Wills - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

Charles Cramer sent msg. thru Ancestry

cin928 — 2019-08-04 17:16:06Z

Re: Norwalk Town Hall
How can I get to that? He made a comment, but, I don't seem to be able to find it?
I would like to see it, and possibly reply? As, I have several relatives from the pass and present, that have and still live in the area. NY/CT

Re: Help locating a will for Joseph Wheeldon (1802-1874)

EstelleMo — 2019-07-09 13:42:28Z

Thank you so much carobradford, this is really clear and helpful and I understand the process now!

Re: Help locating a will for Joseph Wheeldon (1802-1874)

deeflint01 — 2019-07-03 02:40:26Z

Thank you. My mother had a long and full life and it was her time.

Re: Help locating a will for Joseph Wheeldon (1802-1874)

carobradford — 2019-07-02 23:15:02Z

“Probate” is the legal process for proving a will to be valid and, most importantly, issuing legal documentation authorising the executors of the will to perform their function of administering the estate. If the estate consisted of nothing but cash and personal belongings and the wishes of the deceased were clear and accepted by all then there would be little or no need for probate or letters of administration.

If you take a look at the probate calendars you will see that the number of grants per year increases as the years go by. In the middle of the 19th century it represents a small proportion compared to the deaths. A century later, it is considerably higher. This is due, not just to greater material affluence generally, but to “ordinary” people having much more complex financial affairs involving third parties - credit cards, utility bills, bank accounts etc. In these circumstances, executors need an official document to demonstrate their legal authority to act on behalf of the estate.

Re: Help locating a will for Joseph Wheeldon (1802-1874)

EstelleMo — 2019-07-02 20:59:20Z

I'm sorry about your mother's passing, deeflint01. I hadn't realised that there is an estate threshold. That's helped me understand the process a bit more, thank you.

Re: Help locating a will for Joseph Wheeldon (1802-1874)

EstelleMo — 2019-07-02 20:39:16Z

Thanks so much for your help carobradford. I must admit, I'm not 100% confident on what probate is. I thought that everyone who has passed would be on the probate calendar - either because they had written a will or because they didn't have a will and had to go through administration

Re: Help locating a will for Joseph Wheeldon (1802-1874)

deeflint01 — 2019-07-01 18:28:14Z

More than likely. It still happens that way today sometimes. When my mother passed, her "estate" was small enough that it was not required to go through probate. There was no property. She only had some cash and some personal items. So I and my siblings (5 of us in total) all got together while we were all in town and split it up. We had agreed before we got together that our sister who had taken care of Mom in her last few months deserved and was to get some extra.

Re: Help locating a will for Joseph Wheeldon (1802-1874)

carobradford — 2019-07-01 16:40:56Z

He may well have made his wishes about the distribution of his worldly goods known before his death, and he could have put these in writing, but grant of probate (or administration if there was no valid will) would only have been applied for if the court's authority was required in order to execute those wishes. Does that help?

Re: Help locating a will for Joseph Wheeldon (1802-1874)

EstelleMo — 2019-07-01 15:23:13Z

Hello carobradford, thank you very much for your help, that's really interesting and useful to know. In that case, when Joseph passed, does this mean that his next of kins would have distributed his belongings and so on amongst themselves?

Re: Help locating a will for Joseph Wheeldon (1802-1874)

carobradford — 2019-06-28 10:47:12Z

At the time in question, only a very small proportion of individuals would have left wills which required probate or estates which required a grant of administration in the absence of a will. If there is nothing in the probate calendar then your ancestor would have been part of the majority.

Help locating a will for Joseph Wheeldon (1802-1874)

EstelleMo — 2019-06-27 16:50:35Z

Hello, I've been searching unsuccessfully for a will for my three times great Grandfather, Joseph Wheeldon.
He was the son of Samuel Wheeldon and Catherine Cockayne, and born in the parish of St Peter, Derby, Derbyshire, England in 1802. He passed away in 1874 in Ashover, Derbyshire, England.
I have searched the probate calendar, but haven't found anything. I was wondering if anyone would be able to help advise?
Many thanks,
Estelle

Re: John Hammond in Maryland 1707

sales128 — 2019-05-30 16:28:59Z

My experience has been that it wasn't common, but it also wasn't what I would call "uncommon", especially if the daughters received land or money when they married, or an early inheritance of some kind with or without a deed. John Hammond may have wanted his land to go just to his sons, but he likely gave his daughters something even if it wasn't mentioned in the will. Anything in their possession before he died did not have to be accounted for in the will, so as long as it was already theirs it didn't have to be named.

