Time for Week 16 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge! As noted in my first post of this challenge, I am starting with my most ancient known ancestors.

This week’s ancestor is Mārtiņš PlÅ«me, born c. 1825 and died after 1884. He is my great-great-great-grandfather by way of my maternal grandfather’s paternal grandmother, Doroteja Matilde PlÅ«me.

Just like in the case of his wife Dārta Andersone, it is difficult to find out more about his ancestors due to the lack of revision lists prior to 1858. Like Dārta, it is likely that he was born on the Nabe estate, probably on Kroņi farm. His father’s name was Ä€dams, as indicated by the 1858 revision list entry for Kroņi. It is possible that a woman listed in the entry as “Ä€dams’ widow”, TrÄ«ne, is his mother, but since it does not definitively say that, I cannot be certain without a different source of proof. Ä€dams must have died prior to the 1850 revision list, since otherwise he would have still had an entry mentioning his death in the 1858 list. His date of death can be estimated to be between 1834 and 1850, since there is another son of his listed, also named Ä€dams, who was born c. 1835. I do not know at this time if Mārtiņš and Ä€dams Junior had any more siblings.

Mārtiņš Plūme married Dārta Andersone on December 9, 1845 at the Lēdurga Lutheran Church. Details of their children can be found in her 52 Ancestors entry, linked above. As I mentioned in that entry, Mārtiņš Plūme was able to purchase Kroņi farm in 1871 from the Nabe estate owner, Johann Adolph von Sievers, a scion of that famous Baltic German noble house. The purchase price was 4608 rubles, and Mārtiņš made a downpayment of 508 rubles. The rest was on credit, and at least 300 rubles needed to be paid every 3 years. The contract also stipulates that Mārtiņš retained the right to fish in the lakes of Nabe estate, and that von Sievers retained the right to create irrigation canals on Kroņi farm (until 1900).

I am not certain when Mārtiņš died, only that it was after Doroteja Matilde’s marriage in 1884. He probably remained on Kroņi farm until he died. Doroteja Matilde inherited Kroņi farm, which passed to her husband upon her death in 1918 and then passed to their three youngest daughters (Vera, Velta, Margrieta) after his death in 1922.

Property records can be a great source of family information – I have not looked at the entire Kroņi property file yet, but it has already provided great information for me – one key document listed all of the birth and death information for Doroteja Matilde and her husband Roberts Francis, as well as all of the birth information for their children, and later marriage information (if applicable). Somewhere in there I’m sure will be the information I need about Mārtiņš’ and Dārta’s deaths.

What goodies have you found in property records that aren’t related to property? Share your stories in comments!

52 Ancestors #16: Mārtiņš Plūme
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