Settling the estate of Jacob Booher

This is a transcription of the probate file of Jacob Booher. The copy was provided by the Crawfordsville District Public Library in January 2006. Jacob died without a will on 29 July 1845 in Montgomery County, Indiana. His son Guardianias Booher served as administrator of the estate.

August Term 1847

A Complete Record of the proceedings and final settlement of the estate herein after named in the Probate Court of Montgomery County, in the State of Indiana, before his honor Robert Taylor, Judge of said Court. To wit:

Jacob Booher's Estate. Guardianias Booher, Administrator,

Be it remembered, that on the fourteenth day of August, in the year Eighteen hundred and forty five, it being the fourth judicial day of the August Term of the Probate Court in and for said Montgomery County in the State of Indiana aforesaid, said Guardianias Booher, came into said court in proper person, and filed the following affidavit to wit "State of Indiana, Montgomery County

Personally appeared in the Probate Court of Montgomery County Guardianias Booher of lawful age who being duly sworn upon his oath saith that Jacob Booher departed this life in the County of Montgomery aforesaid without leaving a will as he is informed and believes to be true, on the 29th day of July 1845. That said Jacob Booher left personal estate to be administered to the value as he is informed and believes of about one thousand dollars and further saith not.  Signed, Guardianias Booher.

In witness of which I hereunto set my hand at Crawfordsville, this 14th day of August 1845. Jas. W. Lynn, Clerk.

And therefore said Guardianias Booher makes application to said court for Letters of Administration on the estate of Jacob Booher deceased, and the said applicant in open court executes his bond in a penalty of double the ascertained value of the personal estate of the said decedent, with security therein who is an inhabitant of this state, and approved by the court, which bond is in these words and figures to wit: "Know all these men by these presents, that we Guardianias Booher and William Booher of the County of Montgomery and the state of Indiana, are held and firmly bound unto the state of Indiana in the sum of one thousand dollars to the payment whereof well and jointly, severally and firmly by these presents, signed and sealed by us, and dated this fourteenth day of August in the year 1845. Whereas the Probate Court of Montgomery County, has this day granted letters of administration to Guardianias Booher on the goods, chattles, rights, credits, moneys and effects which were of Jacob Booher deceased, late of the County aforesaid. Now therefore the condition of the above obligations is this, that of the above bound Guardianias Booher, shall diligently and faithfully executes the duties and trusts committed to him as such administrator as prescribed and required by law and will obey all orders and decrees of such Probate court made pursuant not to law touching the administration of this estate so entrusted to him, that then and in that case, the above obligation to be void and of no effect, otherwise to be and now in of full force and virtue in law.

Signed, sealed and acknowledged by the said obligoro in the said Probate Court and which is by said Court approved the day and year above written. Attest: } Guardianias Booher, William Booher

Inventory of the Estate of Jacob Booher

On 18-19 August 1845, Levi Middleton and Samuel Deck ("two reputable freeholders of the neighborhood") conducted an appraisal of the estate for Jacob Booher. The entire estate covered 5 pages. Rather than transcribe the contents, I will highlight some of the more interesting contents, which included a wide variety of farm tools, horses, cattle, sheep, food and personal effects. A bay horse was valued at $60, while a wagon and rigging was valued at $65. He had 24 head of sheep, valued at $24 and lot of hogs valued at $50. The estate included 1 German Bible, a family Bible (acquired by Leander Booher in the estate sale), 2 volumes of Rollin's Ancient History (now available at the Internet Archive), and 9 other unnamed books.

