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Jeremiah Bothwell

~1820-1898
Armagh - Canada - Vermont - Illinois - Iowa - Illinois

Great great grandfather Jeremiah was born about 1820 in Armagh, Ireland. With his two brothers, James and William, and two sisters, Margaret and Sarah, he emigrated to Canada sometime in the 1830s. In about 1838, they moved down to Burlington, Vermont - possibly to get away from a rebellion going on in Canada at the time. Brother James advertised himself (in the Burlington Sentinel) as a tailor, and Jeremiah must have been learning the trade at least because in the 1850 census he gave that as his occupation. (I always thought that was a strange occupation for a person living on the frontier, and wonder if he ever made any money at it.) Brother William went back to Canada (apparently - his daughter Sarah Jane was born there), but the rest of the siblings stayed in Burlington until 1840. This is an assumption - only James’s name is on the census, but the rest of the information fits for the rest of the family, except William, to be there. While in Burlington, James married Ruth Converse, and William married Dinah Manson (Dinah was born in Canada, and probably they came down to Burlington to be married near William’s family before going back.)

William was the first to move out to Illinois, and in the fall of 1840 (according to Margaret’s obit), the rest of them moved too - to Albany, in Whiteside County, right on the Mississippi River. Albany is just south of the Mississippi Palisades, steep bluffs beside the river, which mark the southern end of the Driftless Area. And the Driftless Area is a really special bit of land, extending from Illinois, across southern Wisconsin, and up into Minnesota (about to Red Wing, I think), which was not covered by the last glacier to pass through. It was an island in a sea of ice, and there are species of plants and animals there that otherwise exist only much further south. It’s really special, beautiful country. Albany, as I said, is south of that, where the prairies start in earnest - but it is still on the river.

          In 1800, Illinois and Wisconsin were still part of the Indiana Territory . . . . By 1809 Indiana Territory was divided, becoming Michigan Territory and Indiana Territory. What is now Illinois and Wisconsin became Illinois Territory. In a long series of treaties with the different Illinois Native American tribes, white men continually encroached into Illinois from the south and the east. By the end of the territorial period, 1818, the federal government had legal title to most of Illinois . . . In this area, the last remaining tribe was the Sauk and Fox, under Chief Black Hawk. The last Native American treaty involving Illinois was negotiated in 1833 at Chicago.
          At that time, there were no county or township lines . . . . Albany Precinct included a huge area in northern Illinois, running from the now Carroll County line to the south as far as the Rock River . . . Many men folk came in to the area in the early 1830s, ‘staked out’ a claim, and returned East to work several years to accumulate funds with which to buy their land when it became available for sale from the federal government in 1838. All land deeds were then recorded at Galena, where the only federal court house in northern Illinois was located. Some settlers made the trip to purchase land for themselves and their relatives or neighbors. Others purchased very large plots with the idea that other family members and friends would be coming west to settle in this area and they would share the land.
Helen Hanson, Trailways to Albany 2000 (Henry, Illinois : M&D Printing, 1999), p.iv.

There was some discussion about what to name the new town. The Allens, of whom there were several among the early settlers, thought Allentown would be a good name. The non-Allens weren’t so keen on that and eventually, since most of them originally came from New York, they decided on Albany. (Hanson, p. 1).

William had obtained some property, and eventually the others did too, but probably they lived with him at first. They seem to have been “typical” Scots, canny, upright, tight-fisted, self-opinionated. In 1842, they broke away from the local Presbyterian Church and set up their own.

13 February 1842 - organization of the Congregational Church and Society of Albany. Members had withdrawn from the First Presbyterian Church “being dissatisfied with the principles of said church.” Certificate signed by: James Bothwell, William H. Efner, Duty Buck, Erastus Allen, William Bothwell, Mrs. Hannah Allen, Mrs. Ruth Bothwell, Mrs. Fannie Buckingham, G. Buckingham by profession, Mrs. Dinah Bothwell by profession. William Bothwell and Duty Buck were chosen deacons.
Charles Bent, History of Whiteside County, Illinois : from its first settlement to the present time, with numerous biographical and family sketches (Morrison, Ill. : [s.n.], 1877) p. 118-119.

