Email from Liechtenstein

Cousin Rainer came through again!


"Ferdinand Marxer (died:  5th January 1726 and his wives Anna Maria Thöni (died 9th October 1678) and Barbara Schächle (died: 1st September 1721). With Barbara Schächle he had 8 children. One oft them is Georg Marxer (born: 4th January 1686). Georg married Katharina Jehli (died: 18th March 1729). They had seven children. One oft them is Ferdinand Marxer (born 8th October 1719). His wife Barbara Batliner (there is no date in the book). They had seven children. One of them is Johann Georg Marxer (born: 8th January 1751   died: 6th April 1829). His wife is Maria Anna Hasler (born:  15th February 1754). The rest you know: Johann Georg Marxer (born: 8th January 1751 …. And so on."


He added another three generations to the Marxer line and we broke the 1600's barrier! When I set out on this journey, I never dreamed we'd go back so far. Huge thanks to Rainer, again. He makes this all seem so easy. Now it's back to the FHC and more microfilmed church records. Must find the documents to accompany all this new information.

Email response re; will and probate request

"Hi Jennie:

I was able to review our Probate Index for the three names that you indicated in your message.  I did not find a probate filed for the first two (Frank Joseph Marxer, William Henry Johnstone), but I did find a probate filed for John Augusta “Gust” Borgreen.  The Cause Number is 6864.  The date of death you indicated matches the file.  I have reviewed the file and I am wondering which documents you would like to have copied?  There is no Will on file; he died without one (intestate).  I am listing below some of the more important documents that you may wish to have based on the information contained within or for the fact that other family members’ signatures are present.   I did not include documents that set the date and/or times for hearings.

-          Petition for Letters of Administration (2 pg)

-          Order Appointing Administrator (2 pg; appoints Carl T. Borgreen as the Administrator of the Estate)

-          Letters of Administration (1 pg; document that gave authority to the Administrator)

-          Inventory and Appraisement (3 pg; shows that the estate’s assets were cash only)

-          Report to State Board of Equalization on Inheritance Tax (2 pg)

-          First and Final Account, Petition for Determination of Inheritance Tax, Allowance of Attorney’s Fees and for Final Discharge (6 pg)

-          Decree Allowing First and Final Account, Determination of Inheritance Tax, Allowance of Attorney’s and Distribution of Estate (5 pg)

-          Petition for Final Discharge (5 pg; includes “Vouchers” signed by recipients of inheritance)

-          Decree of Final Discharge (1 pg; closed estate proceedings)

Our copy charges are $1.00/pg for the 1^st 10 pages; $0.50/pg thereafter (based on the total number of pages being ordered).  You may use this e-mail as your request if you would like to order any copies.  Please make your payment by MONEY ORDER only payable to “Clerk of Court.”  Please indicate which documents you would like and be sure to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope large enough to accommodate the number of pages you have requested.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Best regards,
Melissa "

Drat! I wanted to find a will or probate for Joseph Marxer and William Johnstone. I am happy to know that a probate packet exists for Gust Borgreen. I've ordered the pages referenced in the email and am impatiently awaiting their arrival. All is not lost on the Johnstone front, though. I do know that William's wife, Mary Alice, owned some property. He predeceased her so there may well be a will and/or probate for her. After I pick through Gust's packet, I'll write to see if Mary Alice has left anything for me. 

Friday Funny

found in my collection of things that make me laugh.

Don't recall where it came from.

Is there such a thing as TMI?

I had to step back and take a big breath. I've had the happy problem of finding too much too soon. I began to feel a little overwhelmed and was feeling a bit buried in details and dates. I knew a break was in order when I couldn't keep one generation straight from another. So, I've had a few days to quiet the mind. I've read my latest issue of Family Tree magazine, watched the two newest episodes of WDYTYA (USA version) and found past episodes of WDYTYA (UK) on You Tube. It's been a lovely little vacation. Then yesterday morning I popped out of bed ready to write a letter to the county courthouse for wills and probates for three great grandpas. I counted it as something done but with breathing room before results come in. I feel refocused and re energized and ready to take just a small bite out of my to do list, for now.

ATCs....Ancestor Trading Cards

William H. Johnstone

Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards,^[1] or 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (63 mm X 89 mm),^[2] small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets.^[3] The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland.^[4] Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged rather than sold. wikipedia

Nell and Carl Borgreen
"Bathing Beauty"

Ancestor Trading cards are a spin off of Artist Trading cards.

Using clipart and vintage photos I've created a set of fun and 

whimsical ancestor cards.

Nell, Carl and baby Judy Borgreen

Printed on cardstock and housed in a little

altered box, they are good for nothing

but holding, looking at and enjoying.

Carl Borgreen
"Flyboy"

This set was a Christmas gift to Mom who

is a paper and rubber stamp artist and makes

ATCs for swap groups all year long.

Gust Borgreen
"The Blacksmith"

Nell and Carl Borgreen and others
"The Jailbirds"

Johanna "Jennie" and Gust Borgreen

The Johnstones

Mary Alice Johnstone

Nell Borgreen "Nurse Nellie"

Gust Borgreen "The Kingfisher"

Happy 99th Birthday Grandma Nell

Wordless Wednesday....double take

                (L) Me in 1966                (R) My granddaughter in 2009

I never felt that my own children looked much like me. Their father's Chinese genes were too

strong a match for my muttiness. But then our granddaughter came along and I can see myself

in her so clearly.

Tech Tuesday... Hand Held Scanner

My new toy is the VuPoint Magic Wand hand held scanner. Think of all the times you've  been at the library looking at an old fragile book or without dimes for the copy machine or all the times the line at the machine as too long and your research time too short. This little gadget is the answer to many a researcher's prayer.
 I bought it over the weekend, played with it for a few minutes and had the technique down pat. The quality is good and it's small, portable, easy to use and comes with it's own handy carrying case and cleaning cloth. Come on! Who can turn down a handy carrying case and cleaning cloth?  My one tip is, scan each page a couple of times to make sure you get a good image. You can't view your scans as you go, you have to load them onto the computer to see how you did. So I scan twice, which takes seconds, and use the best result. In my opinion, this is a must in every researcher's tote bag.