Thursday, May 12, 2016

Crestleaf.com’s 12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds -- April 2016: Elizabeth Auble's Will

I am participating in the Crestleaf.com "12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds" contest - see the blog post Crestleaf.com’s 12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds Challenge for details.


My most fascinating family find from April 2016 was:  Finding the will of Elizabeth Auble (1814-1899), who never married and had no children.

I have written these posts to date about the finding the will, analyzing it, and searching for all of the heirs mentioned in the will:

It seems counter-intuitive at first glance - why would a will or probate record be of much value if the testator did not have a spouse or any children?  Actually, the will or probate record of a childless person is very helpful, because the heirs-at-law are usually the person's siblings and their descendants, and in some cases, the heirs-at-law may be the person's parents siblings and their descendants.  

Elizabeth Auble's will is an excellent example.  In Post 3 on the list above, I identified each heir and described their relationship to Elizabeth, if known.  The will mentioned six of Elizabeth's siblings, and several of their children and grandchildren.  Before this will, I did not know that William Auble, Sophia Auble or Nathan Auble were siblings of Elizabeth's.  In the process of analyzing the will, I have been adding descendants for all of the siblings of Elizabeth Auble using classical genealogy research techniques in online resources.  

Since my ancestor was Elizabeth's brother, David Auble (1817-1894), who is my second great-grandfather, the descendants of her siblings are my relatively close cousins - second great-grandchildren of other siblings are my third cousins.  They should share a significant portion of their autosomal DNA with me.  

The will also mentioned a number of other persons as heirs without identifying a relationship.  They may be family friends, colleagues, neighbors or distant relatives.  I will try to identify how these persons are related to or are acquainted with Elizabeth Auble.  

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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

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