Notice that G. Buckingham - Jeremiah would later marry his widow. (His - Buckingham's - second wife, Emily, not Fannie. Frances Buckingham died in 1845.)

Jeremiah didn’t sign the certificate. Because he was too young? Because he wasn’t interested? (I doubt this would have been allowed in his family.) Because he wasn’t there at the time? Because he stuck with the Presbyterians? (His obit says he was a “member of the congregational society . . .” so that can’t be it.)??? I do not know.

His older sister Sarah got married in 1842 to Charles Pulford; they went to live in Savanna, just up the river from Albany. In 1844 or thereabouts, William relocated to Galena, a little further up the river from Savanna. Also in 1844, his baby sister Margaret married John Fink; they too went to live in Savanna. Only Jeremiah and James were left in Albany. Jeremiah himself got married in 1845. Brother James died in January, 1847, probably unexpectedly (his youngest child was born that year). Although Jeremiah’s first son was born only a month later, he was not named for James, but for his wife’s oldest brother. I don’t know if that is significant or not. Also of unknown significance is that Duty Buck, one of the deacons of the church, was chosen as a guardian of James’s children, rather than either of his brothers. ??? James’s widow moved to Lenawee County, Michigan - some of her relatives seem to have moved there from Massachusetts - and that branch of the family pretty much dropped out of sight.

In 1843, Jeremiah made the first of what would be many land deals. Isaac Allen, an early settler, had to sell off his property to pay a $500 debt. It was sold at public auction, 180 acres in all, for ready money. Jeremiah bought one lot, amounting to almost 8 acres, for $40. I’m not sure where this property was located (it’s described as being in the “out lands”). In 1845, he bought a lot in “the lower part of the town of Albany,” and from then on he was buying and selling at a furious pace. I do not understand exactly what was going on (except that Jeremiah was making or trying to make money) - and I think there must have been some non-recorded understandings going on. [One thing his son would later do was to make the buying price written into the contract higher than it actually was. Supposedly this would allow the buyer to borrow more money on the land later on.] For example: in 1845 he bought Lot 10, Block 5 for $30. He sold it to a partnership in 1847 for $1000. In 1850, Jeremiah paid one of the partners and his wife $800 for a quitclaim deed for the same property, which he then sold for $500 plus another piece of property worth $300. Did he make money or lose money or break even on this piece of property? At any rate, it seems that he was a land speculator - as were many other Bothwells of his generation and the next (at least).

Here is the record of his land deals in Whiteside County, at least all the ones that were on record at the County Courthouse. (The number in parentheses is the Book and Page number.)

