Peters Family History: July 2016

Monday, July 4, 2016

Probates

Today I learned about probates. Probate is the legal process whereby a will is "proved" in a court and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased.

Probates have a lot of information in them; this will help confirm family members along with where they are residing and also gives you an insight into the wealth of the family.

I was able to find the probate of my second great grandfather Heinrich S Peters. In the document it was noted the health of his wife Anna Wall Peters and also who he wanted to take care of his wife in the event that he passes before his wife.

I have a hard time reading some of the words, so I'm going to see if I can have someone dictate it for me.

I was able to find Heinrich S Peters's where it mentions his wife Anna, and his children:
Heinrich K "Henry" Peters - b. 1868, d. 1946

Cornelius Henry "Nels" Peters - b. 1887, d. 1943
Johannes "John" Henry Peters - b. 1891, d. 1948
Hermann Heinrich Peters - b. 1861, d. 1921
Anna Peters Hiebert - b. 1866, d. 1950
Peter H Peters - b. 1874, d. 1937
Elizabeth H Peters Wiens - b. 1877, d. 1946
Jacob Henry Peters - b. 1880, d. 1962
Daniel H Peters - b. 1883, d. 1960

Click on the Documents tab to see the 3 page file

John (Johann) A. Fast and his wife, Anna H. (Peters) Fast

This story was found on Ancestry.com, From preface of Fast Family Tree, Compiled by Martha Lepp (Mrs. John) 1971. Judy_Pahlke originally shared this on 10 Nov 2007

Looking for material for a brief historical background of our forefathers it is difficult to find information on one certain family. This is due to the fact that our people were at times forced to flee because of persecution and continual search for religious freedom.In checking history we find the family name of Fast among a group living in Prussia in about the year 1776. Just when they moved to Prussia is not known, however, it could have been during the 1500's when Charles V persecuted and tortured those that could not go along with the rituals and practices of the Roman Church because of their personal beliefs in Christ our Lord. These conditions caused our forefathers to flee, leaving their homes and farms. Some even lost their lives. It was at this time that our people scattered, some going to Holland, others to north Germany, Freisland and Prussia.It was during this time that Menno Simon, a priest, left his church and was converted. He became and evangelist and organized many churches and this became the faith of our fathers and whereby we received the name of Mennonites.Our forefathers were not considered citizens for Prussia, and in spite of the fact that they were people of great talents in farming and business, problems and difficulties arose again and again putting an increasing amount of pressure on the Mennonite families. Young men were pressured to serve in the army (Mennonite faith taught non-resistance) or else the heavily taxed.In the year 1786 Catherine II, Empress of Russia, having heard of the Mennonites as hard working and talented people, who were looking for a new land with less political and religious pressures, invited them to come from Germany and Prussia and to the Ukraine in South Russia.

In the year 1818 the forefathers of the Fasts moved to Russia. Here they prospered and the Mennonite people engaged in silk production, flour mills, factories in farm equipment and dairy products, farming and many profitable businesses. A good educational system was established. Here most of our forefathers prospered and a number of churches were built in the area.In time, again their freedom was restricted and our people were gravely concerned for the future of their children and coming generations. At this time their thoughts turned to America and it was in the year of 1876, John (Johann) A. Fast and his wife, Anna H. (Peters) Fast decided to leave Russia and come to America with their nine children. Two more children were born later in America. They left their home in Alixzandkron, Russia with a group of others and arrived in Mountain Lake, Minnesota on August 1, 1875. They settled on a farm 10 miles northwest of Mountain Lake in Carson Township. The mother, Anna, died when the youngest child, Herman was six years old.

Later John Fast married Mrs. Enns Penner who had several children of her own. John Fast died in June 1896 leaving his children fatherless when the youngest was fourteen. The stepmother then left the children on their own. An older married sister moved in with them and cared for them.

I found the probate for John A Fast- The document is 56 pages. I have it saved, but do not know how to upload such a large document to the site.

Expect to discover family "secrets"

All families have skeletons in the closet, and our family will not be an exception. This raises issues of privacy and confidentiality. We must recognize that particular family stories, if made public, could be embarrassing or hurtful to family members. You must use discretion and tact in deciding how and whether to make such information available to others in any form, whether in small publications produced for immediate family, or in published family histories, or on an Internet website. That such information is true is not always sufficient reason to reveal it. Consider suppressing potentially damaging information from public view.