#122--Albertine Hannah--Not Your Typical Maiden Aunt

Albertine Hannah Head Ston

Maiden aunts, spinsters—often not used as a complimentary term.  When I think of a maiden aunt, I think of a little old lady, who stays homes, keeps house, and takes care of her other relatives.  In some ways that may describe my great great aunt, Albertine Hannah and in other ways it does not.

Obtaining information on single women is usually a challenge so I do not know a great deal about Albertine.  Some of what I know about, Albertine, comes from census date.  I know she was born in 1834 in Edgar County Illinois, near where Chrisman is today, was the seventh child of John M. and Charity (Mears) Hannah, and lived on her father’s farm.  Her mother died in 1842 when Albertine was 8 years old.  In 1850 she was living with her father, her three brothers, and two sisters.  In 1860 Albertine was living with her father, and her niece, Charity Conrey, the daughter of her deceased sister, Nancy.  When the Civil War began, both her father and her brother, John Wesley, enlisted.  Her father fought for about three months, and then returned home, due to illness.  He died in 1865.  So far, Albertine looks like a pretty typical maiden aunt—living with her father, taking care of her niece, etc.

Hannah Farm Land

However, in other ways she was unique.  When I think about land sales in that period of time, I think of men selling land to other men.  That was not true for Albertine.  Over a period of 11 years, Albertine bought land five times all in Ross Township.. On March 11, 1851 for $1.00 her father sold Albertine 80 acres of land in Ross Township.  In addition, by a mortgage on December 14, 1861 her father also sold Albertine an undescribed piece of land for $106.   In February of 1861, for $700 Albertine bought land from James R. Watson and a year later, for $1000 land Bushwood Herrick sold her more land.  In addition, in February 1861 Albertine sold land to James Watson.  That land was also in Ross Township.

Hannah Plot

I was able to obtain Albertine’s will.  Most notable is her request that her real estate be sold and that $1200 of the proceeds be used to purchase a lot in the cemetery in Paris Illinois and to erect a monument for her father, mother, sister, Mary Sayres, and herself.  The remainder of the money from her real estate and her personal property was to be divided between her brothers and sisters as well as her niece, Charity Conrey.  Albertine died in 1867.  Her wishes were carried out.  There is indeed a Hannah plot in the cemetery in Paris, Illinois.  There is a large obelisk with her father’s name on the bottom, and headstones for Albertine, her sister Mary, and her sister Catherine Hannah O’Hair.  For reasons that I do not know, the headstone for her mother is in the McKee cemetery.

I would love to be able to have a conversation with Albertine.   I would like to know why she remained single.  Did she, like many women of that time, have a man she loved who was killed in the Civil War?  Also during the Civil War, who ran the farm while her father was at war?  Did she?  Did her brother, George, or her brothers-in-law help out?

#119--Lucky Mary

The theme for this week is “Lucky.”  My first thought was “Did I have anyone whose nickname was Lucky.”  .But I did not.  My second thought was to find an ancestor who was in some way lucky.  I really did not find anyone who fit that category.  Then I thought about the ways I have been lucky in genealogy.  I immediately thought of one of the things that happened as I prepared for my trip to Salt Lake City at the Family History Library with the New England Historic and Genealogical Society.  Before I went, I spent a lot of time with their catalog figuring out what I wanted to look at.  There were more things that I wanted to see than I had time to do.  One of the items I wanted was the microfilm for the will boxes for Norfolk County, Massachusetts.  My Richards ancestors lived in Dedham, Norfolk County since 1634 and I was interested to see exactly what was in those boxes.  While most of the microfilms are in the library, sometimes you have to order them.  I had to do that for the will box microfilms as they were stored in at the Granite Mountain Vault.    So I filled out the form to have them available when I was there.  Several days later, I received an e-mail saying that they were now online.

I was delighted with my luck.  I had more time to devote to things that were only available to the library and could spent as much time as I wanted online at home looking at the will boxes.  So was I lucky in terms of what I could find in those will boxes?  I think so, perhaps luckier with some people than others.  Let me use Abiathar Richards, Jr., my great times 3 grandfather.  There are 38 items in his will box.  About half of them are pages with only his name and file number on them. However, others are a wealth of information.  First in the box is his will—that makes sense.  It was pretty straight forward.  He left $1 to all his children with the exception of his unmarried daughter, Catherine, who was to receive $100.  His wife, Elizabeth, was to have the use of his property and any income from it until his death or until she remarried.   His sons, Luther and Abiathar, were to split his clothing.  What surprised me was that his wife, Elizabeth, was appointed as the Executrix of his estate.  I do know think of women at that time playing that role.

I was most interested in the inventory of his estate as that gives me an idea of what the person did and was like.  Abiathar Richards was a farmer and his property reflects that.  The value of his real estate—2 ½ acres of woodland was $40 and his personal property was worth $299. There was really nothing too surprising in his property—he owned some livestock (hog and a cow) farm implements, and crops in terms of cider and winter apples, potatoes, rye, etc. I was more interested in the fact that he had two sets of fine china, 12 sets of sheets and pillowcases, blankets, and quilts  and of course, bedsteads, tables and chairs.  Too me that was a pretty well appointed house.  The expenses for the estate were pretty routine—payment of the legacies to his children, medical expenses ($6.00), taxes ($7.15), and funeral expenses ($14.50) and grave stone ($11.50).  However, the very best part of the expense report was at the bottom was Elizabeth Richards signature!

I was lucky finding that the will boxes are on line and the information in them.  I am always more interested in the lives of my ancestors than when they were born, married and died.