Letters of Administration

In a previous post, I mentioned Letter Of Administration. In Delaware County, Indiana, these are found in the Probate Court Records. These dates give us at least a 'dead by' date to work with when other documentation has not been found. The following information gleaned from the Book 1846-1852 Index to the Letters of Incorporation and is used courtesy of Juanita Weaver Lewis.

Early in the 1990s, the estate files were stored in a remote basement outside of the courthouse. A local genealogist, Nona Nunnelly, went there to do some research and discovered estate packets had been under water. The contents of the packets incuded, among other items, the original wills and estate settlements. Nona contacted the Indiana State Archivist who ordered the responsible official to rescue them.  Nona, along with other interested parties began the long and tedious project to empty the water from the packets, remove the mildewed contents, unfold the papers, hang them out to dry, then return to the packet envelope. Some of the papers were too fragile and could not be unfolded. Consequently, the contents of the packets was lost to posterity. The packets went back to the courthouse.

Armstrong, Mary p.37 ~ 30 Dec 1851
Baneigh, Andrew p.43 ~ 14 Sept 1852
Bartlett, Robert L p.36 ~ 28 Jan 1852
Blackford, James p.8 ~ 16 Feb 1852
Boots, Adam p30 ~ 4 June 1851
Brammer, Henry p.43 – 20 Aug 1852
Brees, Moses p.8 ~ 6 Dec 1847
Case, Samuel p.3 ~ 4 March 1847
Caster, George p.41 ~ 28 May 1852
Clark, John A p.7 ~ 22 Sept 1847
Coffin, Francis p.27 ~ 28 Dec 1850
Conner, Isaac p.6 ~ 26 Aug 1847
Crum, Lydia A p.21 ~ 24 Apr 1850
Cumerford, James p.1 ~ 9 Sept 1848
Cunningham, Samuel p 24 ~ 14 Aug 1850
Danner, Andrew p 27 ~ 21 8 Apr 1851Jan 1851
Davis, Aquilla p 24 ~ 13 Aug 1850
Davis, John .p 25 ~ 23 Aug 1850
Davis, Lucretia p.19 ~ 9 March 1850
Day, George W p.34 ~ 3 Nov 1851
Dille/Dilley, Joanna p.40 ~ 10 May 1852
Dougherty, MaryAnn Elizabeth p.23 ~ 27 July 1850
Dougherty, Barnet L p.26 ~ 23 Nov 1850
Duddleston, Ralph p.13 ~ 28 Nov 1849
Ferguson, Isaac p.29 ~ 19 May 1851
Fishburn, Daniel p.33 ~ 6 Sept 1851
Fodge, Jacob p.1 ~ 26 Dec 1846
Garner, Enoch p.39 ~ 7 Apr 1852
Gilbert, Edmund p32 ~ 19 Sept 1851
Green, William p.14 ~ 17 Feb 1849
Harris, Bemjamin p.5 ~ 21 June 1851
Heaton, Samuel p.18 ~ 11 March 1850
Helm, Jsaac C p.20 ~ 19 March 1850
Hensley, James p.12 ~ 21 Nov 1848
Holdren, Benjamin p.30~ 20 May 1851
Hutchings, Saml p.15 ~ 10 Aug 1849
Jackson, Jeremiah p.31 ~ 22 Aug 1851
Jackson, Jesse p.13 ~ 1 Jan 1849
Jackson, Jesse, p.16 ~ 8 Oct 1849
Keasbey, Edward S p.3 ~ 13 April 1847 (actual death date 27 Mar 1847)
Kennedy, Andrew Sen p.9 ~ 15 Jan 1848
Kennedy, Andrew p.22 ~ 15 Feb 1850
Kennedy, James p.21 ~ 20 April 1850
Ketterman, George p.17 ~ 23 Oct 1849
Kirkwood, Thomas p.36 ~ 24 Dec 1851
Knight, John p.14 ~ 2 May 1849
Lee, Thomas p.15 ~ 9 May 1849
Legally, James p.35 ~ 1 Dec 1851
Liggitt, Cyrus J p.20 ~ 26 March 1850
Love, Isaiah p.39 ~ 7 Apr 1852
Love, James p.5 ~ 28 June 1847
Lyon, William p.38 ~ 5 March 1852
McCalister, Alexander p.9 ~ 9 May 1848
McColister, John p.10 ~ 23 Aug 1848
McCreary, James p.18 ~ 27 Dec 1849
McCreery, James p.23 ~ 22 June 1850
Martin, Israel p.33 ~ 25 Sept 1851
Michael, Adam p.33 ~ 9 Oct 1851
Miller, Daniel p.18 ~ 11 Feb 1850
Noe, Archibald p.31 ~ 29 Sept 1852
Norris, Isaac p.4 ~ 19 April 1847
Norris, John p.28 ~ 8 Apr 1851
Price, William p.17 ~ 17 Dec 1849
Pugsley, Abraham p.4 ~ 5 June 1847
Pugsley, Abraham p.25 ~12 Sept 1850
Rench, Mary p.1~18 Dec 1846
Reynolds, John J p.29~19 May 1851
Rhodes, Francis p.5.~ 10 June 1847
Russell, Nancy p.7 ~ 2 Oct 1847
Secrest. Jacob p.4 1 Sept 1851
Shearer, George p.26 ~ 18 Dec 1850
Slack, James p.2 ~ 9 Feb 1847
Slack, Wm Simpson p.16 ~ 6 Sept 1849
Sparr, (? faded ) p.40 ~ 21 April? 1852
Spilker, George A p.31 ~ 26 Aug 1851 (actual death date 7 July 1851)
Spilker, George (W?) 42 ~ 10 June 1852
Stewart, James p.10 ~ 29 March 1848
Sullivan, John p.8 ~ 6 Jan 1848
Summers, William Se n p.11 ~ 9 Oct 1848
Thomas, Thomas S p.12 ~ 21 Nov 1848
Tilden, Isaac p.2 ~ 28 Dec 1846
Vannatre, p.6 ~ 3 Sept 1847
Willson, Benoni p.22 ~ 27 Apr 1850
Wilson, Joseph p.37 ~ 4 Feb 1852
Witt, William C p.28 ~ 12 March 1851

