everybodylovesrs
01-30-2010, 08:03 PM
Anyone have a login over at Ancestry.com?
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http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/133/l_3a4001dd9d234aa2be69baae52332fcc.jpg
"It seems like every town in America has a village recluse: a mysterious soul who chooses to remain alone, isolated from the community. Katherine Bennett of Portland, OR was just such a person: an eccentric, nearly destitute packrack who dressed in men's clothing, rarely left her home, and refused to discuss her past with anyone.
For years, Katherine Bennett was viewed with curiosity by sympathetic neighbors. What noone suspected was that Katherine had amassed a modest fortune worth more than $125,000. But on the day she died, Katherine Bennett was a woman with few friends and no family.
Little is known about Katherine before 1941. That year, she meant a handsome young soldier named Gilbert Bennett. Six months later, they were married.After the Second World War, the couple settled in Portland, OR where Gilbert worked as a commercial photographer. Katherine became his favorite subject. The two shared a love for the great outdoors. At every opportunity, they would escape to the unspoiled rivers of the Pacific Northwest.
"They loved the outdoor life, and they fished every chance they could get. They were very devoted to each other. They were inseparable. Every place they went, they went together. And they fished together, and they hunted together, and what have you. I'm sure that they were very much in love with each other", said Marion Bennett, Katherine's brother-in-law.
Gilbert and Katherine never had children. Instead, they built a loving, private universe for two. Katherine lavished attention upon her husband, her garden, and her pets. Yet she remained intensely private about her past. "She never spoke of her past, and I have since talked to all my brothers and sisters, and they said the same thing - they just didn't know anything of Katie's past." In 1980, after 38 years of marriage, Gilbert Bennett died. Katherine's will began to crumble.
"When she lost Gilbert, she just lost everything I guess. And I had talked to Katie concerned about her future. I asked her if she had any living relatives, and she said, No, she didn't have family. She was raised in an orphan home and didn't know anything about a family. And she just withdrew from holidays and things like this - we'd ask her to come to dinner and stuff like this, and she wouldn't do that, and we - we just couldn't keep in contact with her too long as a result of this."
Katherine rarely left the home where she and Gilbert had spent so many years together. In the end, only the charity of neighbors kept her from total seclusion. Finally in June of 1990, after ten years alone, Katherine Bennett passed away. She was 80 years old.
When no blood relatives could be located, representatives from the Oregon Division of State Land were dispatched to Katherine's house to sort out her estate. Almost no one had entered the house in the ten years since her husband had died.
"Her home was unkept, it was cluttered, it was flea infested. It had an odor, it was as if a hermit had lived there. Mr .Bennett's closing was still draped over the back of the chairs in the bedroom," said Larry Larimer, Estate Administrator.
"You could hardly even walk through it, it was such a mess, papers and bottles and trash and garbage and uneaten food, and she had several animals, cats, and there was cat food everywhere, and cat food tins, and the fleas were unreal - you could just feel them all over you as you walked in . It was really bad." said Marcella Easley, Trust Property Manager.
"Our first job is to locate a will or locate heirs, and when we entered the home, we quickly sift through the personal papers, looking for letters, insurance policies, anything that might lead to an heir. ", said Larimer.
The investigators never did find a will, but they were surprised to discover that despite the surroundings, Katherine Bennett was anything but destitute. They came across unopened Social Security checks dating back to 1981 and valued at more than $30,000. In addition to a large amount of loose chance, they found a number of rare coins worth $1500. Finally, investigators discovered that Katherine had squirreled away nearly $60,000 in two separate bank accounts. After her house was sold, the value of Katherine's estate rose to more than $125,000 .
Officials in Oregon have launched an extensive search for Katherine's heirs. Because her husband is dead, state law requires that the estate goes to the nearest blood relative. What complicates the settling of Katherine's estate is that almost nothing is known about her past, and much of what is known is fraught with contradiction.
Katherine Bennett was born in Kansas City, KS in 1910. She once told her in-law that she was raised in a Catholic orphanage after the death of her parents. However, in a document notarized in 1945, just three years after she was married, Katherine presented a completely different story about her life. She declared that her father had died prior to her birth, but that her mother (first name: Barbara) was still alive and married to Joseph Fabac of Kansas City, Kansas. The document also made mention of a brother named Martin Juratovich.
Katherine's maiden name is also a source of confusion. Before her marriage, she went by the name Katherine Juratovich, but in Gilbert's family bible, her maiden name is listed as Bernard. If you have any information, please contact the Oregon Division of State Lands.
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I found this, and this is very likely the brother that she mentions in that document from 1945 at the end - almost definitely.
Martin JURATOVICH
Birth Date: 11 Nov 1900
Death Date: Aug 1968
Social Security Number: 510-05-7657
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Kansas
Death Residence Localities ZIP Code: 66101 Localities: Kansas City, Wyandotte, Kansas]
In addition, I found a Ancestry death record for Katherine, married to Gilbert Potter Bennett, but you have to pay to see it. Can anyone copy and paste it?
