Whenever a person dies with minor children, it is advised to search for all the records of the settlement of their estate. Parents or siblings of the deceased (particularly males before the 20th century and often afterwards) could have been appointed administrator of the estate or guardian of the children. Sometimes the relationship will be spelled out and sometimes it will not.
In 1865, Joseph Belles petitioned the Fulton County, Illinois, court to be appointed administrator of the estate of Peter Belles as Peter’s children were all minors. Joseph in his petition of 4 May 1865 stated that he was the father of Peter Belles.
Not every estate of this type will state the relationship between the administrator and the deceased and there may be no relationship. But you will never know if you don’t read every document in the record carefully.
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