If you have a male ancestor with a fair amount of land transactions, make certain you have noted the release of dower interest by the wife on them (if the time period is right). I was having difficulty narrowing down when a relative’s wife died in the 19th century and, upon reviewing the land records, noticed two in the early 1870s where he sold property and no wife is listed as having acknowledged her relinquishment of a dower interest.
The chance the relinquishment was forgotten is very slim. The likely situation is that his wife was dead at the point in time when the deed was executed. Her omission would be indirect evidence she was dead at the date of the deed’s execution since it is not explicitly stated that she was deceased.
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