1843 Aug 30 Isaac Allen to Jeremiah Trustee Deed 180 (C-186)
1843 Sep 15 Erastus Allen to Jeremiah WD 150 (C-165)
1845 Jan 1 Samuel Mitchell to Jeremiah WD 30 (D-56)
1845 Jan 10 Charles Rood to Jeremiah WD 50 (D-403)
1845 April 28 Jeremiah to Charles Rood (D-137)
1847 July 10 Jeremiah to Erastus Allen (E-205)
1847 Nov 27 Jeremiah to Lewis Thomas (E 288)
1850 Aug 20 Lewis Thomas to Jeremiah QCD 800 (G-135)
1850 Aug 31 William Ewing to Jeremiah WD 300 (G-138)
1850 Aug 31 Jeremiah to William Ewing (Y-135)
1851 Mar 10 John Chandler to Jeremiah Adms.D 110 (G-487)
1851 Mar 28 Mary Chandler to Jeremiah QCD 50 (G-489)
1851 Sep 29 Jeremiah to Andrew Love (H-584)
1851 Sep 29 Jeremiah to Isaac Crosby (I-15)
1853 Mar 17 Jeremiah to Oliver McMahan (I-505)
1853 Mar 18 George Rouse to Jeremiah WD 300 (J-312)
1853 July 15 Duty Buck to Jeremiah WD 75 (K-391)
1854 Aug 7 John Adams to Jeremiah WD 40 (N-145)
1854 Sep 30 Jeremiah to Nicholas Freek (N-221)
1854 Dec 12 Jeremiah to William Chamberlain (M-344)
1854 Dec 14 Jeremiah to William Ewing(W-450)
1856 May 1Jeremiah to George Garrett (T-671)
1857 Jan 20 William Wetzell to Jeremiah QCD1 (15-559)
1857 Feb 12 William Wetzell to Jeremiah WD 200 (X-351)
1857 Mar 2 John Mitchell to Jeremiah WD 80 (17-119)
1857 Mar 7 Jeremiah to Isaac Crosby (X-590)
1857 Mar 11 George Garrett to Jeremiah WD 225 (17-118)
1859 Apr 1 William Bothwell to Jeremiah 1000 (14-35)
1863 July 26 Jeremiah to Isaac Crosby (30-501)
1866 Apr 30 Jeremiah to SW Spangler (8-631)
1870 Feb 9 Jeremiah to C. Peter Ege (45-479)
1870 June 24 Jeremiah to Samuel Mecly QCD 20 (58-51)
1871 March 16 Jeremiah to Thomas Huggins WD 2500 (57-106)
1874 Nov 27 Jeremiah to John Lyons WD 60 (68-315)
1875 Aug 16 Jeremiah to William Bothwell WD 2000 (77-377)

Most of them, as I said, are Greek to me, but they do show what a wheeler-dealer he was. Most people have only one or two land transactions recorded in the books. (For legal descriptions of the land involved, see Whiteside County Land.)

In 1845, Jeremiah got married. But in CANADA, which has always seemed strange to us. It is especially strange since the woman he married, Sarah Bates, had come out to Illinois in 1840. Sarah and her mother and family had emigrated from County Wicklow, Ireland, to Canada in 1832. They then moved down to New York state. In 1840 Sarah and her sister Anne and brother George went west. Anne married a Mr. Green from Chicago. George had to return to New York almost immediately, to take over the care of their mother - older brother Thomas had died suddenly. So one of the great questions for us is what did Sarah do, and where did she live, between 1840 and 1845. AND why were they married in Ontario? It is possible that Jeremiah and Sarah met way back in 1840, when they both, with their siblings, headed west. It is possible that Sarah lived with her sister in Chicago after George went back to New York, and that Jeremiah visited her there occasionally. It is possible that they held the wedding in London, Ontario, so that both families would have a more-or-less equal distance to travel. But we don’t know. What we do have is the wedding information (thanks to another researcher, a contact of Kearney’s):

William Needham was possibly an uncle or cousin of Sarah’s - her mother was a Needham. There were Bothwells living in that area of Canada as well. But Episcopal Methodist???? Oooh.

Well. Jeremiah had bought his town lot in January 1845, and he got married in June of that same year. They returned to Albany, and Jeremiah . . . what? worked as a tailor?. . . and continued to buy land. I truly doubt he made much of a living as a tailor. In 1854 there were at least 4 general stores selling, among other things, ready made clothing. (There were other stores that didn’t specifically list clothing in their ads, but might have sold it. (Hanson, p. 69-72))

Their son Benjamin was born 27 Feb 1847, named after Sarah’s oldest brother Benjamin who had joined the British army at age 18 (in 1825) and was sent out to India, where he married and remained for the rest of his life. Daughter Sarah Ann was born 24 Jul 1848. They are on the 1850 census, for Whiteside County, Illinois - but it is difficult to find them in the indexes.

