Mimke Habben’s will gave his wife a life estate in his real estate after his death. This meant she could use the property, earn income from it, and (within reason) use it as she saw fit. She could not sell, mortgage, or bequeath the property. Her husband’s will indicated who was to get it upon her death–in this case it went to all their children. There are reasons a person may do this. In Mimke’s case it prevented his wife from giving the entire farm to one child–which she tried to do by writing a will that a local judge refused to probate upon her death.
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Sometimes it can seem like we are the only person researching a certain family or set of ancestors. Sometimes we get so focused on going back further and further that we neglect to track down modern descendants. This can be important even if writing a book of all your ancestor’s descendants is the furthest thing from your mind. Any of those descendants can have a family item that could be useful in your research. They may know stories, etc. I recently made contact with a descendant of one of my great-great-grandfather’s brother’s descendants. If you think about it, your great-great-great-grandparents may have more descendants than you think. Who knows which lineage path ended up with the family bible and other items?
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