APG-L Archives

From: "Buffys97" <>
Subject: [APG] Telling tales in administrative papers...
Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 05:10:08 -0400

I am looking at the Clermont County, OH administrative papers of my
deceased ancestor, Jacob Berst, and trying piece together what seems
to be an ugly battle between Jacob Berst's widow and the administrator
of his estate. I am also trying to figure out when he died by the
document dates.

The earliest document that I have is dated February 8, 1860 and it is
a request on the part of the estate administrator, W C Dallas, for the
Probate Court to "issue a citation against Mary Magdala S., (the
second wife of, and widow of Jacob and by this date remarried) showing
why letters of administration should not be granted on the estate of
Jacob Berst ...and why letters of Guardianship should not be granted
for the minor children (she had two children with him)" of Jacob
Berst.

On Feb 10th, 1860, the citation is marked as "Dismissed, cost to be
paid by W A Dallas, adm. of Jacob Berst, dec."

There is also this note, dated July 1860:
"W.A. Dallas, administrator of the estate of Jacob Berst died being
*****
(can't read--I need a course in paleography. I'm serious!!) according
to a local *** that he does not know the place of residence of Mary
Catherine Berst (my great-grandmother and the daughter of the first
wife, whose name I don't know), one of the defendants to the foregoing
petition; that he has made diligent inquiry after the residence of
said Mary Catherine Berst both before and since the filing of the
foregoing petition and has not been able to fnd any satisfactory
information as to where she resides (it was the next county over,
Brown County, she was, I believe, an indentured servant because her
father didn't want her after remarrying). This aff**** (affiant??)
has some information that said Mary Catherine Berst is deceased but is
not entirely satisfied of that fact. W. A. Dallas.

Can anyone help me by telling me how soon an administrator was
appointed to settle a person's affairs after someone died? Was the
administrator *always* a close friend or relative? W A Dallas was
appointed before Feb 8, 1860.

I think W A Dallas was trying to charge in on his white horse and find
my great-grandmother so that she would not be cheated out of her
inheritance. As it stands, she died thinking that both of her parents
died when she was still a child. She lived a life of what seems to me
(today) to have been dire poverty, even after marrying my great
grandfather, who spent most of his life trying to get a Civil War
medical pension.

The affairs of Jacob Berst were not wrapped up until August 8, 1862!
The second wife got her dowers' share and the court even sweetened the
pot by throwing in $$$ for her second husband for "taking in" her
children by Jacob Berst!

I am extremely grateful to Aileen Whitt, a professional genealogist of
Clermont County who published an index to these court petitions and
wills! She--and the many genealogiests who helped me on the internet
as I searched for Catherine--are my heroes! Because of Aileen and the
help given to me by others, I finally found my great-grandmother's
father....and all I had to go on was my father's bedtime stories about
her.

The search continues for more information.

Thanks, Buffy

This thread:

• [APG] Telling tales in administrative papers... by "Buffys97" <>