The 1895 will of Tamme Tammen in Pike County, Illinois, refers to his wife as “Elka B. Franklen Tammen.” Franklen (actually most likely Franken given where the Tammens were from) could have been Elka’s maiden name, middle name, or married name with a previous husband. I should include in my notes on Elka that she is referred to as “Elka B. Franklen Tammen” in her husband’s 1895 will. I should not enter that as her maiden name. Using it for a clue to other relatives when searching is advised. But there’s not really good evidence in this will that it’s her maiden name. There are other possibilities.
United States military pensions may mention information contained in a family Bible as evidence in a pension claim. Often family register entries are used to document births or marriages. In some Revolutionary War pensions, the actual pages from the Bible may have been submitted. The illustration in this post is from 1915 and is typical of Union Civil War pensions where affidavits about the Bible’s content were used instead of having veterans submit the actual Bible pages. This affidavit was analyzed in issue 3-50 of Casefile Clues.
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