A Knotty problem
Family fight Some 65 years ago, a family feud over ownership and control of wooded land in Sumter County, Alabama, broke out in the Circuit Court there. It seems that Jim Knott had died in 1933, leaving a widow and nine surviving children — three girls and six...The law of unintended consequences
“If the law supposes that,” said Mr. Bumble,… “the law is a ass—a idiot.” — Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, chapter 51 Why, you may ask, that particular quote, here on a quiet Monday morning at the end of August? Especially here, in this blog, where we all...The decree nisi
The language of the law. Part Latin, part Anglo-Saxon, all confusing. So back on Monday, The Legal Genealogist told the tale of Mary Jane Brewer Holt, the unfortunate lady from Amelia County, Virginia, who had married very young and soon repented herself of that...The church’s loss
Why no cash for the church It’s a rather long newspaper article about a rather convoluted will contest. When Josiah Widdowson died in Canoe Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, in 1897, most of his estate — valued at roughly $140,000 — went to his...The missing term in the will
Who got the land? When Joseph Housoy of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, executed his will on the 5th day of January 1891, there was something fairly important that he left out. Oh, it included a lot of what you might expect — the fact that he was a resident of the...The soldier, the son and the land
A different kind of land deal It was a most unusual land deal, recorded in a most unusual place. Oh, it’s in the deed books of the County of Irwin, Georgia, which is where you might expect to find a land transaction. But it’s also in the statute books of...Looking at the numbers
Stories told by bonds You can learn a lot about an area, and about the families that lived there, just by looking at the numbers. The Pope County, Arkansas, website will tell you the county’s history began when an Indian agency was established there in June...Copyright and the foreign letters
Next in an occasional series on copyright — the foreign letters Reader Cynthia Shenette has what she describes as “a wonderful pre and post WWII collection of letters, so informative and at times heartbreaking.” She hasn’t yet published them, in part because of...The grandson
The missing generation The census records seem to tell a straightforward story. In 1870, Scottish-born Thomas and Margret Finlayson were farming in Baker County, Oregon. Both of the Finlaysons were in their mid-40s. Four girls, apparently their daughters, were...Subscribe by Email
