheet for Perry Newton Martin and Mary Olive Keltner. As you can see, family history research is always a work in progress!

Perry Newton and Mary Olive Keltner Martin 
Family Group Information

Husband
Full Name: Perry Newton Martin
Born: 13 November 1875, Indiana, USA
Married: 8 April 1895, Montgomery County, Indiana, USA
Died: 26 July 1956, Champaign County, Illinois, USA
Buried: East Lawn Cemetery, Urbana, Champaign, Illinois, USA
Occupation: Locomotive Engineer, Illinois Central Railroad, retired 1946
Church: University Place Christian Church, Urbana, Champign, Illinois, USA
Father's name: Valerian I. Martin (1851-1931)
Mother's name: Mary Jane Corn (1850-1928)

Wife
Full Name: Mary Olive Keltner
Born: 23 September 1875, Darke County, Ohio, USA
Died: 11 May 1965, Champaign County, Illinois, USA
Buried: East Lawn Cemetery, Urbana, Champaign, Illinois, USA
Occupation: Telephone Operator
Father's name: Jacob M. Keltner (1810-?)
Mother's name: Margurete Cain (1845-?)

Children

1. Arthur Martin
Born: May 1896, Indiana, USA

2. Harry Ellsworth Martin
Born: 6 January 1898, Crawfordsville, Montgomery, Indiana, USA
Married: Thelma Clotine Sayles (26 Jun 1906 - 27 Jan 1973) on 27 June 1924, Rantoul, Champaign,   Illinois, USA
Died: 26 June 1972, Urbana, Champaign, Illinois, USA
Buried: Woodlawn Cemetery, Urbana, Champaign, Illinois, USA
Occupation: Brakeman, Driver, Warehouse manager
Church: University Place Christian Church, Urbana, Champaign, Illinois, USA

3. Lee Otis Martin
Born: 1900, Montgomery County, Indiana, USA
Died: before 1965

4. Thelma Madeline Martin
Born: 20 April 1906
Married: Donald Oliver Sturdyvin
Other marriages: John B. Hughes, 13 May 1946, Champaign County, Illinois, USA


5. Ernest Walter Martin
Born: 1912
Died: before 1965

Family History in the News: February 2016

Can't get enough family history and genealogy? Check out these ancestry, family history, and genealogy stories that have been in the news recently:

Bad heart to bad habits: Blame your Neanderthal DNA Washington Post

When Ancestry search led to escaped slave (Author interview) NPR

6  Rising Genealogy Apps Forbes

DNA, Genealogy and the search for who we are NPR

Can you tell your ethnic identity from your DNA? NPR

Understanding DNA testing in family history Deseret News

Why does my Lebanese dad have African DNA when I don't? The Root

Ancestor of the day: Elsie Alice Walton (1895 - 1933)

Elsie Alice Walton was born in Chicago Heights, Cook County, Illinois on May 22, 1895. She was the daughter of Adolph Robert Walton (1861 - 1925) and Bertha Catherine Borst (1876 - 1906). Both of her parents were first generation Americans and all four of her grandparents were born in Germany. Not much is known about her grandparents before they arrived in the United States, but her maternal grandfather, Wendelin Borst, was born in Baden-Wurttemberg and his wife, Catharina, was originally from Bavaria. Adolph and his family moved from Chicago to Champaign, Illinois in 1903 where Adolph became employed as an Upholsterer for Mittendorf & Kiler. 

Elsie was the eldest of four children: her only brother Frank Julius Walton was born in 1896, her sister Grance Florence Walton was born in 1904 (died 1966), and her youngest sister Helen Rose Walton was born in 1906. Unfortunately, Helen Rose died shortly after her birth and Elsie's mother, Bertha died at their home shortly thereafter due to what her obituary called "puerpereal convulsions." It was also said that Bertha had been a "vigorous and healthy" woman. Elsie was 11 when she lost her mother. 

Aroung 1918 Elsie married William Hugh Guthrie (1886 - 1967) and the couple moved briefly to Raymond, Rice, Kansas, USA. Hugh already had three children from a previous marriage: William Henry b. 1908, Branch b. 1912, and Evert b. 1915. Elsie's first daughter, Goldia "Goldie" Marie Guthrie was born January 15, 1919. Her second daughter, Cleota Elizabeth was born in Kansas as well, in 1921.

The family relocated to Mahomet, Champaign, Illinois, USA sometime between Cleota's birth and the birth of the couple's third daughter, Eunice Alice Guthrie in 1924. Elsie and Hugh's fourth child, and only son, Floyd Jack Guthrie was born in 1926. 

Elsie's life was cut tragically short when she received a scratch from a rusted nail. The wound became infected and Elsie died of blood poisoning ten days later on April 23, 1933. According to a news article that accompanied her obituary, Elsie was not brought to the hospital until April 23 and was in critical condition upon her arrival. I can only imagine what her life could have been if she had arrived at the hospital before her injuries became so critical!