The estate was put up for public sale on 12 September 1845. Much of the estate was acquired by his children and neighbors. Purchasers included:
Carrol Young
Isaac Larrance
Leander Booher
Benjamin Booher
Samuel M. Booher
David D. Greene
Wesley Vanarsdal
Mahala Booher
Jonathan Booher
Samuel Deck
Levi Middleton
Jacob Booher Jr
John Snavely
Michael Hampton
James Vail
William Coons
Martin Bowers Jr
Cornelius Wilson
Nathan Booher
Samuel Hampton
James Bowers
George Price
Elisha Doss
John Lowry
James McDowell
William Reese
Samuel Bickel
Lewis Dunbar
John Test
John Tribbet
Jesse Bailey
Howard Ellis
Isaac Sands
William Ready
John M. Booher
Gabriel Hamilton
Tarlton Adams
Soloman Barnhart
Jesse S. Benson
Nathan Caldwell
William Jones
George Pierman
William Booher
James Craig
Cason Buckhalter
Silas Kenworthy
Christian Bowman
Abram Robins
Henry Smith
H. McArthur
Samuel Gilliland
Silas Peterson
John J. Booher
S. Williams
A. W. Rowan
Jane Hampton
William Lankford
Philip Smith
John Smith
Silas Hiatt
James Emmitt
William Bowman
John A. Doss
James B. Doss

My 5th-great-grandfather Michael Hampton served as a security on several of the purchases. He also bought a bucket and glass pot, 5 sheep, Irish potatoes and a ream of corn (totaling $8.43). My 4th-great-grandfather James Vail bought bacon, a side saddle, 5 sheep, a tub, a bucket, a sausage funnel and tin cups (totaling $7.80).

An accounting of the estate was provided to the Probate Court. The cause was continued over several terms of the court. In August 1847, Guardianias provided an accounting showing a total of $774.68 had been collected. From this amount, fees were paid to the court and after paying open accounts, the following was distributed to the heirs of Jacob Booher (in order from the probate file):
1. John M. Booher
2. Leander Booher
3. Samuel M. Booher
4. Jacob Booher Jr.
5. Benjamin Booher
6. Jonathan Booher
7. John Snavely (husband of Lucinda Booher)
8. William Booher
9. Ambrose Booher
10. Margaret J. Hampton
11. James Vail (husband of Selina Hampton)
12. Samuel Hampton
13. Guardianias Booher

I hope this is useful to other descendants of Jacob Booher or any of the named purchasers from Montgomery County in 1845-1847.

Looking back over files collected

While cleaning up the basement yesterday, I found a stack of files collected over the years from various libraries. Amid this mess of manila folders, I ran across a file that I had been missing on the Hampton and Booher families. The file contained a letter from the Crawfordsville District Public Library dated 6 January 2006. Perhaps the file was set aside as we were packing to move to California in February 2006, but I'm not sure why this was overlooked for so long. The Library had sent me a copy of the probate file for Jacob Booher, my 6th-great-grandfather, as well as several pages from A History and Genealogy of the Booher Family, 1747-1964 by Betty McCay. The McCay book is now available in full from the FamilySearch Digital Library, and provides key information on the composition of the huge Booher family. Both sources will be featured prominently as I dive into the history of these families.

Source: Findagrave, Jacob Booher's headstone

I am not alone as a descendant of Jacob Booher, my 6th-great-grandfather. There is an active Bucher Y-DNA project and a number of published family histories on the Bucher/Booher family are available via the Library of Congress and Crawfordsville District Public Library, as well as online (see John Booher-Barbara Barnett Genealogy from MadeofCotton.com). Jacob's Findagrave entry states that he is buried in Deck Cemetery in Darlington, Montgomery County, Indiana. A large number of the Booher and Hampton family are also buried here. 

I'll be posting transcriptions from Jacob's probate file before I head off to LA this week. The file is 31 pages of small handwriting and contains the disposition of Jacob's estate between 1845-1849. There is a lot of detail here. I need to go through this and clean up my tree before the package of land records arrives from Sullivan County, Tennessee next week.

Smithsonian opens up digital collection

The Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler galleries have opened up their holdings, publishing over 40,000 pieces of art online (see Engadget article here and F/S Gallery page here). This is one of my favorite museums in DC, so it is great to see these works now available for non-commercial use online.

Source: F/S Gallery by James McNeil Whistler, 1859

According to the website, non-commercial use covers a variety of options, such as "artistic, educational, scholarly, and personal projects that will not be marketed, promoted, or sold. Examples include, but are not limited to, presentations, research, tattoos, sixth-grade science fair projects, tablet backgrounds, free and ad-free apps, GIFs, holiday centerpieces, Halloween costumes, decoupage, inspiration boards, and shower curtains." For more see the official Smithsonian Terms of Use for Digital Assets (pdf).

