Probate

My Breakthrough Moment

/ Gail Grunst Genealogy / Leave a comment

There have been several breakthrough moments throughout the years. Today I am focusing on this breakthrough moment because the story of my ancestor’s life is tragic.

Back in 2007 I sent for my great-grandfather, Carl Desens, death certificate from Cook County, Illinois and it listed his parents as John Desens and Henrietti Gressier.[1] I looked all over for John Desens, but there were too many to narrow it down to my John Desens without more information about my John. 

Carl along with his wife and children settled in Forest Park in 1891.[2] According to my father, they went to St. John Lutheran Church in Forest Park, IL.  I went there to find my grandmother, Helen Desens, baptism record and while there I copied the records of all the Desens I could find.  I noticed on the baptism record for one of their children listed a Johann Desens, Herman Desens, and Bertha Matthews as Godparents.[3] Was this Johann Desens, Carl’s father?  And could Herman Desens be a brother of Carl’s? I assumed they probably lived in Forest Park or nearby, and I looked for them in this area with no luck.

I was having no luck on Ancestry or Family Search back then.  For some reason I googled their names.  For Herman Desens I found an obituary on Clark County Wisconsin History Page  ,  “The latest victim of careless handling of guns is Herman Desens, a man about thirty years of age who lived with his father across from Fred Zell’s place west of town (Greenwood, Clark County). Friday evening, Oct. 18, 1901, as the two were about to leave the clearing where they had been working, the young man went after his shot gun, which he had left nearby standing against a log. He seized the gun by the muzzle and drew it toward him, and in doing so the hammer cocked, discharging the load of one barrel into his breast. The father hearing the shot, looked up, but noticing his son standing thought nothing of the shot and stooped to his work, when he heard his son give an exclamation and saw him start for the house. The man only went a few yards when he dropped to the ground dead. The funeral occurred at the cemetery on the West Side Sunday afternoon. Deceased, with his father, came to Greenwood about two years ago and have lived together on their small clearing.” [4]

 I started looking around the Clark County Wisconsin History website and found a death index that listed Herman’s death as October 15, 1901, and John’s death as July 16, 1907.[5]   I also searched all the cemetery’s and found the graves of John and Herman Desens at the United Church of Christ East Cemetery.[6] 

I sent to the Wisconsin Historical Society for John’s death record hoping the informant would be a name I recognized linking him to my grandfather Carl. When I received it, there was no informants listed, however, I was surprised to see that the cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the chest.[7] This sent me back to google and the first thing I found was an article from a book Greenwood The Hub of Clark County (1853 – 1907)[8]  “Much later, Zell and Dazen, neighbors, who lived three and one-half miles west of town, quarreled and fought; Dazen with a knife, which he cut Zell in the face, on the hands and wrists. They were both seriously injured and were brought to the North Side Hotel, then operated by Gene Cummings. Both were put into the same room where they could glare at each other. By the doctor’s orders they were to be kept in bed, but Dazen got up and started for home and the next morning was found dead, just outside his own yard.”[9]  They do not give a first name, and the last name is spelled different. 

Next article that I found was from the Neillsville Times and it read as follows: “Peter Desens, who was cut in a fight with his neighbor, Fred Zell near Greenwood (Clark Co., Wis.), died last Saturday as a result of his wounds.  Zell is in the hospital Marshfield and is in precarious condition and death may come to him also.[10]

There are of course two versions to the fight.  Zell claims that Desens was the aggressor and that the fight resulted after an altercation over some cattle.  Zell says that Desens was standing near the gate at the Desens home and that the old gentleman called to him as he was passing.  As he stood with his resting on the gate, Desens suddenly drew a knife and cut him across the hand, severing the cords.  He also was badly cut about the face and chest.

Desen claimed before his death, that Zell grabbed him by the throat and that he drew the knife in self-defense.”

It will be a pretty hard matter to determine who was the aggressor in the fight, and if Zell is brought into court his plea will probably be self-defense.”  In this article the first name is Peter. At this point, I did not know if this was John Desens or not.  Zell was name in Herman’s Obituary and again in these two articles.  There was no Peter Desens in the Clark County Death Index. 

I went back to my original notes that I took when I interviewed my father back in 1979 and I had written down that some relatives were killed in Wisconsin by Indians.  This led me to believe I was on the right track, but they were not killed by Indians. 

