This kind of thing happens when the father of the married daughter either
did NOT LIKE or did NOT TRUST his daughter's husband or where the son-in-law
had some other legal impediment. The father providing for his daughter
while protecting his provision for her from a spend thrift, drunken, debtor,
bankrupt, and or emotionally ill son-in-law is not all that uncommon a
scenario, then or now. Today we draft life estates, generation skipping
trusts and use a whole host of legal conventions that they did not have
access to in the 18th Century.
Leslie B. Potter
PA Atty. ID 16580
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charlene Uchtman" <uchtman(a)cox-internet.com>
To: <PAGENWEB-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 8:16 AM
Subject: [PAGenWeb] Possible Scenarios
For what reason would a father will land to a married daughter,
stipulating
in the will that she sell her portion to a third party, the third
party
having the same surname as a granddaughter that the daughter and her
husband
raised?
Can anyone help me come up with a probable scenario for this type of
transaction? I researched all other areas looking for clues, have found
out
little, and need fresh ideas. I thought perhaps understanding the
following land transaction might shed some light on my search.
Benjamin Goodlander, b. 1782 in PA, willed 140 acres of land in Union
County
PA to his daughter Martha J. Moyer, married to William H. Moyer and
gave
her
the power to sell her tract to William Weikel which she did.
Interestingly, Martha and William raise a Barbara Weikle in their home who
is suppose to be their granddaughter. At first it seemed obvious one of
the
Moyer daughters had married a Weikle, probably William and that was
how
Barbara came about. But not only do the Moyer daughters I know of seem to
be too young to be Barbara's mother, Martha and William seem too young to
be
her grandparents. I do not know who Barbara's parents are for
sure,
except
they were a Moyer and a Weikle.
Why wouldn't Benjamin have willed the land directly to William?
Why would Martha will her portion to a son-in-law (or some other
connection)
when she was raising the child?
Family stories suggest that there is Indian blood in this line and
embarrassment resulting in secrecy. I don't know if that would have
caused
any of the above or not.
Thank you all for considering my question. I enjoy the interaction on
this
list.