Freer & Sackler Gallery works can now be used with attribution on personal blogs such as this one, adding some visual interest to the stories we tell.

Research is not always free

As someone who has been tracing my family lines for quite a while, I have learned that sometimes you have to pay to get information. In the family history world, people may rely on free online-only sources, or if they do pay, may limit their costs to just an Ancestry subscription. Over this Christmas break, I traveled to the Spotsylvania and Culpeper County Courts in Virginia, and corresponded with the Montgomery County Court in Indiana and the Sullivan County Court in Tennessee. County Courts hold a wealth of vital records, many that are often not available online.

These courts usually charge a fee per page. Spotsylvania and Culpeper charged 50 cents per page, and no photos or cameras are allowed in the Court. Sullivan County charges $1 per page. Montgomery County also charges $1 per page. Yes, that cost can add up. But it is a small price to pay for the value of the knowledge hidden in these records. If I had not gone to Culpeper, I would not have learned about the indenture of my 5th-great-grandfather Joseph Thornhill, showing how we trained as a tailor (see my post on Culpeper County records from 25 September 2014).

Yesterday, a helpful woman from the Sullivan County Register of Deeds responded to my research query for land deeds involving my 6th-great-grandfathers Samuel Hampton and Jacob Booher. She said the copies ended up being 107 pages. That is a lot more than I expected. For Samuel, I know from the Tennessee Early Tax list records 1783-1895 that he owned land in Sullivan County in 1796. If the land records confirm a date prior to 31 Dec 1796, then he qualifies for First Families of Tennessee membership.

This branch of my tree also currently comes to an end with Samuel. I am hoping somewhere in those 107 pages is the key to following the Hampton family further back in time.

On the Booher side, it is already known that Jacob Booher was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on 3 March 1777, and that he died in Montgomery County, Indiana on 29 July 1845. Jacob appears in the 1830 US Census in Sullivan County, but I do not yet know when he and his brothers arrived there from Pennsylvania. The land records may tell about their arrival in the county and how they financed the journey of the family to Indiana.

The hope is that within the 107 pages from Sullivan County will be the story of how the families of my 4th-great-grandmother Selina Hampton Vail came together. I am hoping these land records show how the Boohers and Hamptons were connected. Perhaps they traveled together from Pennsylvania. I will learn more once the package arrives after I get back from California.

Welcoming 2015

After yesterday's New Years Day fun, my long staycation is nearing its end. Next week will bring a West Coast visit, meetings and planning. On the family history front I have been making some plans, tilling the ground to prepare for new discoveries on my Vail, Armstrong, Hampton and Booher family lines. 

This week I wrote to the Sullivan County, Tennessee Department of Archives & Tourism, the Sullivan County Register of Deeds, and the Montgomery County Court in Indiana. All of them responded quickly with suggestions. I am hoping to learn more about the land transactions that helped pave the way for the Hampton and Booher families to leave Sullivan County for Montgomery County between 1830-1837.

Source: David Rumsey Map Collection

From Montgomery County, I am also hoping to learn the identity of the parents for my 4th-great-grandfather, James Vail. To help with this search, I contacted the Archivist at Wabash College, my alma mater, to identify a capable student who may be able to do some research on land deeds, wills and probate records for my Armstrong, Vail, Booher and Hampton lines at the Montgomery County Court. Plans are in motion for this to be done in January & February and I'll describe the progress on the blog.

Yesterday I also traded email with a helpful researcher in Kentucky who is helping me try to break through the brick wall on my Cain family. Hopefully 2015 will bring an answer to the long mystery on the identity of the parents for my 2nd-great-grandmother, Mary Alice Cain Read.

There's quite a lot to look forward to in the near term. I will try to improve on capturing the story of these families, rather than focus on dates and documents. This is not quite a New Year's resolution, but an improvement I aim to make with the blog in 2015.