Help with Bedford PA land patent? Where do I go from here?

Question

The pertinent document: Frederic Foreman warrantee 1773

I looked on Family Search and it doesn't seem these volumes they reference (P 15 105 and C 55 156) are Bedford County records? Also, what does "date of return" mean?

My working theory is that this Frederick is the father of Peter or John P. Foreman/Fuhrman who lived on this land. When this Peter Fuhrman died, he named executors but not beneficiaries: Odd will of Peter Fuhrman

So when they sold his land, who do you suppose got the money? (The only specific bequest I saw was one dollar to the Calvinist Church of Berlin, PA)

Thanks. Jane

Comments

There should be a record of the distribution of the estate; but is always possible that the record did not survive for some reason.

Answer 1

The term "date of return" is a legal term that means the date on which a legal document was received back by the government entity. It's essentially the date on which there was evidence of recording back to the government entity.  There are some times legal rights and obligations that trigger off that date.

The "odd will" does isn't the will.  It's the letters of administration, which appoint a person or persons the administrator(s) of the estate.  It's one of the initial steps in most probates.

As George said, you need the original records of the probate proceeding.  There should be documents that list the possible heirs, such as the will, a decree of distribution or a final decree.  Sometimes they have been destroyed or lost, but they are generally there.

Comments

Hi, thanks, but in this case the "date of return" is shortly after Peter Fuhrman Foreman (the possible son), who was living there, died. Would somebody else return the warrant then? Would that somebody else be one of Peter's executors? Or would it be David Blouch? I am still confused.

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Jane:

       There are of lots delays in filing or returning legal documents.  

        Even today, we'll record documents years later.  Someone does not do it timely and the document gets discovered years after the facts, often when a person dies and the document turns up (happens a lot with deeds).  Often the document goes to title and it's important to clean it up in the probate so the heirs have good title.

      It could be an executor, it could be a family member or it could be a lawyer that straightens out the issue.

                               Roger

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Thank you Roger! This is all turning out to be a big bust. There are no Peter or Frederick grantees or grantors in the Somerset list (or the Bedford list), only the two deeds by the administrators. And the land they reference, which they are selling, I can't find in the indexes either. AND the orphan court proceedings for 1805, also referenced in a deed, are MISSING. sigh

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Sometimes you have to actually go the court house to look at these files as not everything is online.

A colleague sorted out some of my Thompson ancestry based on land partition documents in Westmoreland Co., PA. None of these were online, and she made a trip to the court house to look for them.

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Thank you. I am going to pay the local genealogical society to help.

Answer 2

I  have found that the Pioneer Library in Bedford, PA is very helpful.  You might want to contact them.  It is a good place to start and finish with Bedford County information.