Posts in August 27, 2025

The estate settlement of Baltser Heeren of Adams County, Illinois, was admitted to probate in 1867 and didn’t finish up until almost 1870. Heeren left his estate to children of his apparent brothers and sisters. Tracking those children has been an ongoing project of mine, including an heir Trientje Sartorius, wife of John Sartorius. Their residence is not given in the probate file. Trientje and John are only mentioned once in the entire file–when they receive her share of the estate. In the will, Trientje and her sister are simply listed as “children of Metha Garrels.” They are not named. I’ve had difficulty locating Trientje and have decided that instead of focusing on her, I’m going to focus on her mother and and on her sister with the […]