I have recently obtained dozens of pages of Bredimus history with the assistance of a professional Researcher in Iowa (Denise Gripp DBA Ever-After Enterprises). I’ll post more information here on our family website as it becomes available. Our great-grandfather, Michael John (Michel Jean) Bredimus, was born in Luxembourg in 1812 and died in Des Moines on February 24, 1898 at age 86. He lived his entire life during the 19th century and was the first generation of our Bredimus family to live in America.
The administrator of Michael’s estate was his oldest son, John (Jean) Bredimus. John and his brother, Nicholas, paid the final expenses for their father and cared for his widow, their mother, Madeline Kerg (Magdalena, Madalena). The estate had no value, and the mandatory probate was probably an annoyance.
The full 33 pages of the probate are in this PDF and can be viewed and downloaded here.
Nicholas Bredimus will and Probate.
1907 Photo of Nicholas Bredimus at his Wagon Shop courtesy of his great-granddaughter Dianne Jones. Nicholas died one year after this photo was taken. He was a young fifty-seven-year-old but had prepared his own will five years before his death. The cause of death was unknown and the certificate indicates only two months of duration preceding.
Note the signature of Nickolous Bredimus above. He used the German, French, and English spelling of his given name. I am proud to have been named in his honor. His will was handwritten but very legible.
The entire 63 pages of the probate court case for Nicholas Bredimus can be viewed and downloaded here:
Mary Bredimus moved to King County Washington after the death of her husband, Nicholas Bredimus.
Poppy (Franklin Arthur Bredimus) was only age 18 in 1899, so a guardian (Jesse A. Miller) was appointed by the judge. The estate had little value, but probate was required because Poppy’s father was already deceased, and his grandfather owned the property as “homestead”. I find it interesting that the document above was prepared in 1899 on a state-of-the-art Typewriter and Poppy later became the regional executive of Underwood Typewriter.