Also in Whiteside County at the time, his future wife, married to her first husband:

[I am assuming this is the same as the G. Buckingham who helped establish the Congregational Church in 1842. He was one of the early settlers in Whiteside County; a lawyer, and for several years a justice of the peace - although he was still in New York for the 1840 census.
           1840 New York, Rensselaer, Troy ward 4, p. 75 - Buckingham, G 00101001 // 0001001

[There was a Francis Buckingham in Whiteside in 1840 (of an age to be Gilbert’s brother) - and Ivy and Duty Buck were there also. I don’t have this written down anywhere, but I seem to remember coming across the information that the Bucks were originally Buckinghams - although I think Ivy and Duty Buck were brothers to each other, but not to Gilbert.
           1840 Illinois, Whiteside, p. 330
            Francis Buckingham 0000201 // 0001001
            Ivy Buck 010001 // 001001
            p. 331 - Duty Buck 000001 // 11001

[Gilbert was born in New York in 1798; he died in Illinois in 1866. His wife Frances Buckingham died 22 Dec 1845 at age 57. He then married Emily Bowers on 27 Apr 1846 in Lee County, Illinois. She and Gilbert Buckingham had four children:
             Alice J., born 1847 (m. Jesse Withrow) d. 16 May 1871
             Ellen M. born 1849 (m. John Goff)
             Eugene, born 1855 (m. Martha Unknown)
             Don Pedro, born 1857 (m. Emma Barnes) apparently Don did not like being Don Pedro, and called himself Donald Gilbert instead. (according to his grandson) He was born 15 April 1857. (Hanson, p. 346)

[They possibly had more children who died in childhood. In the family plot, in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Albany, Illinois, are stones for George W. Buckingham, Nov 1854, age 2 years, and Lewis G Buckingham, son of G and E, 6 Sept 1851, 3 years. (Hanson, p. 268)

[As for Emily, according to Kearney’s notes:
        In the 1860 census she said she was born in New York and was 34 (hadn't aged a year!)
        In 1870, birthplace was New York, age was 40.
        In 1880 she listed age as 55, birthplace as New York. (She was married to Jeremiah then.)]

Back to Jeremiah. He and Sarah had four more children in the next decade. Jeremiah W. b. 1851, James Augustus and Jane Augusta (twins) b. 26 Sept 1855, and finally David Edgar b.29 Apr 1858 in (oddly?) Springfield, Illinois. (Odd because I can find no relatives there at that time, so what were they doing in the state capital? Or, what was Sarah doing there?)

On June 3, 1860, a tornado struck Albany, killing 5 people (out of 800) and doing a lot of property damage. Duty Buck, one of the pillars of the Congregational Church, and a guardian (with Ruth) of James’s children, was killed. A certain Mr. Bothwell lost $2000 worth of property (Bent, p. 94). I think we can all guess who that Mr. Bothwell was.

In 1859, Jeremiah had bought some land from William, 80 acres north of town, that formed part of what was to be, as much as any property can be to a land speculator, the home farm.

The house was more or less beyond that line of trees, I think.

On the next census, he described himself as a farmer.

He was also in the 1865 Illinois State Census.

In 1866, they lost their daughter Sarah Ann. She was only 17, and it must have been a blow. She is buried in the Garden Plain Cemetery, on the road to Morrison. Her stone is an obelisk on a pedestal; there is a dove, then the inscription - Bothwell, Sarah Ann age 17 yrs 8 mos 20 da; d. Apr 13, 1866 (dau of J & S). She died April 13, and on April 30, they sold 10 acres off the home farm for $275 - this was after a spell of relative quiet on the land dealing front. I have wondered whether they used the money to help pay for the stone. [$275 seems like a lot of money for a stone, but it might not have actually been that much, considering what a finagler he was.] In the summer of 2000, David and I drove down there. We had a terrible time finding the stone - it had fallen and was sliding down the edge of the hill. D put it back upright, but I don’t know how long it will stay up. (photos on Sarah Ann's page)

At this time Benjamin was in the army, in Georgia maybe, although I have not been able to find him on a census there. He was discharged in November, 1870.  On May 1, 1871, he and brother Jeremiah left for Nebraska (according to his mother’s journal). He filed for a homestead there on 19 May 1871 - a quick trip and a quick decision - and he got married on September 13, 1871 - another quick decision. His family tradition says that he and his wife married on the trail to Nebraska, but according to their marriage license, they actually married at the end of the trail, in the place where they were to live. I think they must have met on the trail??? I wonder if he hadn’t been out there earlier, scouting around.