A trip to Clark County to get more information was required to find out if John was indeed Carl’s father. In 2014 my husband and I made the trip and my goal was to:

1.  Visit the Clark County Courthouse in Neillsville to find the following

          A.  Will or probate for John Desens – Death Date 7/6/1907

          B.   Land records for land – Came there in approx. 1899.

          C.  Court record of stabbing incident with Fred Zell.

2.  Find the United Church of Christ East Cemetery.

3.  Find Farm located 1 ½ – 3 miles west of Greenwood.

My first stop at the Court House in Neillsville, Wisconsin was the Probate Office.  Since he owned land, I thought there should be a probate file. I was told that the old probate files had been transferred to the Wisconsin State Archives in Madison, but she was able to tell me that there is a file and gave me the number.  Next, I went to the Circuit Clerk to see if there was a criminal file for the neighbor that killed him.  I was not allowed to search; they will search for me at their convenience.  I filled out a form and paid $5.00 for the search.  My next stop was the land office.  The lady in this office was great!  She showed me to the Grantor and Grantee books and let me search.  I knew his death date, so I started with the Grantor books for 1907 and found the sale of the farm in Sept of 1907.  I did not recognize the name of the man who purchased it.  I copied down the information and went back to clerk with the information of the book and page number the title should be in.  She had to take to the basement of the courthouse.  The bookshelves were covered with plastic tarps, she pulls a tarp back, pulls out the book and opens to the page.  I was able to write down the legal description.  Next to that title was one for his son, and I wrote down that legal description too.  It appeared that they each owned 40 acres next to one another.  The clerk asked me if I would like to know where the farms were today.  She anticipated my next question!  We went back upstairs to look at the current plot book. By the legal description we were able to find the farms and the roads that they are on today. 

My husband and I drove out to the farm, and I was able to get some pictures and see what it looks like today.  Then we went to find the cemetery where he is buried.  I was hoping he had a headstone so I could find his grave and he did, but his son who is buried right next to him did not.  The church he went to is close by the cemetery. Both church and cemetery are close to his farm.

I sent to the state archives for his probate file and while waiting for that to come, I received the court records of the stabbing incident.[11]  The court records were an interesting read and gave me a better insight into how it all occurred and what happened afterwards, but no clue to his relationship to me.  Finally, the probate records came, and this was my breakthrough moment because after several years of searching it listed my great grandfather Carl as one of John’s heirs.[12]

Today, the probate file is available online at Ancestry.com.  My search would have been a lot less complicated if it was online back then.

Week 5 Break through moment 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Copyright © Gail Grunst 2026

[1] Certificate of Death for Carl Desens ,12 June 1921, Registration Number 1050, State of Illinois, Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Statistics, County of Cook, City of Chicago.

[2] Forest Park Pioneers, abstracted from the book Forest Park Welcomes you to its 100th Birthday Party 1856-1956  by Ellen Cannon.  Found this in the McHenry County Genealogy Section at McHenry Public Library District in McHenry Illinois.  Call # Illinois, Cook Co. 977.3 Local History

[3] Baptism Record for Henrich Herman Desens, 21 April 1895, St John Congregational Book 1887-1905, page 85, #1888 28. St John Lutheran Church, Forest Park, Cook Co., Illinois.

[4] Found on website Clark County Wisconsin History  Desens, Herman (1871-1901), Obituary, Clark Co., WI

[5] Found on website Clark County Wisconsin History DeathIndexes1873_1908

[6] Found on website Clark County Wisconsin History  Immanuel East Living Index D

[7] Death Record for John Desens, 6 July 1907, Pre- 1907 Wisconsin Death Record, County of Clark, Vol 1, Page 428. State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Microfilm room, 816 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin.

[8] Greenwood the Hub of Clark County, Compiled 1934 by the Greenwood Women’s Club, Transcribed 2001 by Janet Schwarze.  This complete manuscript with illustrations, as well as the follow-on volume “1934 to the Present”, is available in paperback for $16 from:  The Branstitter’s Museum, South Main Street, Greenwood, WI 54436. All proceeds go to this non-profit museum.  Compiled by Members of the Woman’s Club, Essalyth Andrews, Gladys Arends, Hazel Flatz, Ingebor Shields, Lillie Heilman, exofficio.  Found on website Clark County Wisconsin History.    Found on website Clark County Wisconsin History  Greenwood, Clark Co., Wisconsin History

[9]  Ibid.

[10]  Obituary for Peter (John) Desens 11 July 1907. Neillsville Times (Neillsville, Clark County, Wisconsin) 11 July 1907.

[11] I received copies of court documents  from the Clerk of the Court, 517 Court Street Rom 405 Neillsville, WI 54456 for an incident involving Fred Zell and John Desens.  There is no citation for them from Clerk of the Court.

[12] Probate Case Files, Ca. 1873-1917, and Beginning With File No. 2699, Ca. 1900-1917, 1918 (See Film Inventory Below); General Probate Index; Author: Wisconsin. County Court (Clark County).

Conflict?

/ Gail Grunst Genealogy / 3 Comments

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks  topic is Conflict.

