Month: March 2017

Using Cancelled Homestead Files for Kansas and Nebraska on FamilySearch

FamilySearch has digitized cancelled homestead files for selected land offices in Kansas and Nebraska (“United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files, 1861-1932“). These cancelled files contain all the homestead paperwork that had been submitted as of the date of cancellation. This should include the filing of the initial claim. Additional paperwork in […]

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No Date for Thomas Rampley’s Sale and Incorrect Book Titles

The final accounting for the estate of Thomas Rampley was located in the estate records of Coshocton County, Ohio. The final accounting was not submitted until the March 1829 term of the Court of Common Pleas. Between the sale in 1824 (where his wife purchased property) and the final accounting in 1829 administrator James Shores […]

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An Undated Purchase of Pilgrim’s Progress in Ohio in 1823–Probably

Women were not frequent bidders at estate auctions in the early 1820s. There was only one woman who purchased items from the estate of Thomas J. Rampley in 1823: Christianna Rampley. It was not unusual for widows to purchase items from their husband’s estate, particularly if husband died intestate. In some states, state statute gave […]

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Moon People

We all have them: someone who appears to have lived on Earth for only a few years. They arrived as an adult from the moon, appeared in a few earthly records, and then vanished.  They leave no other apparent trace except for mention in records in a short, narrow time frame. Barbara (Siefert) Bieger Fennan […]

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