Outside The Box

Gaps in available records, regardless of the cause, poses a problem for any researcher. Fire, weather, negligence, no requirements. Any of these situations can cause us to pound our foreheads on our monitors. Sometimes we need to think outside the box to get an answer. We may not always be able to come up with the exact documentation, but sometimes we can come close.

In Indiana, death records were not required until 1882. When looking for something prior to that, we must be a bit more creative. Two of the sources I am working in are the county pauper's records and court records involving the letters of administration.

The pauper's records, here anyway, include doctor's bills, dental care (as crude as it was back then), and the best items for us, burial expenses and payment for coffins. They may not give the date the work was done, but gives the date the expenses was paid. Letters of administration are issued when someone passes away intestate (without a will). Someone must oversee the debts and assets of the estate. By noting the date this paperwork is issued, at least we know that the subject was deceased prior to this time. Coroner's reports fall in line with these types of sources as well. Neither is quite as informative as a death certificate from a genealogical standpoint, but sometimes it is the best we can get.

Excerpted from the Pauper's Records of Delaware County, Indiana, as quoted in Delaware County, Indiana 1827-1850 The Frontier Period By Althea Stoekel and Ross Johnson:

Pauper's Files
Funeral expenses for Alfred Moore (5 yards of muslin at $.25 per yard, 1 pair
     of socks at $.25, 1 white crevat at $.25, 1 shirt at $.50)      1837
Coffin for Mrs. Shackelford        1838          $5.00
Coffin for Mrs Shackelford daughter  1838   $3.00
Coffin for Joshua Everhart          1844          $5.50
Coffin for Stephen Everhart        1844          $1.50
Clothes and attendence for Everhart 1844   $1.00
Coffin for Mrs. Cowgill                1844           $5.00
Funeral expenses for Daniel Payne (9 yards of Cambrick for shrouding at
     $.37 per yard, 3 yards of bleached shirting at $.185, 1 yard of Jackinett
     $.75, 3 large spools of Boss thread at $.185, 1 pair of stockings at
     $.75, 1 dozen  coffin screws $.125) 1846
Coffin for Samuel Howell            1846          $8.00
Coffin and box for Sullivan          1849          $7.00
Funeral expenses for John Parker (11 yards bleached muslin of winding
     sheet at $1.37, 1 bed cord at $.25) 1850
Coffin for Solomon Simmons     1851           $2.50
Burying clothes for A. Becker     1851           $3.315
Burying clothes for A. Becker child   1851     $1.685

From the Files: Obituary of Henry Scoville, Livingston County, New York

Obituaries of yesteryear were works of art. Someone who knew and loved the deceased would recall memories, share their grief, and incidentally preserve local history in the newspaper. Reading these brings a life to our ancestors that no census record, no tombstone, and even approach. Henry is of no relation to me. I merely stumbled across his obituary and thought it sad that it would remain relatively unnoticed in the musty pages of history. I would like to bring the story of Henry's life back into the light.

Henry died in Mount Morris, Livingston County New York. His obituary apeared in the Nunda (New York) News, September 22, 1922.

Henry H. Scoville, proprietor of the Scoville House, Mt. Morris, in which hotel he was born eighty seven years ago and of which hotel he had been proprietor since he was 19 years old—a period of sixty-eight years, died at his apartments in the hotel Wednesday afternoon. For the past several years, Mr. Scoville had been confined to his apartments most of the time and his death was not unexpected. The Scoville House, built by Mr. Scoville's father, is one of the best known country hotels in the state. It has long been famous for its meals and the same high standard has been maintained throughout Mr. Scoville's long illness, his niece, Miss Helen Scoville, who has lived with him since she was 16 years old, having had general supervision of the house. Miss Maggie O'Brian, the hotel cook, has been with Mr. Scoville continuously for thirty-five years and if she ever prepared a poor meal, we have never heard of it. Her cooking not only equals, but far surpasses that of the largest and best hotels. Wm. Duffy, the hotel clerk, has been with Mr. Scoville for over twenty years and Frank Upson, assistant clerk, four years. Mr. Scoville never married. He leaves five nieces and one nephew: Miss Helen Scoville. Mrs. Fay Wheelock and Mrs. Albert McCarthy all of Mt. Morris; Mrs. Wm. O'Brian, Corning; Mrs. Willis Willard, Geneseo, and Mr. John Bishop of Jacksonville, Florida. Mr. Scoville had served as president of the village of Mt. Morris and was a director of the Bingham State Bank. He always paid close attention to business matters and accumulated considerable property. He had long been a member of the New York State Hotel Men's Association. The funeral will be held to-morrow at (?)., and interment will be made in the Mt. Morris Cemetery.

A brief history of the Scoville House appeared in The Picket Line and the Mount Morris Union on June 17, 1927.