{"id":10401,"date":"2022-01-24T01:25:17","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T01:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/?p=10401"},"modified":"2024-05-13T18:44:40","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T18:44:40","slug":"ten-sheep-for-the-habben-family-of-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com\/?p=10401","title":{"rendered":"Ten Sheep for the Habben Family of Five"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It always pays to read the details. Genealogical discoveries, large and small, are often obtained from thinking about the implications of everything written in a document. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s true with the appraisement of the estate of Mimka L. Habben in Hancock County, Illinois, in the spring of 1877. Illinois state statute dictated what was to be a part of the “widow’s award” before the bills of the estate were paid. The award could be actual items in the household and barns or the cash equivalent if the family so chose or did not have the specific items. The “widow’s award” was so that not all of the family’s personal effects would be sold to pay bills and leave them without. Books, a sewing machine, family beds, the stove, household and kitchen furniture, some livestock, provisions for a specific period of time, and other items were included. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

State statute–and the appraisement form–indicated that widow’s award was to include two sheep per member of the household. Antje, widow of Mimka L. Habben was awarded ten sheep. This suggests that there were five people in her household at the time of the appraisement. The family was awarded two cows–one for every four members of the family. That number is consistent with five members of the household. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, you can’t have a fractional cow. Five household members would have warranted 1.25 cows. To give the family their 1.25 cows meant they’d get two cows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this appraisement I learned that the Habben household in the Spring of 1877 consisted of five people. That told me that four of Antje’s children were living with her. The probate papers indicate that Mimka’s heirs at the time of his death were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n