ALLWEIN DESCENDANTS IN BERKS COUNTY ESTATE RECORDS Duane F. Alwin On a recent trip to Berks County PA I visited the office of the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphan's Court at 633 Court Street in Reading. Among other things my purpose was to obtain copies of whatever records were available on the wills and/or estates of Hans Jacob Allwein, his wife Catharina, and their descendants. I found that estate records exist on four persons of interest to Allwein family historians: "Jacob Allwein" (this is Hans Jacob), "Johannes Allwein" (this is Hans Jacob's son John), "Joseph Allwein" (this is son of John and Eva Christian), and "Mary Allwein" (daughter of John and his second wife Magdalena). These documents also list the names of several more Allwein descendants. I checked alternate spellings, but these four were the only case records I could find. I am sure others have also inspected these documents and have already produced similar conclusions, but I thought it might be of some value to summarize what I found and what I think these records tell us and don't tell us. These documents portray a period in our 18th-century American history which considered women as the property of their husbands, with few legal rights and a subordinate role in the gender-stratified society. Although I do not know the early Pennsylvania inheritance laws, widows were in all likelihood protected by dower rights, that is, laws that govern the portion of the inheritance a widow is entitled to. In any event, the estate records for JACOB ALLWEIN begin with a document dated October 22, 1781 filed after Hans Jacob's death by (in the words of the document) "Catharina Allwein of Bern Township widow of Jacob Allwein deceased and Philip Smith son-in-law of the said deceased." It was customary for German people to go by their middle name and there is no doubt that this is Hans Jacob Allwein. Philip Smith was the husband of Mary Elizabeth (or Elizabeth) the eldest daughter of Hans Jacob and Catharina. Philip was her second husband whom she married after the death of her first husband Joseph Obold. This document sets forth that Catharina Allwein and Philip Smith were administrators of the estate and had the responsibility (again in the words of the document) "to make or cause to be made a true and perfect inventory of all and singular the goods, chattels, rights, and credits, which were of the said deceased" and to provide an accounting of the estate within one year. On the tenth day of November, 1781 they filed an inventory of Hans Jacob's estate consisting of all of his and his household's personal property. Subsequently on March 7, 1783 they filed an accounting of the estate with the court, and after Catharina's death, Philip filed administrative reports with the Court again on July 3, 1790 and finally on October 14, 1799. It is in the nature of these records that they provide hardly any information about birth date and/or age of the persons of interest; however, among other things they do clarify the nature of the kinship relationships involved. Although there was no actual will for Hans Jacob Allwein among these documents, the records mention, in addition to Hans Jacob's wife Catharina, six surviving heirs to his estate: John and Conrad Allwein (his sons), daughter Mary Elizabeth (and her husband Philip Smith), and daughter Catherine (and her husband Joseph Seyfert). The failure of this document to make any mention of other persons often listed as children of Hans Jacob and Catharina, for example, Jacob, Barney and Lawrence Allwine, raises some concern about the accuracy of information from other sources which mention additional surviving children (see e.g. Catholic Trails West, by Edmund Adams and Barbara Brady O'Keefe, which gives the following list of children: "Mary Elizabeth (b. 1742), Margaret, Jacob, Conrad, Laurence and Barney" p. 456). This source gets only two of the children right, as it does not list either John or Catherine. The present estate documents clearly indicate they were offspring of Hans Jacob and Catharina, along with Mary Elizabeth and Conrad. JOHANNES (JOHN) ALLWEIN was the eldest son of Hans Jacob and Catharina Allwein. His baptism in 1748 is recorded in St. John's Reformed Church or Hain's Church records, and John appears in the early tax records of Berks County. He was preceded in death by his son Joseph who died in 1806 (I return to Joseph's estate records below). The estate records for John include a will dated February 21, 1809, written in German, but accompanied by an English translation. This will was submitted to the Court on February 29, 1816. Joseph Obold