Kathie, It'd be hard to figure out why a person was written out of a Will unless you found out everything that was going on in their life @ the time. My husband's gr grandfather married in one town in NC back in the early 1800's...but no divorce record was found although there could have been. A few towns away we found him living with another woman with several children, all with his surname. When the father of the new "wife" drew up his Will he purposely excluded his daughter as well as all her children. No reason why, but we suspected it may not have been a legal marriage or that our gr grandfather and his "father-in-law" had an unnamed disagreement over something. The woman was named as the deceased's daughter and given $1.00 with the statement he'd excluded her children. You might check into everything you can find about your gr gr grandfather & his mother to see if there might have been a disagreement - perhaps over land or even his marriage. Have you looked at Civil Court records to see if there may have been suits filed for some reason between the two of them? Civil Court records can be revealing. I'd never have found my grandmother's adoption unless her adoptive parents had filed for divorce. I saw their names in the court records in IA and requested a copy of all papers in the case file and in them was testimony that their daughter (naming my grandmother) had been adopted. juanita > Another consideration: if the will gives other family members $50 or > $100 or large amounts of personal property, it certainly indicates > that the $1 was a legal maneuver to prevent the one person "written > out of the will" from contesting the will or, as you say, to indicate > that the person wasn't forgotten at the time of the writing of the > will. My g-g-grandfather appears to have been written out of his > mother's will. I'd love to know why. Kathie ----- Original Message > ----- From: "juanita" <juanita2@cox.net> To: <OHGALLIA-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 7:07 AM Subject: Re: [OHGALLIA-L] > $1.00 in 1839 vs. today > > > > Mentioning someone in a Will and giving them $1.00 is/was a legal > > maneuver, I believe, to indicate to a court that the person > > mentioned was not forgotten at the time the Will was being drawn up. > > I read a discussion about this that said heirs to an estate could > > not claim in Court, or protest a Will, that their benefactor had > > forgotten them. $1.00 made the transaction legal. > > > > Maybe the ancestor who was given $1.00 and the "money your husband > > owes me" was considered enough of his share of any inheritance. > > > > No doubt someone else can explain this better, but this is what I > > understand. > > > > juanita > > > > > In a message dated 3/15/2005 9:36:14 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, > > > OHGALLIA-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: > > > > > > > > > X-Message: #26 > > > Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 21:31:55 EST > > > From: McNab2000@aol.com > > > To: OHGALLIA-L@rootsweb.com > > > Message-ID: <ff.f502649.2f68f49b@aol.com> > > > Subject: Re: [OHGALLIA-L] Re: Peter's Cornell's Will > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > > > > > Just out of curiosity, how much would a $1.00 have taken a person > > > in 1839? > > > > > > I looked it up at _www.westegg.com_ (http://www.westegg.com) and > > > it is very interesting. What cost $1.00 in 1839 would cost > > > $16.49 in 2003. (there are no figures for 2004 yet) Obviously, > > > they either got their inheritance early or they were > > > intentionally cut out of their father's will. I have an early > > > German ancestor, Gaspar Link, in the Shenandoah Valley who left > > > his daughter, my foremother, as well as his other daughter, her > > > sister, who married no-account Harless brothers, "$1.00 and the > > > money your husband owes me!" Her husband, my forefather, > > > disappeared, was thought to have been killed by Indians, but > > > turned up two counties away with a wife and several more children! > > > Ha ha! Later,the other brother was caught passing counterfeit > > > gold coins in Pearisburg!! So, no wonder the old man was angry! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sharon Lee Gates > > > > > > > > > > > > ==== OHGALLIA Mailing List ==== > > > Check the address you are replying to before sending your message. > > > > > > > > > > > > > ==== OHGALLIA Mailing List ==== > > Please keep your topic related to genealogical research > > in Gallia County, Ohio. > > > > > > > ==== OHGALLIA Mailing List ==== > If you want to unsubscribe to the list, send an email to > OHGALLIA-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com with the word unsubscribe in the text > of the email. >