Elsie Alice Walton Guthrie was buried in Mahomet Cemetery in Mahomet, Champaign, Illinois. At the time of her death she was 47 years old.

Genetics: What does your blood type say about your ancestry?

For some reason I have always been interested in blood types. Maybe it's because my grandma always had this gigantic looking book in her living room called "Eat Right 4 your type" or maybe it is because my own blood type is O negative, which makes me a universal blood donor. Whatever the reason, my fascination with blood types led me towards a little research that relates blood types to ancestry. 

A Brief Science Lesson

Have you ever donated or received blood? Chances are you have discovered your own blood type based on one of those transactions. The reason being that doctors have to ascertain your blood type before giving your donated blood to someone else or before you receive blood to ensure compatibility between the two blood types. 

From a simplistic point of view, there are four blood types: A, B, AB, and O. Your blood type depends on the antigens that are present in your red blood cells and the types of antibodies that your blood makes. For example, those with type A blood have red blood cells with A antigens present and their blood makes antibodies that fight type B antigens. Those with type B are the opposite. Type AB individuals, therefore, have both sets of antigens in their red blood cells and produce no antibodies; type Os have no antigens and produce antibodies that fight both types of antigens. Here's a chart that is probably easier to understand:

Blood Types and Ancient Humans

That's nice. But this is a genealogy blog, so what the science lesson? It turns out that your blood type is inherited from your parents, and that means it has been passed down through the generations, perhaps for tens of thousands of years. That's pretty cool (or maybe it's not cool and I'm a bigger nerd than I thought)! 

The evolution of blood types throughout human history can be broken down into a few categories, which I will call: Hunter-Gatherers, Nomads, Agrarians, and Collection. Please keep in mind that I have read several articles and am condensing that information into a few paragraphs. Lots of other folks on the web, especially nutritionists and dietitians, have explained each blood type and their origins more thoroughly than I have. 

Enjoy!

Type O: The Hunter-Gatherers

If you have Type O blood, congratulations. You possess the most ancient of modern blood types. It is also the most common blood type: 37% of Americans have type O+ and 6% have O- blood type. Cro-Magnon, or Early Modern Humans are our first direct ancestor. They ate a protein-rich diet and began hunting big game with tools and weapons. Their O blood type supported this hunter-gatherer lifestyle and people today with type O blood often secrete more stomach acid and have an easier time metabolizing animal proteins. 

Since I am type O, I can attest that for a six month period I became a vegetarian and suffered from anemia, general fatigue, and I was hungry all the time no matter how much non-animal protein I consumed. I finally broke that diet and am now omnivorous and happy. I also have the stomach problems associated with the blood type and have acid re-flux disease, am prone to ulcers, and must, must, must exercise at least 5 times per week to counteract a lot of those symptoms. The more I run, the better I feel!

Type A: The Agrarians

At the beginning of the Neolithic Period, about 30,000 BCE, people began to domesticate animals and created farming communities. The move from hunter-gatherers to farmers also saw the beginning of a new ABO blood type, A, in Caucasian people between 25,000 and 15,000 BCE.  The new blood type group evolved from a new diet based on plants rather than meats.  About 13,000 years later, the Indo-Europeans carried the A blood type into populations in Russia and Eastern Europe. My daughter is type A and she prefers a diet of fruits, vegetables, and a little grain and protein.

Type B: The Nomads

The end of the Neolithic Period, about 10,000 BCE, saw the emergence of yet another blood type: B. This blood type originated in parts of India, Pakistan, and southwestern Asia. And, as the Mongolians moved throughout Eurasia, the B blood type became firmly established throughout the region as well. Because these peoples depended on domesticated livestock, type Bs can more easily digest animal proteins and lactose: type Bs are the only blood types that can easily digest dairy products after the age of 2 years old. They are also more likely to be adaptable and malleable. 

Type AB: The Collective
AB is the rarest and newest of all four blood types--it is only about 1000-1200 years old! Type A and B are co-dominant and result from a mixed inheritance of A and B alleles, unlike all of the other blood types that evolved from environmental aspects over thousands of years. Type ABs can take on either or both traits of type A and B, sometimes creating health problems such as weight gain. For example, type AB may have the ability to digest meats because of its nomadic type B blood, but lack the stomach acid to properly break down and process those meats, thus rendering most of the protein into fat rather than metabolizing it. 
I am married to an AB type and he can and will eat just about anything! This characteristic reflects the mixed inheritance of the co-dominant alleles that evolved under very different circumstances. 

Conclusions
No matter what your blood type, you inherited those alleles from your ancestors. It is also nice to reflect upon the evolutionary circumstances that surrounded the appearance of different genes. To learn more about the evolution of the four blood types see the links above or check out the following: 

A brief history of human blood types National Library of Medicine

Why do we have blood types? Carl Zimmerman for BBC Future

This answer to a forum question on Standford at The Tech's website contradicts the theory of O as the first blood type. 

And here is an article from the Institute for Creation Research that argues all the blood types were introduced into the genome at essentially the same time (when Adam and Eve were created).