Daniel Dill’s probate file has a gap of nearly six years, spanning the duration of the Civil War plus a year each before and after. Finally in December, 1866, Daniel’s friend and neighbor Frederick Bromberg made a petition to the court. He asked to be appointed as the administrator of the long-dormant estate.

The Civil War halted all progress on settling Daniel Dill’s estate and, of course, changed the life course of everyone connected with Daniel Dill and his assets.

Nearly four years after Daniel Dill’s death, the estate administrator received permission from the court to sell three enslaved persons: Sam, John and Nancy. Daniel’s probate file contains the sad details.

Daniel’s former clerk, Lewis Ayers, took control of Daniel’s estate on March 27, 1858. He had his work cut out for him: he had to gather up an inventory of the estate; wait for a hearing to determine whether Edwin Gould owed money to the estate for mismanagement; then sell all the assets and distribute […]

Daniel Dill’s younger brother Peter (my 4x-great-grandfather) and another brother John apparently traveled to Mobile, Alabama in February 1858 to see what was holding up the settlement of Daniel’s estate. They quickly concluded that Daniel’s friend Edwin Gould was managing the estate for his own benefit and not for the benefit of the heirs.