If a legal document for a married woman refers to property as her “separate property,” it could have been property she had before the marriage or something she obtained during the marriage. Often this separate property was obtained from an inheritance, but not always. When seeing this reference, determine how the property was obtained–starting with land and estate/probate records. Indicating that a property was a married woman’s separate property was usually done to prevent the property from being sold to pay the husband’s debts or otherwise being “wasted” by him. It’s possible that a married couple may set aside property as separate property for the wife during their marriage in order to try and prevent it from being used to pay for the husband’s debts or in a […]
Is it possible that your relative appears in a city directory for a town in which he does not live? The 1950s era city directory for Rock Island, Illinois, includes a number of references for individuals who worked in the city but did not live there. Not all directories include references such as these, but don’t assume your relative would not be listed in a directory for a town where she never lived.
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