52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2020) – Will: Vincent Sievert’s Will

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

Vincent Sievert died 23 January 1890 in Joliet, Will County, Illinois.[1] Vincent is my paternal 2x-great-grandfather. He was born 24 January 1823 in Schneidemuhl, Posen, which is in present day Poland.[2]  He, his wife, Susanna Raduntz, and their oldest child, August, came to America 23 June 1852.[3]

Vincent was a stone mason.[4] They lived on North Hickory in Joliet at the time of his death at 1146 No. Hickory.[5] To them were born eleven children, eight of which grew to adulthood. Their daughter, Susanna, who married Johan Anton Hork, was my great-grandmother.

At his death, Vincent had written a will. His son, John Sievert, brought the will to the Will County, County Court on 7 February 1890, and Frank Schedler and Julius M Westphal were present also as the witnesses.[6]

His will was short.

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF Vincent Sievert, DECEASED
I Vincent Sievert of the city of Joliet, in the County of Will and State of Illinois make this my last will -
I give, devise and bequeath to my wife "Susanna Sievert" and to her heirs and assigns forever, all my estate and property, real as well as personal property, which I may possess at the time of my death.
I appoint my son John Sievert of Joliet aforesaid, executor of this my will
In witness whereof, I have signed and sealed and published and declared this instrument as my will, at Joliet, in the County of Will and State of Illinois on the twenty eighth day of November AD 1888. ---------
                                                                        Vincent (his mark XX) Sievert (Seal)
The said Vincent Sievert, at Joliet aforesaid on said, the twenty eighth day of November AD Eighteen hundred and eighty eight signed (by making his mark, he not being able to write) and sealed this instrument and published and declared the same as and for This last will And we, at his request, and in his presence and in the presence of each other, have hereunto written our names as subscribing witnesses
                                                                        Frank Schedler
                                                                        Alexander Gross
                                                                        Julius M Westphal[7]

Vincent was either illiterate or too frail to sign his name, making instead three small xxx. At least that is what I think he did. All we have is the clerk’s copy written in a ledger book, so I can’t be sure, but the clerk was to copy the “signature” as made. He made the will a little over a year before his death. At the time of his death, he was sixty-six years old and the cause of his death was senile and gangrene.[8]

Researchers are excited to find wills. However, wills do not always give you the information you want. There is no mention of their children, except for son, John. He left all of his estate to his wife, Susanna. When there is no will, the estate is called intestate, and it must go through probate. John would have  likely been made administrator of the estate and he would have had to record all possible heirs, and would have listed his mother and all of their children. I like intestate estates because of the possible bits of information that can be found.

This estate, no. 2656, only had the will and that appears to be missing.[9] No other records were created. John Sievert followed the instructions of the will and the property of Vincent went to his wife, Susanna.

Now, the house was owned free of mortgage, according to the 1900 and 1910 census records.[10] She died 11 March 1911.[11] At the time of her death, their address was listed as 1148 No. Hickory. I doubt they moved next door. More likely, renumbering happened sometime in the 1890s, as that is when the house number differed in city directories. I have visited Joliet, and more renumbering has happened and I could not determine which house they lived in.

In the 1920 census for their neighborhood, Susana’s son, John Sievert and daughter, Theresa Ford, along with her husband, Hugh, are living at 1148 Hickory. Hugh is the head of household.[12] Is it possible he purchased the home?

Future Research

I have not researched land records for this family, primarily because FamilySearch does not have microfilmed/digital land records in their library/database. Researching the county recorder’s website, Will County has county archives with these records.[13] I will try to contact them when the archives are open again and see if they can do an index search for me. They suggest hiring a title company, which may be expensive.

I also need to check probate records for Susanna Sievert. FamilySearch has probate records up to 1900 so any after that would still be with the court. A checking of the Illinois State Archives holdings reveal they have the same time period as FamilySearch. This is another thing to do when record offices open up again.

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[1] Will County, Illinois, County Clerk’s Office, Death Certificate, no. 3419, V. Seavert, 1890, certified copy dated 6 Sep 2001.

[2] Ibid.

[3] "Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com), Johanna Elise, 23 Jun 1852, p 2, Winzent Seivert; citing NARA roll 115; Line: 10.

[4] 1870 U.S. census, Will Co, IL, pop. sched, Joliet 2nd ward, pg 19, p 211 (stamped), 133/159, Vincent Seivert, NARA M593, roll 291.

[5] W.F. Curtis & Co's, Joliet City Directory, 1887, p 299, Vincentz Sievert, digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com).

[6] “Illinois, Wills and Probate Records, 1772-1999,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com), Will County > v. F > p. 209, image 138, Record of the Last Will and Testament, Vincent Sievert, 1888,; citing FHL film 2366347, item 1.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Will County, Illinois, Death Certificate, no. 3419, V. Seavert, 1890.

[9] “Illinois, Wills and Probates Records, 1772-1999,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com), citing Will County, Illinois probate case files, ca. 1847-1889, Will > Probate case files, box 46, misc files > image 347 of 1472 > Vincent Sievert, no. 2656. The card states “will only” and there are no other images pertaining to this card.

[10] 1900 U.S. census, Will County, Illinois, pop. sched., ED 122, sht 2a, p 79 (stamped), fam 21, Susana Sivert,  NARA T623, roll 353. For 1910, see 1910 U.S. census, Will Co, Illinois, pop. sched., Ed 169, Joliet City, sht 20a, p 56 (stamped), fam 315, Susanna Sievert, NARA T624, roll 334.

[11] “Mrs Susanne Seavert,” Joliet Weekly News, 12 Mar 1911, p 1.

[12] 1920 U.S. census, Will County, Illinois, pop. sched., ED 164, Joliet, sht 22a, p 22 (stamped), fam 429, Hugh Ford, NARA T 625, roll 415.

[13] https://www.willcountyrecorder.com/archives.

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