In my 2nd great-grandfather, John Desens, probate file, I found what might be a conflict.  It looks like John’s son-in-law, Albert Triebes, put in a claim for $75.00 for attending to the burial of John Desens and traveling from Forest Park, Illinois to Greenwood, Wisconsin and back.  His claimed was denied. [1]

john desens estae

Albert Triebes then wrote a letter to the administrator.  Here is a transcript of that letter.

Forest Park, Ill

July 17 – 08

Dear Sir,

I have rec’d your registered letters.  You say my claim is not legal, and the heirs do not want to allow me for the claim.  Let the court decide it.  Even if it will be an additional expense, I do not like to see them have their own way.  For my part they can keep it all.

Yours Resp,

Alb. Trebes

91 Marengo St.

Forest Park, Ill [2]

007707854_01080

007707854_01081

It sounds to me like there was a little conflict here.  My father never mentioned his cousins from this side of his family.  I heard the name Triebes and that they were somehow related to my father’s family, but nobody seemed to know how they were related.  My Godfather, Lou Schultz, gave me a lot of information on my father’s family too, and he never mentioned them either.  This happened many years before my father or Lou were born so they may never have met any of them or even been told about this side of the family.  So it is very likely there was some conflict here.

Why was John’s son-in-law taking care of the burial and not his son, Carl, my great-grandfather?  Maybe there was conflict between Carl and his father John.

________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Author: Wisconsin. County Court (Clark County); Probate Place: Clark, Wisconsin. Source Information:  Ancestry.com. Wisconsin, Wills and Probate Records, 1800-1987 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2015.Original data: Wisconsin County, District and Probate Courts.

[2] Ibid.

Where there is a will

/ Gail Grunst Genealogy / 2 Comments

John Desens Probabe (2)

Unfortunately, not everyone leaves a will. A few of my ancestors had wills, but the majority did not.  Most did not have wills because they had nothing of value.  When a person dies without a will it is called intestate.  If they own real estate or enough valuables and do not leave a will, their estate will go through probate court.  An administrator will be appointed by the court to settle the estate.  If they die leaving a will it is called testate and an executor is named in the will to carry out the provisions in the will.

There were no surprises in the wills I have found so far.   But I had one ancestor, John Desens, that died intestate and his farm and personal property went through probate.  I wanted to find a will to prove that he was my great-great grandfather. I was 95% sure that he was my ancestor through circumstantial evidence, but I had no documents to prove it.  Instead of a will I found a probate file, and sent for it from McIntyre Library at the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire.  When the probate file arrived, I was thrilled to fine the proof I needed. In the probate file there is a notarized letter from each heir that they are the son or daughter of John Desens, and they also name their brother and sisters in the letters. My great grandfather, Carl Desens, is the son of John Desens.[1] This probate file has a lot of pages, and I couldn’t read some of them because they were copied from microfilm.  Now the files have been digitized, and I found the entire probate file online at Ancestry.com and much easier to read.  I just recently read the whole document.  Sometimes you find interesting tidbits in probate files, and I found a winner in this one.  I have already written about John Desens, but at the time I did not have all the information.  To recap a little, John Desens was killed by his neighbor Fred Zell.  It seems that Fred Zell tried to sue the estate for $5000 in damages done to his hand during the fight.  The administrator of the John Desens estate counter sues Fred Zell for $5900.  Here is a transcript of three interesting pages in the probate file. I highlighted in red the most interesting part.  

State of Wisconsin Clark County County Court

In the matter of the estate of John Desens deceased late of the town of Eaton Clark County

 Now comes C.H. Clute as administrator of the Estate of John Desens deceased by R. F. Kornitz his attorney and files this his objection to the allowance of the claims or any part thereof of Fred Zell filed against said estate in said Court on the 20th day of December A.D. 1900 for assault and battery to the damages five thousand dollars for the reason that the said Fred Zell did not prior to the death of said John Desens and does not now have any claim or lien and against said John Desens or otherwise in any manner whatsoever.  And by the way of a claim or cause of action and counter claim to the pretended claim of Fred Zell against the estate of John Desens deceased filed on the 20th day of December 1907 in the County Court for Clark County aforesaid which is here in before objected to the said C. H. Clute as administrator of said estate and for the use and benefit of said estate by R. F. Kornitz his attorney alleges that C. H. Clute is duly appointed administrator of said estate and is now acting as such administrator of the estate of said John Desens deceased, and that he is prosecuting this claim for and in behalf of said estate and for its benefit and use.  That heretofore to wit on the 26 day of June A.D. 1907 at the town of Eaton in said county upon information and belief the said administrator alleges that the said Fred Zell did at said time and place unlawfully, willfully, wrongfully and feloniously assault, strike, beat, bruise, cut, stab, kick, choke, throw down to the ground with great violence and while so down choke, stab, beat, and bruise the said John Desens and threatened to kill the said John Desens and put him greatly in fear of his life.  That therefore and thereby the said John Desens was made sick, sore, lame, and disabled from attending to his business and to care for himself in any manner whatsoever from said 26th day of June A.D. 1907 to the time of his death thereafter.  That his estate is liable and will be obliged to pay for medical attendance, nursing, medicines, food, and care caused by said unlawful assault to the damage of his said estate in the sum of five thousand nine hundred dollars.  That this counter claim or course of action grew out of the same pretend tort and at the same time and place the pretend Claim of said Fred Zell is made against the estate herein.

