When Tonjes Jurgens Ehmen wrote his will in 1864, it appeared as if his wife, Schwantje, was living in Germany. There was no clear reference in Tonjes’ probate paper indicating she immigrated to the United States.

Apparently by late 1875 Schwantje was in the United States as she appears as the grantee on a deed referenced in the 3 January 1876 issue of the Quincy Daily Whig.  The property in question was in the town of Keokuk Junction, Adams, Illinois (currently known as Golden). I’m not entirely certain yet that this Schwantje is mine–more work needs to be done.

But it seems pretty likely this is her. The chance that there is another Schwantje Ehmen who was selling property to Jurgen T. Ehmen (one of Tonjes Jurgen Ehmen’s) besides Jurgen T. Ehmen’s mother is fairly slim.

None of Jurgen T. Ehmen’s brothers married a woman named Schwantje so the grantee on this deed is not his sister-in-law either. Jurgen T. Ehmen did have a sister, but her name was Antje T. Ehmen. Antje is not a diminutive for Schwantje–they are separate names. And Antje was married to Anton Sievers by 1864 anyway.

Note: This newspaper clipping was located on GenealogyBank.