Note: John F. Ruedger died intestate, and apparently owed money on his farm. The following is the probate record, with important documents and events recorded by date.
Oct. 12, 1880 (the day John F. Ruedger died)
Margaret Ruedger, being duly sworn and deposed and say: That John F. Ruedger late of the Town of Lyman in the County of Ford in the state of Illinois, departed this life at the Town of Lyman in said County, on or about the 12th day of October AD 1880, and that the said John F. Ruedger died seized of property to the probably value of Fifteen hundred dollars; and that the following persons are his heirs: Margaret Ruedger his widow Rheinhold—Fritz—Amy—Henry—Alexander—John—Liddy—his children. And that your petitioner is surviving widow of said John F. Ruedger (signed “Margardha Ruedger”)
Nov. 12, 1880-Administrator’s Bond
Margaret, Thomas Adamson, and Robert Adamson give the court a bond of $3000 cash, and Margaret promises to make a true inventory of John’s goods and do the duty of an administrator.
Nov. 27, 1880-Petition for Letters of Administration
This is an inventory, and it reads like this:
John F. Ruedger died seized and possessed of Real and Personal Estate, consisting chiefly of:
7 horses and colts
5 cows
3 calves
various agricultural tools, etc.
Ten acres off the east side North West quarter of South east quarter and ten acres off the east side South west quarter of north west quarter of north east quarter-Sec. 11 Town 25 Range 9 East
All of said estate being estimated to be worth about Fifteen hundred dollars.
Nov. 27, 1880-Warrant to Appraisers/h2>
The court asks Thomas Adamson, John Davis, and Robert Adamson to appraise the estate. They do, in December, and their appraisal list is attached to the warrant and reads as follows:
Family pictures, wearing apparel, jewels and ornaments of the widow and children: $96
School books and family library $100
One Sewing Machine $35
Necessary beds, bedding, etc. for widow and children: $100
Stove and pipes and necessary cooking utensils $50
Household and kitchen furniture $100
2 milch cows and calves $70
Sheep and fleeces $80
One Horse, Saddle and Bridle $100
Provisions for widow and family for one year $532
Food for stock above specified for six months $54
Fuel for the widow and family for three months $15
Other property $100
Total $1432
The items listed above were on a printed form. On another sheet, the list is hand-written:
Margaret lists income from growing flax and corn as being $139. Her expenses, which seem to mainly be to Rice and Lyman, who apparently were the undertakers, were $443.84
Aug. 30, 1882—Petition for sale of Real Estate
In this paper, Margaret says that the personal estate of John F. Ruedger was worth $139, but that the “debts and demands allowed against the said estate amount to $1741.82.” The form goes on to say “That the just claims to be presented and allowed will probably amount to the sum of $1725. That there has come to the hands of your petitioner Personal Estate to the amount of except as above Noted $896.25, and that he has disbursed the same and paid out upon widow’s award against said estate the sum of $896.25, leaving balance due her $535.75” The form goes on to state that John died “seized in fee of certain real estate”, whereupon follows the legal description of the ten acres mentioned in other documents. The rest of this paper asks that a guardian be appointed for the children, who, at this time, are all under the age of 22. Apparently this was a legality that had to be followed so the land could be sold.
Sept. 1882 Court Term—Petition to Sell Real Estate
Basically, this paper gave Margaret permission to sell the ten acres. There are several motions and more paperwork as an A. Samples is appointed guardian ad Litem of the children. Since the children did not really oppose what their mother was trying to do, I would say this was more lawyering.
Nov. 18, 1882—Report on the sale—note the name of the buyer
The undersigned Administrator of the Estate of John F. Ruedger, deceased, would hereby report that, by virtue of the decree heretofore entered in this Court in the above entitled cause, she did, on the 18th day of November AD 1882, between the hours of ten o’clock in the forenoon and five o’clock in the afternoon of said day, at East door of Courthouse in Paxton in Ford County in the State of Illinois, offer for sale at public vendue the real estate described in said decree, and Francis L. Gurrad (misspelled “Garrad”) bid the sum of Sixteen hundred and two and 82/100 dollars for the real estate described in said decree…and the said Francis L. Gurrad , being the highest and best bidder for said described real estate, the same was struck off to him at the sum aforesaid, and I executed and delivered to him a deed for said real estate as Administrator of the Estate….
Nov. 19, 1883—Final Report of Administrator
In this report, Margaret lists income—none. On items paid out, there are only three—“balance due me per last report--$461.07” dated Aug 20, 1882, and two dated Nov. 19, 1883, one to pay court costs--$3.50—and the other “By note due estate of Lenhart Gurrad deceased, $600”
Some parting comments:
I am sure one reason Margaret made a will was to avoid having her children have to go through what she did to get everything straightened out. I think it interesting—and significant—that her brother Francis bought the ten acres, but that, by the time of her death, it was in her possession again (although she had it mortgaged to her brother-in-law, Jacob Blesch). The family obviously stuck together in times of adversity. As to the $600 she owed the estate of her father, Lenhart—was this a loan by her siblings in her time of distress? Was it her father’s parting wish that Margaret and her children be looked after by her siblings? We’ll probably never know.