On Feb 19, 2011, at 8:53 AM, Carl Becker wrote: > The "Laufzeit" is the time frame which is covered by an archive record. Your > assumption that G.Ph. Schuchmann might have died in 1817 makes sense. 1827 > sould be the date when the probate case was finally settled. Until you have > retrieved the record from Staatsarchiv Darmstadt, you only can guess what > happened betwenn 1817 and 1827. > > My guess would be that the estate was finally divided among the heirs in > 1827 because at this time either his widow died, or underage children had > been grown out of custodianship. This sounds like a reasonable suggestion. Georg Philipp's wife predeceased him in 1815. Their children were born between 1800-1812. I'll write to the Staatsarchiv Darmstadt to seen whether I can obtain a copy or transcription. It sounds as though the document could be helpful. Many thanks for your suggestions! Regards, Debra MacLaughlan-Dumes http://sakionline.net/familypage