Young Jeremiah, who accompanied Benjamin west, filed a land claim on 4 September 1871, but then he went back to Iowa and got married himself - to Marium Fralick on October 5.

The next thing to happen was a real shock to me. On 17 June 1872, Jeremiah and Sarah got divorced (I thought divorce was a modern habit!) and in 1873 Jeremiah married the widow of Gilbert Buckingham. The 1872 plat map for Whiteside County has the Bothwell home farm listed as belonging to S Bothwell, but Sarah moved out to Nebraska, and took up young Jeremiah’s claim (he cancelled it 18 Nov 1872 and she took it up 26 Nov 1872). (Young J. stayed in Illinois for the next several years.)

It is not entirely clear how the children reacted to this. Benjamin and his young family were living in Clinton, Iowa for a while (which is where Jeremiah and his new wife lived), but whether they were on speaking terms with Jeremiah and Emily is unknown. Young Jeremiah was living and working in Illinois. I think he saw old Jeremiah from time to time (Sarah Fink mentions that he (young J) has old J’s will), and later on young Jeremiah urged Jennie to remember that, whatever his faults, old J was a good father. It seems to me that Jennie (Jane Augusta) was quite firmly set against her father, and whatever sympathy her twin James had for Jeremiah was muted - later on he would occasionally send Jeremiah some money, but on the sly as it were. There are no clues as to what David thought. But however they felt about their father, they were staunchly behind their mother. When she died (in 1888), her tombstone read “Our Mother.”

What happened? We of course will never know. It is certain that, beginning in 1870, Jeremiah only sold property. It is certain that on 29 Mar 1873 he married Emily Buckingham, the widow of Gilbert Buckingham, who had died in 1866. It is certain that his niece thought he had “earned his money himself and foolishly disposed of the greater part of it by his second marriage.” If she was a charmer, and charmed the old gent (only 53 or so) out of his money - well, she wasn’t a young charmer. He at least did not turn Sarah in for a newer model - Emily might even have been a bit older than Sarah. Actually, probably not; probably her age in the 1850 census was incorrect.

I think - setting aside the question of love, which is always a possibility - Emily appealed to Jeremiah’s snobbery. She was, through her marriage to Gilbert Buckingham, a member of the local upper class. We think of our ancestors going out, and facing and overcoming various natural obstacles, but we don’t think too much about the people around them as being one of the obstacles they faced. I think Jeremiah wanted to be one of the leading men of the community - as his brother James had been among the church-goers, as his brother William apparently was in Dubuque, as his nephew James Bothwell Pulford was in Savanna - and he never made it. No matter how much money he made, he was still someone “known” to Ivy Buck. I’d never seen the word in quotes before, until I came across it on one of Jeremiah’s land deals. It’s as though Buck were saying, “yes I recognize this person, but I don’t really know him, not socially.” After the 1860 tornado, he was still “a Mr. Bothwell,” claiming to have lost as much as some other local bigwigs. He lived there for thirty years, and no one has any memories of him. (In Helen Hanson's book, one person mentioned Jerry Bothwell’s property being on the road to Albany - but that was the only mention (Hanson, p. 85).)

The last piece of property to go was the home farm, sold back to William in 1875. He and Emily set up housekeeping in Clinton, Iowa, just across the river from Albany. (Actually it’s a little north and across the river, but Jeremiah lived a little north of Albany. There’s a bridge there today - I don’t know if it was there in Jeremiah’s day - go west across it into Clinton; go east away from it ¼ mile and turn toward the home farm.) By 1880, he was calling himself (or being called) a laborer.

