Lauren - I have a note in my file that Peter Thomas' second wife Margaret Thomas had an estate distribution that included information about the children of the first marriage. Do you happen to see an administration for her? I don't have a death date - she was in the 1810 census. I really apprecaite your help. Linda

Linda, The book I have covers 1778-1835 and there is nothing further in it than what I mentioned earlier. Russell's guide indicates records from 1778-1855 are at Maryland State Archives and that later volumes are at the court house. There may very well be a later distribution that someone has located. The second distribution that I thought was for Peter's son Peter was in 1833 and Margaret the mother was referenced in that will as an heir. So, if she is the second wife, she was still living in 1833. If she died after 1835, the estate will be in MSA. As I looked at the first distribution I thought it odd "distribution of Peter in right of first wife" 110 lbs+ out of a total of 174+ lbs. Was there some other financial arrangement or consideration that made this large portion go to rights of the first wife? Was the first portion that belonged to the first wife given to her children, the second wife's dower taken out, and then the remainder given to all the children equally - there are 13 in the list? If you recall, there was a distribution that was crossed out. I don't know if that is one particular family, it didn't seem to match what you indicated. Then I thought, well, maybe the first wife wasn't dead, but there was a divorce. I'd be interested to hear how all that played out if you discover any answers. Have you asked for a check of Cemetery Records or do you know where they are buried? There is a Margaret Thomas who was a wife of William in Vol. III and Margaret Thomas, wife of Daniel Thomas in Vol. II. The first Margaret lost a child in 1900 and the second Margaret died in 1866 at 69 years. Have you checked to see if there was a will? I don't have a will index. The LDS Family History Library has a microfilm FHL mf 14644 which covers 1777-1817 and the General Index to Wills 1777-1850. If any of the children's rights were in need of legal protection when Peter died, there might be something in the orphan's court proceedings or in guardian bonds, or accounts. Guardian Bonds for the period 1786-1872 are available from FHC mf 14665 on microfilm and Guardian Accounts (which kept track of money) from 1787-1852 are on FHL mf 14647-14645. If anyone on the list has a will index, perhaps they'll do a lookup for you. I know there was a published one - by Morrow and Morrow in 1977. They were also abstracted in Western Maryland Genealogy magazine beginning in vol. 9 (1993) if that is somewhere in a library you can access. Good hunting! Lauren Brantner Hansen wrote: >Lauren - I have a note in my file that Peter Thomas' second wife Margaret Thomas had an estate distribution that included information about the children of the first marriage. Do you happen to see an administration for her? I don't have a death date - she was in the 1810 census. > >I really apprecaite your help. Linda > > >==== MDWASHIN Mailing List ==== >Can't find it in Washington County...Try Frederick County at: >http://midatlantic.rootsweb.com/MD/frederick/ > >============================== >Search our Immigration Records and view names from multiple ports >ranging from 1500s - 1900s. Over 23 million records to view. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13967/rd.ashx > > >. > > >

Lauren - Thank you so much for looking. I know that they do have some records down at the FHL so I will see if I can find something about her distribution - if I do - I will post it here. Just a guess - but Jacob Russell - Margaret's father - had some real estate transactions with Peter Thomas in 1790-1791. I wonder if they had to do with Margaret's inheritance. She would have died about that time or shortly before. I probably should take a look at those deeds and see what they say. Thanks again - Linda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lauren Brantner" <lrbrant@concentric.net> To: <MDWASHIN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, October 29, 2004 4:59 PM Subject: Re: [MDWASHIN] PeterThomas' second wife Margaret > Linda, > The book I have covers 1778-1835 and there is nothing further in it than > what I mentioned earlier. Russell's guide indicates records from > 1778-1855 are at Maryland State Archives and that later volumes are at > the court house. There may very well be a later distribution that > someone has located. The second distribution that I thought was for > Peter's son Peter was in 1833 and Margaret the mother was referenced in > that will as an heir. So, if she is the second wife, she was still > living in 1833. If she died after 1835, the estate will be in MSA. As > I looked at the first distribution I thought it odd "distribution of > Peter in right of first wife" 110 lbs+ out of a total of 174+ lbs. Was > there some other financial arrangement or consideration that made this > large portion go to rights of the first wife? > >