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.
After the person of interest apparently died in Illinois in the 1870s, his wife, Susan, was married two more times and ended up surviving all three of her husbands. The last husband was a Union Civil War veteran and Susan qualified for a pension based upon his service. There is a good chance that her widow’s pension application contains at least some brief details about her first marriage and how that marriage ended–including when and where that husband, the actual person of interest, died. Even though the third husband had no connection to the person of interest (other than marrying the same person), his military service could have resulted in a great way for me to location information on the actual person of interest.
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