was appointed executor of the estate. John's will does not mention any of his siblings. The will mentions John's 2nd wife Magdalena and two minor children, Sarah and Margretha (Mary Margaret), along with the four surviving children of his deceased wife Eva: Catharina (wife of John Seamon), Elizabeth (wife of Daniel Kemp), Magdalena (wife of Jacob Kemp) and Phillip Allwein. On March 2, 1816 a complete inventory was presented to the court by Joseph Obold, and the final account was filed April 23, 1817. The records for John provide further information on two daughters born to him and Magdalena. Specifically, the file includes petitions to the court to appoint guardians for Sarah (a minor above the age of fourteen) and Margaret (a minor below the age of fourteen). Jacob Himelberger was appointed their guardian, but later it was recorded that he declined to serve in this capacity. John Seifert was appointed Sarah's guardian on August 9, 1816 and later, after her marriage to Philip Faust in January 5, 1821, guardianship was transferred to her husband. In a July 21st 1824 report to the Court filed by John Seifert, Margaret is referred to as "Mary Alwein" one of the minor daughters of "John Alwein late of Upper Bern township." Court records also indicate that (Mary) Margaret's guardianship was later assigned to Daniel Zacharias on April 9, 1821. A final report to the court for MARY ALLWEIN dated July 23, 1827 suggests that Mary ("Maria") Margaret died without marrying. Note that the names "Maria" and "Mary" were used interchangeably. Also one of the documents refers to her as "Peggy" which was a nickname for Margaret. In any event, this document indicates that Daniel Zacharias was appointed guardian of (Mary) Margaret's estate after Jacob Himelberger. Mr. Zacharias preceded her in death, as the probate of her estate was executed by F. Leavenworth and Jacob Weitzel who apparently succeeded him in the capacity of guardian. Little else is known about (Mary) Margaret's estate, but all this confirms that the "Mary Margaret Allwein" listed in Allwein family genealogies is one of John's daughters. She was born no earlier than 1802 (given that she was under 14 years of age when John died in 1816) and possibly later. As indicated by the court records she died in 1827 when she was in early adulthood. Finally, the Berks County estate records include a file for JOSEPH ALLWEIN, John Allwein's son, who died intestate in 1806. These records indicate that John Seaman (his brother-in-law) and John Allwein (his father) were both appointed administrator of Joseph Allwein's estate. There are several petitions to the court establishing the heirs to Joseph's estate, which included John Allwein (his father), Philip Allwein (his brother), and the husbands of his three sisters, John Seamon (husband to Catherine), Daniel Kemp (husband to Elizabeth), and Jacob Kemp (husband to Magdalena). What is perhaps most significant is that it was not until after John Allwein died, that the heirs petitioned the Court for an inquest into the estate of Joseph Allwein in order to partition the remaining assets, namely a one hundred eighty acre tract of land that Joseph had owned. The petition dated March 4, 1816 states the following: "Joseph Allwein died intestate in the year of our Lord one thousand eight-hundred and six leaving a father, lately deceased, and one brother, viz. Philip Allwein, and three sisters, viz. Catherine, intermarried with your petitioner, Elizabeth intermarried with Daniel Kemp and Magdalena intermarried with Jacob Kemp." The inquisition established that the land was valued at $8,600, which was sold and the proceeds credited to Joseph's heirs, each receiving $2,150. In conclusion, probate or estate records are a useful source of genealogical data inasmuch as they can confirm or correct information on marriages, kinship linkages, dates and places of death, and provide some information on the assets of given individuals. They also reveal a great deal about the nature of society during the historical period involved and a glimpse into the legal system and inheritance norms that operated in early colonial history. Finally, when complemented by other information from additional sources estate records can help develop a narrative of family history and a fuller appreciation of one's ancestors and family heritage. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Duane F. Alwin Professor, Department of Sociology Senior Research Scientist & Program Director Survey Research Center Office: 4067 Institute for Social Research Phone: 734-764-6597 Fax: 734-647-4575 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~