Early on I tried to find information on Nannie at the Superior Court but they said they had nothing listed under any of the names I gave them. Armed with the court number from the Sheriff's sale I returned hoping they could find something using the number. That did the trick. There was a Last Will and Testament for Nannie May Petty filed 18 February 1932. Clarence R. Anderson had filed it for probate. The will was written 16 October 1928. Nannie states she is a resident of the city of Seattle in King County WA. Another puzzle, why file in King County? In the will she gives to her beloved sister Laura Petty the sum of twenty-five dollars; to her beloved sister Mary Petty the sum of twenty-five dollars and to her beloved father Alexander Petty the sum of one hundred dollars. The will also included her friend William Kent whom she gave the sum of two thousand dollars, and her friend William N. Wilson the sum of five hundred dollars, to her attorney Clarence R. Anderson the sum of one thousand dollars, and to her dear friends Evelyn Freeman and Alice the rest of her estate. Where did Nannie come by all this money?

With the name of her father I could be pretty sure the Alex Petty I found in the 1880 census was the right one. Amongst the papers at the courthouse was a mortgage Nannie had taken out for $1300 in 1925 from Rose Cohen. Attached to the probate were two receipts for two loans made to Nannie by Rose one in 1925 for Two Hundred dollars and one in 1927 for eight hundred. The women mentioned in the Sheriff's sale was trying to get her money back or the land. I found a Rose Cohen in the 1920 King County Census, age 42, widowed, and a saleswoman. She was living with her daughter's family Myer Laurie and wife Edith.

In January of 1931 Rose Cohen was suing Nannie for payment of the mortgage. A lien was put against her property. Was this what drove Nannie to be admitted to Northwest Hospital?

To be continued.