Hanging from the Family Tree: Sometimes the Will is the Way

Monday, September 14, 2015

Sometimes the Will is the Way

Ancestry.com recently posted a collection of Wills and Probate Records. Last week I began to look for Wills for my ancestors and found the Wills of my Great-grandfather and Great-great- grandfather who died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin within a year of each other. Interestingly one of the Wills was handwritten and the other was typewritten.

Herman Burbach (1852-1896) was my Great-grandfather and the son of Georg Burbach. Herman arrived in Milwaukee with his parents and brother John in 1856. The Will of Hermann Burbach was a simple one leaving all of his estate to his wife Eva Schmitz Burbach for her lifetime and upon her death to be divided equally by his children. There is a provision that if Eva were to marry again, the Estate would be held for the children. There were actually two files for Hermann as there was a pending Real Estate deal between Hermann and his brother John to sell three properties to Herman Frey.

Reading the Will, I learned that he owned properly, and had a beautiful signature.

Signature of Herman Burbach 1896

His Will also referenced each of his children by name and age omitting only his son John who had died in 1892. Yet another form of documentation. New information to me is the fact that Herman and his brother John were landowners in addition to running a successful butcher store and grocery.

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