Wherefore the said C.H. Clute as administrator and for the use and benefit of said estate demands judgement against the claimant Fred Zell that he take nothing by his claim and that the estate have judgement against said Fred Zell for the sum of five thousand nine hundred dollars damages and the costs and disbursements herein.[2]

R. F. Kornitz

Attorney for C. H. Clute as administrator

for the estate of John Desens deceased

The part I was really interested in is where he describes how John Desens was beaten and stabbed by Fred Zell.  Click here to read the entire story of John Desens Killed by Neighbor.

This was last weeks topic for 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks.  I am a little late in posting due to illness.  

Copyright © 2018 Gail Grunst

[1] Probate Case Files, Ca. 1873-1917, and Beginning with File No. 2699, Ca. 1900-1917, 1918 General Probate Index; Author: Wisconsin. County Court (Clark County); Probate Place: Clark, Wisconsin.

[2] Ibid.

My Research Trip to Neillsville Wisconsin

/ Gail Grunst Genealogy / 1 Comment

John Desens Tombstone

 

Last week I took a genealogy trip to the middle of Wisconsin in search of a man that I believe could be my great-great grandfather.  Let’s put it this way, I am 95% sure that this man is my great-great grandfather.  What I need is a document that proves it.  I believe this man to be my great-great grandfather because he has the same name and his wife has the same name as my great-great grandmother.  His son that lived nearby has the same name as my great grandfather’s brother.  My father told me way back in 1979 that we had ancestors who lived in Wisconsin and were killed by Indians.  Well the man I think is my great-great grandfather was killed by his neighbor and his son was killed by an accident with his shot gun.  This is a lot of circumstantial evidence.  So to Wisconsin I went with hopes of getting the documentation that I need.

My ancestor lived on a farm near Greenwood Wisconsin.  Since he owned land, I figured that there should be a probate file.  So my first stop at the Court House in Neillsville, Wisconsin was the Probate Office.  I was told that the old probate files had been transferred to the Wisconsin State Archives in Madison, but she was able to tell me that there is a file and gave me the number.  Then I went to the Circuit Clerk to see if there was a criminal file for the neighbor that killed him.  I was not allowed to search, they will search for me at their convenience.  I filled out a form and paid $5.00 for the search.  I will see if anything comes of it.  My next stop was the land office since he owned land.  The lady in this office was great!  She showed me to the Grantor and Grantee books and let me search.  I knew his death date so I started with the Grantor books for 1907 and found the sale of the farm in Sept of 1907.  I did not recognize the name of the man who purchased it.  Next I wanted to see the title and get a legal description.  So I copied down the information and went back to clerk with the information of the book and page number the title should be in.  She had to take to the basement of the court house. In the basement the book shelves were covered with plastic tarps.  She pulls a tarp back, pulls out the book and opens to the page.  I was able to write down the legal description.  Then next to that title was one for his son.  I wrote down that legal description too.  It appeared that they each owned 40 acres next to one another.  The clerk asked me if I would like to know where the farms were today.  She anticipated my next question!  We went back upstairs to look at the current plot book. By the legal description we were able to find the farms and the roads that they are on today.

My husband and I drove out to the farm, and I was able to get some pictures and see what it looks like today.  Then we went to find the cemetery where he is buried.  I had this information from the Internet.  I was hoping he had a headstone so I could find his grave and he did, but his son who is buried right next to him did not.  The church he went to is close by the cemetery.   Both Church and Cemetery are close to his farm.

I should say that before I went I had sent for his death certificate which said he died of multiple stab wounds to the chest.  This peaked my curiosity about his death and contacted a library in the area to see if they had obits.  They found a newspaper article about his death.  I still don’t have the proof I need, but I’m still working on it.  It looks like my next trip is to the Wisconsin State Archives in Madison.

Note: When I have all the information I need, I intend to write his story.  That is why I am not including too many details here.  This is intended to be more about my research trip.

 

Copyright © 2014 Gail Grunst