He was listed In 1883 city directory as a junk dealer.
      1883-4 - Clinton City Directory (Iowa) this was from a visit to the library in Clinton - I didn’t photocopy them.
            Bothwell Jeremiah, junk dealer, 138 3rd ave

In 1885 Jeremiah’s brother William died and willed him - well, I thought it was the use of the property, but Jeremiah later willed it away himself, so maybe I didn’t understand - the property they apparently were living on.

They continued . . .

1895 May 8 - letter from JA to Jennie -

He was ill in 1895, and his nieces brought him to Savanna to take care of him. “We brought him home on the 12 of last January we could not leave him with Emily to suffer after his hard fit of sickness neither could Anna or I stay there.” (Kearney found an entry for the Clinton Daily Age on Friday, Oct 2, 1896. “It had something to do with her [Emily's] mental condition -- all I have is an abstract that says: BOTHWELL, Mrs. Insane (?)-appeared-discharged as sane.”) He went back to Clinton for a time, then was back in Savanna the next winter.

1896 - letter from Sarah Fink (niece) to James A Bothwell

I am not sure how much time he spent in Clinton from then on - the newspaper says he made his home in Savanna “almost incessantly” for the last 3 years - but he was with the nieces when he died. Emily died about 10 weeks before he did. (She was buried with her first husband in Albany.)

Savanna Weekly Journal
Thursday, April 14, 1898
p. 4
Mr. J. Bothwell Daed (sic)
—
The Aged Gentleman Passed Away
Saturday evening
—
           Saturday evening at the home of the Misses Sarah and Anna Finke, occurred the death of their uncle, Jeremiah Bothwell at the age of 74 years. As is well known Mrs. (sic) Bothwell had been in poor health for the past three months or more with a complication of diseases, and his death was expected. Everything possible was done to relieve the sufferer and the care and devotion shown him by his nieces could not have been more tender or faithful had the loving act been performed by his own children. During the long season of his illness they have been faithful watchers at his bedside, administering to his every want and care with tender solicitude. He was patient under his load of affliction and bore up well under his sufferings. His last moments were fraught with great suffering and the end came as a happy release. He has gone to join his loved ones on the happy, golden shore.
           Jeremiah Bothwell was born in Armagh, Ireland, about 74 years ago. He came to this country in 1819 (sic), settling in Vermont. After a resident (sic) of two years in that state he came to Albany, Ills., where he resided until 1873, when he moved to Clinton, Ia. Five children are left to mourn his death, Benjamin, who is in the hotel business at Nebraska; Jeremiah, a grocer at Ottumwa, Ia., James, a banker of Nebraska, Jane, (married) and David a confectioner. The latter two also reside in Nebraska. The mother of these children died many years ago. The relatives in this vicinity are Misses Sarah and Anna Finke (with whom he made his home almost incessantly the past 3 years) B. Pulford, Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson, all of this city; Judge John Finke, of Clinton, Iowa. Mr. Bothwell’s second wife died in Clinton about ten weeks ago. She had been an invalid for years.
           He was a member of the congregational society of this city for many years and was known to be a good, christian gentleman and held in high esteem.
           The funeral was held from the Finke home this (Monday) morning at 10:00 conducted by Rev. G. A. Erving of the M. F. church and the remains laid to rest in the Savanna cemetery.
[The people in Savanna certainly did not think too highly of the behavior of Jeremiah’s children!]

I have not been able to find his gravesite in the Savanna Township Cemetery. According to a book of cemetery readings, the Fink family plot contains a grave for “Bothwell grandfather.” I suspect it is not Bothwell grandfather (none of the bibliographical stories so much as hint that the father of the 5 siblings might have come to America with them), but Bothwell uncle. My suspicions are moot anyway, because I can’t find the last three stones in the listing. (photos on Margaret's page)

Jeremiah did leave a will, although I suspect his estate did not amount to much. This might be a different will than the one Sarah Fink said he had left with young Jeremiah. It probably was drawn up by John Fink, the brother of Sarah and Anna. He at least is the executor.

