There can be other documents as well!
My Great-grandfather
Hermann Burbach died 12 April 1896 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His probate packet No 25610-25638 [1]
is 21 pages and describes several land transactions that took place in the
years preceding his death.
The cover
page indicates that this is re: Certificate of Survivor ship. This is a new term
to me, so I consulted Google for a definition: “A certificate of survivor-ship
is used to establish the descent of property after someone has died. Laws
regarding certificates of survivorship vary by jurisdiction.”[2]
Aside from the cover page, the contents of the packet deal with several land
purchases made by Herman Burbach and his wife Eva Burbach, nee Schmitz. In
1892, Hermann and Eva purchased land from Philip Schmitz and Sophia Schmitz, his wife, for
the “sum of one dollar and other valuable considerations.” There were two separate
transactions in February between the Schmitz and Burbachs. In another land
purchase Hermann and Eve purchased property from his brother John Burbach and John’s
wife Stephanie in August of 1895.
When Hermann
died in April of 1896, Eve became sole owner of all three of the deeds. In
November of 1908, Eva, who had since remarried, sold all three properties to
Mathias and John Becker.
In a hearing
on 30 November 1908, Eva, now Eva Mueller, testified as to her marriage to Hermann,
his death, the land purchases, and her desire to sell the property under discussion
to Mathias and John Becker. The purpose of the hearing was to establish the
clear succession of ownership and Eva’s survivor rights. In a question and
answer session Eva testified that she was seventeen when she married Hermann
Burbach on 8 May 1876 and remained married to him until he died 16 April 1896,
and that he never sold any of the properties after he had purchased them. She
also testified to her re-marriage to Charles Meuller in1898.
The hearing
ends with the sale of the properties by Eva Mueller to Mathias Becker and John
Becker in November 1908 and the sworn statement of the official court reporter.
[1] Wisconsin.
County Court (Milwaukee County); Probate Place: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ancestry.com.
Wisconsin, Wills and Probate Records, 1800-1987 [database on-line]. Provo, UT,
USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2015., accessed 11 May 2020;Original data:
Wisconsin County, District and Probate Courts.
[2] U
S Legal,com, google, accessed 11 May 2020.
