guardianship request of Esther Stickley Daniels

In June of 1854, Christian Stickley died in Dayton, leaving a widow, Esther, and two sons, Edward, age 7, and Henry, age 3. Esther married again on February 22, 1855, to Aaron Daniels.

Christian Stickley was the heir at law of Samual Stickley of Ohio. In the spring  of 1855, the Samual Stickley estate was ready to distribute the assets. Since Christian was dead, his sons were the heirs. However, the heirs were minors and needed a guardian to act for them. In the May term of the La Salle county court, Esther Daniels appeared and requested that Aaron Daniels, her husband, be named the guardian of her Stickley sons. On May 25, 1853, Aaron Daniels was sworn as guardian to the boys. He (with the assistance of Washington Bushnell) had to swear a guardianship bond of $800; said bond being null and void if he faithfully discharged the office of guardian and submitted yearly reports to the court.

From 1855 to 1862, Aaron fulfilled his duties, including paying the taxes on the Dayton lots the boys had inherited from their father. In 1863, Aaron wanted to move West with his wife and their young children. Edward and Henry apparently wished to stay in Illinois where they owned property, but they were still minors. Since Edward was now 14 years old, he was old enough to choose his own guardian. His choice,  Elias Trumbo, was then sworn as guardian and took out the guardianship bond, with the same caveats as before. Aaron Daniels filed a final report of his stewardship and moved to Kansas.

In 1870, Edward reached the age of twenty-one and Elias Trumbo turned over the assets he had been administering for him. Elias was released by the court from acting as Edward’s guardian. In September 1873, Elias was back to be released as guardian for Henry, who had also reached his majority.