Administrator’s Notice
Legal Notices or Advertisements were placed in the local newspaper according to the laws and customs in each state. The Administrator’s Notice was to the local townspeople, asking those indebted to the estate to pay up and those to whom the estate owed money to submit their bills.
Daniel Weiser of Maxataway Township, Berks Co., Pennsylvania died intestate, without a will, prior to 15 March 1870 when an advertisement describing him as deceased appeared in the Reading Eagle. Israel C. Becker was appointed the Administrator of his estate and subsequently placed an Administrator’s Notice in the Reading Eagle.
In addition to Israel Becker’s address 510 Court St., Reading and a call to those indebted to the estate and persons having claims against the estate, there is a line at the end of the advertisement for the typesetter which reads:
mar 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 apr6d
This paid ad was to be inserted in six different editions of the Reading Eagle and that list of dates was included in the typesetting. Genealogically what that means is Daniel Weiser died before 2 March 1870 when this ad appears to have been first inserted. Since this was a daily afternoon newspaper and Israel C. Becker was the Administrator not the Executor, a good hypothesis is Daniel Weiser died in mid to late February of 1870. While this does not give an exact death date, it does narrow down the field considerably and in the absence of a continual run of newspaper issues available, it is a good estimate.