Clinton County, Iowa - the will wasn’t in the courthouse, but in the local historical society - someone was working with the book, so I couldn’t photocopy it - so please excuse any copying errors.
2961
Last Will and Testament of Jeremiah Bothwell
           I, Jeremiah Bothwell, of Clinton, Clinton County and State of Iowa. being of sound mind and memory, do hereby make, publish and declare this my last Will and Testament, in the manner following:
First, I order and direct that my executor hereinafter named, as soon after my decease as practicable to take possession of my real estate situated in the city of Clinton and State of Iowa described as lots Fourteen (14) and Fifteen (15) in Block numbered Two (2) as said lots are laid down and designated upon the map of said city recorded in the office of the Recorder of Clinton County, Iowa and to rent the same and collect said rents and to attend to all matters in connection with said property, as I myself would, and that said rents shall be applied to the payment of my debts and liabilities as said rents may come into the hands of my executor.
           I further order and direct my executors to sell said property at any time he may think it admissable and with the money so te be realized to pay off and discharge all my debts, dues and liabilities that may be in existence against me at the time of my decease.
           Second. I give and bequeath to Sarah E. Fink and Anna J. Fink, one hundred and fifty ($150.00) dollars, each out of the proceeds of the sale of the real estate above described, the said bequest being for board, expense, care and nursing during my lifetime and during my last sickness, and that the bequest now made to Sarah E. Fink and Anna J. Fink shall be paid to them after all indebtedness and liabilities are paid and before and independent of all other gifts as hereinafter provided.
           Third, I give and bequeath to my sons Benjamin, Jeremiah, James and David, and to my daughter Jane all the rest, residue, and remainder of the proceeds of my estate after paying all my debts, liabilities and bequests herein before mentioned, equally share and share alike.
           I hereby nominate, constitute and appoint John E Fink of Clinton, Iowa the executor of this my last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all former wills by me made.
           In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seals this 7th day of March, 1898.
                                                                Jeremiah Bothwell
The above instrument was, at the date thereof, signed, sealed, published and declared by the said Jeremiah Bothwell as and for his last Will and Testament, in the presence of us, who at his request, and in his presence of each other have subscribed as witnesses thereto.
John Westfall, Savanna, Illinois
William H. Griffiths, Savanna, Illinois
Proved April Term 1898
17th May 1898
J H Edeas Jr, clerk

In the District Court of the State of Iowa and for the County of Clinton in the matter of the estate of Jeremiah Bothwell deceased - notice of application to sell real estate
To Jeremiah Bothwell and Mamie Bothwell his wife, Benjamin Bothwell and Sarah Bothwell, his wife, James Bothwell and (blank) Bothwell, his wife, David Bothwell and (blank) Bothwell, his wife, Jane Bratney and William A Bratney her
You are hereby notified that there is now on file in the office of the clerk of the District Court of said county, the application of JE Fink executor of the last will and estate of Jeremiah Bothwell, deceased, praying said court for an order authorizing him to sell certain real estate belonging to said estate described as lots fourteen (14) and fifteen (15) Block two (2) in the original plat of the city of Clinton, Iowa, in accordance with the terms and provisions of the last will of said Jeremiah Bothwell, deceased.
You are further notified that the 12th day of October 1898, at 10 o’clock am is the date and time fixed for said hearing of said application at the courthouse in said City of Clinton. At which time and place you may appear and make objection to said application and the granting of such order, if you desire.
JE Fink
executor

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Sideways to siblings:
William | Sarah | James | Margaret

To wife:
Sarah Bates

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Benjamin | Sarah Ann | Jeremiah | James A | Jennie | David

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