1839 McCord estate petition identifies Mary Elizabeth Diven’s mother and brother

Original manuscript inspected and enlarged, 3 November 2026. Perry County, Pennsylvania, Orphans’ Court docket C, p.52 (full spread pp.51–52), January term 1839; FamilySearch DGS005534479, image545/742, volumes A–C.

On 9 January 1839 Robert Elliott, guardian of Mary Elizabeth Diven, petitions to sell her interest in Samuel McCord’s Toboyne Township land. The petition expressly identifies Mary Elizabeth as a minor daughter of deceased Isabella Diven, a daughter and heir of Samuel McCord. Isabella left children Mary Elizabeth and James McCord Diven. The latter died after the 1832 Act of Assembly, leaving father James Diven and sister Mary Elizabeth surviving. The father retained a life interest in part of the land. Samuel’s widow is Mary; his named children are William, Mary Ann (Andrew Linn), Eliza (John Coyle), Isabella, Samuel, James and Ephraim. The document does not expressly establish that widow Mary was Isabella’s mother.

Correlation: Mary Elizabeth’s name, guardian Robert Elliott, deceased mother’s property and living father James match James of Landisburg’s 1840 will and Mary’s 1846 marriage/guardian release. This provides original-record support for the previously compiled Isabella/Isabel McCord maternity and identifies a deceased brother James McCord Diven. It does not verify Isabel’s compiled exact birth/death dates or the 23 January 1827 marriage. No exact dates have been inferred.

James the surviving father in 1839 cannot be Junior, deceased by20 October1813, or Senior, deceased1818. This strengthens namesake separation but does not prove Junior’s parentage. No Junior-to-Senior link follows from this record. Full original JPG preserved; derivative crop used only for reading.