The Thomas Haynes Estate is Forced to Auction off His Share of the Haynes Place
but Celia Buys It Back
Note: The probate of the Estate of Thomas Haynes is covered in more detail here, and is also accessible under the "Stories" list in the navigation bar at the top of every page.
The settlement of the Thomas Haynes estate was protracted, eventually spreading out over twelve years, considering all of the lawsuits and other negotiations that were involved. Christopher immediately gave his mother Power Of Attorney. He submitted the estate for probate on August 28, 1864, and the final account was not submitted by Celia until February, 1876. After collecting what he could and paying off the creditors pro-rata, Christopher finally was forced to offer the Haynes place itself for sale at public auction. Of the 1,700 acres of land claimed to be community property in the Haynes place, 200 acres were set aside as a homestead and 1,500 acres were offered for sale.
The estate sold 1,500 acres of land to Thomas’s wife, Celia A. Haynes, at public auction in Texana on November 30, 1874. This may sound strange, with the widow of Thomas Haynes buying land from her husband’s estate. Christopher had to go so far as to partition the 1,500 acres into 40-acre tracts to auction off. During the auction, Celia bid 30 cents per acre for the first tract, and then 15 cents per acre for the second. No one else was bidding, so Celia bid $1,000 for the entire 1,500 acres, or 66⅔ cents per acre, and bought all of her land back! This purchase was approved by the probate court and was recorded in Book 14, page 75.
It probably would be appropriate at this point to consider whether Celia now had the right to consider the entire Haynes place to be her own. She had previously bought Daniel’s 1,280 acres and now had bought back 1,500 acres more and had a 200 acre homestead, too. But had she used her own money to buy the 1,500 acres, or was it part of Thomas’s estate? Strictly speaking, all of his remaining assets had been used to pay his creditors, so Celia probably had every right to be more possessive. That attitude appears to have influenced her thinking during the remainder of her life. Besides, Thomas’s will had said that things were to be run as she (and Christopher) saw fit; the concept of equal shares to the sons was not required until the end of Celia’s life.
but Celia Buys It Back
Note: The probate of the Estate of Thomas Haynes is covered in more detail here, and is also accessible under the "Stories" list in the navigation bar at the top of every page.
The settlement of the Thomas Haynes estate was protracted, eventually spreading out over twelve years, considering all of the lawsuits and other negotiations that were involved. Christopher immediately gave his mother Power Of Attorney. He submitted the estate for probate on August 28, 1864, and the final account was not submitted by Celia until February, 1876. After collecting what he could and paying off the creditors pro-rata, Christopher finally was forced to offer the Haynes place itself for sale at public auction. Of the 1,700 acres of land claimed to be community property in the Haynes place, 200 acres were set aside as a homestead and 1,500 acres were offered for sale.
The estate sold 1,500 acres of land to Thomas’s wife, Celia A. Haynes, at public auction in Texana on November 30, 1874. This may sound strange, with the widow of Thomas Haynes buying land from her husband’s estate. Christopher had to go so far as to partition the 1,500 acres into 40-acre tracts to auction off. During the auction, Celia bid 30 cents per acre for the first tract, and then 15 cents per acre for the second. No one else was bidding, so Celia bid $1,000 for the entire 1,500 acres, or 66⅔ cents per acre, and bought all of her land back! This purchase was approved by the probate court and was recorded in Book 14, page 75.
It probably would be appropriate at this point to consider whether Celia now had the right to consider the entire Haynes place to be her own. She had previously bought Daniel’s 1,280 acres and now had bought back 1,500 acres more and had a 200 acre homestead, too. But had she used her own money to buy the 1,500 acres, or was it part of Thomas’s estate? Strictly speaking, all of his remaining assets had been used to pay his creditors, so Celia probably had every right to be more possessive. That attitude appears to have influenced her thinking during the remainder of her life. Besides, Thomas’s will had said that things were to be run as she (and Christopher) saw fit; the concept of equal shares to the sons was not required until the end of Celia’s life.