#18. Where there's a Will. John McHenry Jasper

#18. Where there's a Will.  Or Not!

John McHenry Jasper


John McHenry Jasper, my 3rd Great Grandfather, has been a mystery to me.  Although the family kept scraps of paper on everything and everybody as well as numerous stories, John was not documented other than he died in 9 August 1845 in Whitesville, Missouri.

He was married to Mary "Polly" Heath in Kentucky and they had migrated  to Missouri in 1841.  When he died, he left a widow and eight children; the oldest was Elizabeth at age 16 and the youngest was Minerva at age 14 months.

There is no family information as to where he was buried.  It was in 1854 that Polly's son, Andrew
came back from Oregon and took his mother, her spinster sister Lois and the remaining siblings (Gilla, Lois, William, Thomas & Minerva) west to Oregon.

So when one is interested, one has to research!

The first information discovered was the Letter of Administration given to Thomas P. Jasper to administrator the estate since John McHenry Jasper died intestate.  His son, Thomas P. Jasper was 9 years old at the time so he couldn't be the administrator.  Although some people have attributed the administration of the estate to the son, it was obvious he was too young.  Further research led to a Thomas P. Jasper, living in the 1850 census at Platte, Andrew County, Missouri.  He was 35 years old at that time.  In the 1850 census, Mary Jasper and her 6 children were living in Tremont, Buchanan County, Missouri.  All of this information was found at Ancestry.com.

Further research at Familysearch.org led to the probate records of Andrew County, Missouri.  These records were not indexed, so I flipped through 43 images for the details of the probate.

Even though John Jasper died without a will, his estate was intestate, and probated.  Thomas P. Jasper was appointed as the administrator of the estate and thus had to follow the laws of the Andrew County, Missouri.

One of the tasks of an administrator is to make an inventory of the estate.  From this information there is a certificate of preemption for land. Which meant as settler he had the right to purchase public lands at a federally set price.  The land description is provided:  the Northwest quarter of Section 26 in township 6 of Range 34.  There was also a day book of accounts for smithing from February 25th to August 9, 1845.  The family story is that he died August 9, 1845; no further proof has been found.

Smithing...he was a blacksmith!  That information was new to me.  The inventory list includes blacksmith tools, guns, a shot pouch, a cary plow, drawing chains and hames, one red steer, one white cow, one red heifer, one brindle yearling heifer, one black cow and calf, one yoke of oxen, one lot of hemp.  But there were also debts; one from William Heath given on 25 May 1842 for $15.50 at six percent (6%) interest.  Who is he?   There is also a promissory note due A. C. Jasper dated 5th October 1847 for A. C. Jasper.  (I have yet to figure out who A. C. Jasper is).

The inventory also includes who he owed money to as well as who had not yet paid him for smithing.

The inventory tidbit was the sale of the land.  There is receipt signed by Mary Jasper on the 21st of January 1848 which states that she received from Thomas P. Jasper thirty dollars ($30) in part of my dower of said estate. (Since women could not own property, the dower right was the right of a non-owner spouse in real property). There is also a paper selling the property to William Combest for $100.75 in March of 1847.  (William Combest was married to John Jasper's sister, Gilla Ann Jasper)
Some of the money had to be used to pay off the debts.  Mary did receive money after the sale of the cattle and guns.

 I have transcribed most of it but follow the money does need to be finished!  Besides figure out who is A. C. Jasper.  The note from William Heath is also interesting since he died in 1829, is the note from her brother?  She did have a brother by that name.

Needless to say, I need to do further research on John Jasper's estate.