The will of Tonjes Jurgens Ehmen, of Adams County, Illinois, is dated 21 April 1864. It was filed and admitted to probate on 12 May 1864. His bequest to his wife is somewhat atypical: “2d I give and bequeath to Schwantje Jurgen Ehmen my wife now in Germany in addition to what she has received […]

The location of Tonjes Jurgens’ will from Adams County, Illinois, in 1864 raises more questions that it answers. To be honest, what I know about Tonjes in the United States is minimal and much of what I know comes from an unsourced family history. The dates and places of birth for Tonjes and his family […]

A search of the “probate database” on Ancestry.com resulted in a reference to Tonjes Ehmen in Adams County, Illinois. That reference was to an executor’s bond made out in the initial process of settling his estate during the end of the Civil War. On 17 May 1864, Anton J. Sievers made out a bond as the […]