Samuel Longstreet Forman (1805-1844)- Where There's No Will...

Death Certificate of Samuel L Forman

When Samuel L. Forman became ill at age 39 with congestive fever (we know it as malaria), since he was young and healthy, certainly he was expected to recover. Either he became too ill too quickly, or he never expected to die from his ailment. In either case, he never prepared a will. Which left his widow Eliza and their four children in a bit of a pickle.




He died in early August 1844, and by mid-October his household furnishings were being auctioned off from his late residence - the Mount Pleasant Hotel, in Philadelphia.







I recently got a copy of the Administration papers from his estate. Since he didn't have a will, the Court appointed 2 men to inventory and sell his belongings, combine his debts, then pay off his debtors. Anything left went to his widow, Eliza who served as the Executrix of the estate.

This is a section of the inventory, which includes at the bottom the 'horse, waggon and harness" shown in the auction listing above. You can see the value of them is $40. The entire lot of his belongings, which included chairs and beds and mirrors and tables (remember, he lived in a hotel) totaled $224.77. Chairs were .25 each!! He'd be shocked at prices today!

In November 1844, Eliza placed this ad in the newspaper, requesting anyone indebted to the estate or having claims against it, to come forward for settlement.

I love seeing Eliza's signature on several of the documents

In January 1845, the estate was settled. First there were the outstanding debts to pay such as a month's rent on the hotel (162.50), wages for the stableman (9.00), the bar keeper's wages (5.50), doctor bill (30.00), plus various fees. These added up to more than the auction had brought in.




It's hard to know what became of Eliza and her four children (ages 3-15) after this. Obviously they had to move out of the hotel. In 1846 she placed an ad as a dressmaker.

Surprisingly, in 1855, she is the proprietress of the Old Gloucester Point Ferry Hotel, which she and Samuel had run until they moved to the Mt. Pleasant Hotel in 1843. For whatever reason, in the 1860 and 1870 censuses, she is back to sewing - her occupation listed as "tailoress."
Of her 4 children, William Lake married twice (after his first wife died) and had 3 children (one died as a baby, one as a young adult.) Daughter Mary married, had 2 children, lost her husband young, then passed away at age 38. Her daughter Emma is living with Eliza in the 1880 census, since both parents were deceased. Eliza's second daughter, Emma, died at age 20, unmarried. Youngest child, Isaac married, lost his only child at age one, then his wife a few years later. He never remarried so Eliza lived with him to keep his house. She died at his home in 1893.