Making a Will
Making out a will is an important step for any individual, and it was no less important for our ancestors. Providing for the spouse and children was essential; dividing and passing ownership of property and effects was a major consideration. A wise individual made a will and was therefore able to specify what bequests he wanted to make. Other people overlooked this detail and their estates became a matter for the courts to appoint an executor and administer the division and distribution according to inheritance laws in force at the time.

Regardless of whether the person made a will or not, if a court was involved with the settling of the estate, there should be a probate packet for the individual. Make certain you're looking in the right courthouse. Remember, boundaries changed over time and the records you seek may be in another county's courthouse if you're not careful.

Inventories Provide Insight
You will almost always find an inventory of the estate in the probate packet. The executor (or executrix) or administrator(s) of the estate is first charged by the court to determine the assets, the debts and the receivables of an estate in order to properly determine what needs to be done in order to divide or dispose of it. The inventory often paints a colorful picture of the way of life of the deceased. The type of furniture, the presence or absence of books, farm equipment, livestock, real and personal property listed all tell us what type of life and what social status the person enjoyed.

If any of the assets of the estate were auctioned, check the auction records. These are generally a part of the probate packet too, and may have been entered into the court minutes. Here you may find connections to other relatives of the same surname who came to purchase items.

Things You May Find in a Will
A wife may have been provided for through a trust. It is not unusual in older wills to see a bequest such as, "To my beloved wife, Elizabeth, I leave her the house for her use for her lifetime, after which it is to be sold and proceeds divided between my children." One of the most amusing bequests I've seen was, "I leave my wife, Addie, the bed, her clothes, the ax and the mule." What a generous husband!

Farther back, you will find that laws sometimes dictated that the eldest son inherited all of the estate. During colonial times, this law of primogeniture was in effect. Sometimes the eldest son is not listed in the will at all because this law dictated that all real property automatically came to him. In other cases, the eldest son may be named and may be given a double share of the otherwise equally divided estate.

You will often see a father leave his daughter's share of his estate to his daughter's husband. Why? Often it was because a woman was not allowed to own real property or because it was felt that she could not manage the affairs of the bequest. Sometimes, because a father may have settled a dowry on his daughter when she married, the father's bequest may be a smaller one than to other, unmarried sisters. It is also possible that a will may leave an unmarried daughter a larger amount than her sisters, in order to make them equal in their overall share of the father's estate.

Watch wills carefully for names of children. Don't make any assumptions. One of my friends researched her great-great-grandfather's family and was convinced that there were seven children in the family. That was until she studied the actual will of the great-great-father. In the will, the names Elizabeth and Mary had no comma between them. This led her to suspect that there was one daughter named Elizabeth Mary, rather than two daughters. Further investigation of marriage records in the county bore this out as each of these daughter was married, one a year after her father's death and the other two years later.

A father who did not possess a large estate may have made arrangements for the placement of a son as an apprentice or indentured servant. This was a common means of guaranteeing the care and education of a son when there would not have been enough from the estate to support him. If you find such a statement in a will, investigate court records for the formalization of the arrangement. The guardian became responsible by law for the apprentice or servant.

The absence of a specific child's name may indicate that he or she is deceased. It may indicate that the child has moved elsewhere and has not been heard from for some considerable time. It is more likely, however, that the testator would leave an equal part to that child and the court would probably have charged the executor with locating the child.

Guardians are appointed to protect the interests of children and, in some cases, young widows. Remember that in many states, if the father dies and leaves a widow and minor children, the children are considered to be 'orphans.' Most often, the guardians appointed by the court are relatives of the deceased or of the spouse. A different surname of a guardian may be a clue to the maiden name of the widow.

Witnesses are important. By law, they cannot inherit in a will, however they may be relatives of the deceased. It is not uncommon to find an in-law as a witness. Bondsmen involved in the settlement of an estate may also be relatives too. If the wife of the testator is the executrix of the estate, the bondsmen are usually her relatives. (If you do not know the maiden name of the wife, check the surnames of the bondsmen carefully because one of them may be her brother.)

Setting Up
Obviously, there are many things to consider when reviewing wills and probate packet contents. The location, the laws in effect at the time, the religious affiliation of the testator, the size of the estate, the presence or absence of a spouse, children, brothers, sisters, and parents—these are just a few.

If you haven't investigated the probate packet of one of your ancestors, I urge you to do so. They can provide a fascinating look into your ancestor's past, his lifestyle and his relationships with the family.

Happy hunting!

George

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