-
http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/133/l_3a4001dd9d234aa2be69baae52332fcc.jpg
"It seems like every town in America has a village recluse: a mysterious soul who chooses to remain alone, isolated from the community. Katherine Bennett of Portland, OR was just such a person: an eccentric, nearly destitute packrack who dressed in men's clothing, rarely left her home, and refused to discuss her past with anyone.
For years, Katherine Bennett was viewed with curiosity by sympathetic neighbors. What noone suspected was that Katherine had amassed a modest fortune worth more than $125,000. But on the day she died, Katherine Bennett was a woman with few friends and no family.
Little is known about Katherine before 1941. That year, she meant a handsome young soldier named Gilbert Bennett. Six months later, they were married.After the Second World War, the couple settled in Portland, OR where Gilbert worked as a commercial photographer. Katherine became his favorite subject. The two shared a love for the great outdoors. At every opportunity, they would escape to the unspoiled rivers of the Pacific Northwest.
"They loved the outdoor life, and they fished every chance they could get. They were very devoted to each other. They were inseparable. Every place they went, they went together. And they fished together, and they hunted together, and what have you. I'm sure that they were very much in love with each other", said Marion Bennett, Katherine's brother-in-law.
Gilbert and Katherine never had children. Instead, they built a loving, private universe for two. Katherine lavished attention upon her husband, her garden, and her pets. Yet she remained intensely private about her past. "She never spoke of her past, and I have since talked to all my brothers and sisters, and they said the same thing - they just didn't know anything of Katie's past." In 1980, after 38 years of marriage, Gilbert Bennett died. Katherine's will began to crumble.
"When she lost Gilbert, she just lost everything I guess. And I had talked to Katie concerned about her future. I asked her if she had any living relatives, and she said, No, she didn't have family. She was raised in an orphan home and didn't know anything about a family. And she just withdrew from holidays and things like this - we'd ask her to come to dinner and stuff like this, and she wouldn't do that, and we - we just couldn't keep in contact with her too long as a result of this."
Katherine rarely left the home where she and Gilbert had spent so many years together. In the end, only the charity of neighbors kept her from total seclusion. Finally in June of 1990, after ten years alone, Katherine Bennett passed away. She was 80 years old.
When no blood relatives could be located, representatives from the Oregon Division of State Land were dispatched to Katherine's house to sort out her estate. Almost no one had entered the house in the ten years since her husband had died.
"Her home was unkept, it was cluttered, it was flea infested. It had an odor, it was as if a hermit had lived there. Mr .Bennett's closing was still draped over the back of the chairs in the bedroom," said Larry Larimer, Estate Administrator.
"You could hardly even walk through it, it was such a mess, papers and bottles and trash and garbage and uneaten food, and she had several animals, cats, and there was cat food everywhere, and cat food tins, and the fleas were unreal - you could just feel them all over you as you walked in . It was really bad." said Marcella Easley, Trust Property Manager.
"Our first job is to locate a will or locate heirs, and when we entered the home, we quickly sift through the personal papers, looking for letters, insurance policies, anything that might lead to an heir. ", said Larimer.
The investigators never did find a will, but they were surprised to discover that despite the surroundings, Katherine Bennett was anything but destitute. They came across unopened Social Security checks dating back to 1981 and valued at more than $30,000. In addition to a large amount of loose chance, they found a number of rare coins worth $1500. Finally, investigators discovered that Katherine had squirreled away nearly $60,000 in two separate bank accounts. After her house was sold, the value of Katherine's estate rose to more than $125,000 .
Officials in Oregon have launched an extensive search for Katherine's heirs. Because her husband is dead, state law requires that the estate goes to the nearest blood relative. What complicates the settling of Katherine's estate is that almost nothing is known about her past, and much of what is known is fraught with contradiction.
Katherine Bennett was born in Kansas City, KS in 1910. She once told her in-law that she was raised in a Catholic orphanage after the death of her parents. However, in a document notarized in 1945, just three years after she was married, Katherine presented a completely different story about her life. She declared that her father had died prior to her birth, but that her mother (first name: Barbara) was still alive and married to Joseph Fabac of Kansas City, Kansas. The document also made mention of a brother named Martin Juratovich.
Katherine's maiden name is also a source of confusion. Before her marriage, she went by the name Katherine Juratovich, but in Gilbert's family bible, her maiden name is listed as Bernard. If you have any information, please contact the Oregon Division of State Lands.
-----------
I found this, and this is very likely the brother that she mentions in that document from 1945 at the end - almost definitely.
Martin JURATOVICH
Birth Date: 11 Nov 1900
Death Date: Aug 1968
Social Security Number: 510-05-7657
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Kansas
Death Residence Localities ZIP Code: 66101 Localities: Kansas City, Wyandotte, Kansas]
In addition, I found a Ancestry death record for Katherine, married to Gilbert Potter Bennett, but you have to pay to see it. Can anyone copy and paste it?