Since land and probate records often go hand in hand when it comes to real estate distribution, I always check both. Sometimes even sons are left out of wills, and not always because a father was cutting them out. They can also be missing from wills for the same reason, because they received a real or personal property inheritance earlier. I used to think children always had to be named in the will anyway, just so they could not contest it. To an extent that is true, because being named is a guarantee they can't claim their father forgot about them, but it was still personal preference of the testator as to who he did or did not include.

It's also possible the daughters pre-deceased John (if he had just a couple) but in that case grandchildren (as long as they had some) are often mentioned in their stead. Technically, married women did not own property, as anything they received in the way of real estate belonged to their husbands but I have seen many widowed women as property owners that early. You didn't mention how old the daughters were when the will was written or if they were married or not. If they were very young when he died they might have been left out because they were young and single. Perhaps marriages had already been arranged and their father made provision for them and their dowries with personal property.

Re: John Hammond in Maryland 1707

deeflint01 — 2019-05-29 20:00:49Z

It can also be a cultural thing or family tradition. It was sometimes considered the role of the husband to provide for daughters so only sons were named in wills. My gg-grandfather died in 1923 and named only his sons and an orphaned grandson. His daughters and other grandchildren were not listed. He was a German immigrant.

John Hammond in Maryland 1707

apowell674 — 2019-05-28 12:44:08Z

Was it common in late 1600s early 1700s to not list daughters in a will?

Re: Photos and documents uploaded and not showing original person who did it.

deeflint01 — 2019-04-24 18:35:10Z

This can happen unintentionally if a person is synching with a desktop software package. Sometimes the link between online and offline tree gets damaged so the user re-uploads from the offline tree. At that point, the attributions get lost.

I'd just put a comment on each one "originally uploaded by" and your user name.

Re: Reading Old English Wills

deeflint01 — 2019-04-24 18:27:31Z

I don't think you really mean Old English as that is Anglo-Saxon and is an entirely different language and had died out centuries before. There are only a handful of scholars proficient in Anglo-Saxon.

1500s would be the English of Shakespeare's time. The problem would be the handwriting of the day.

Reading Old English Wills

elizabethmountford1 — 2019-04-24 16:53:16Z

Can anyone read Old English, I have a digital copy of a will from the 1500s but I am unable to read 90% of the words. I would be very grateful if anyone could help deceiver what the will says.

Photos and documents uploaded and not showing original person who did it.

DaleHannig — 2019-04-13 00:52:44Z

Hi,
I worked on my tree for nearly 10 years and submitted hundreds (600 photos at least) of original photos but now many years later... I get an Ancestry Leaf showing those exact photos are something new and that someone else's name was the original person that put them up. Is this happening is other peoples trees? I want to be identified as the person that people will contact about the tree. The person now showing up really has no connection and has put them on their tree and now comes through as the original person that put them up. Example attached - My tree is Hannig/Hanning and my photos of my grandparents are saying submitted by Health Cartledge.

Re: Scotland - Multiplepoinding

BobNY — 2018-12-29 18:45:08Z

If my understanding of Scottish law is correct, your ancestor MAY have a right to certain monies. Apparently the executor of the estate is doing his double-diligence (multiplepoinding) while at the same time wanting to be finished with the whole matter. The litigation appears to be requesting that MacKenzie only has an obligation to make one payment among a number of assumed claimants and would like the court to make the decision, absolve him of any liability, pay his expenses as executor and call it a day.

Do you know if any of the names listed are related to Rev. MacColl, to your ancestor, or to each other?

Re: Sum left in probate

DelorisWilliams87 — 2018-03-16 19:48:22Z

Use the Inflation Calculator:

https://westegg.com/inflation/

Would there be a will or record if minor children?

Bettejj — 2017-11-26 22:22:09Z

Iowa: Young mother came to Iowa from Germany 1885 died 1888 -- leaving 3 children 12, 10 & 6? . There doesn't appear to be a father in the picture. The (I believe parents of this woman paid for the burial)
Questions - is there a record that might tell where these minor children went? What would be a good next step to search?

Will, but not sure of the name in Ohio

Bettejj — 2018-03-26 21:09:32Z

I've been looking for info about the father of P.L. (Phinaes) Lewis Carter b. Clermont County , Ohio. b. 1814 (abt) moved to Iowa 1869. I believe his parents were from Chester County PA (I've gotten that through census).
Hoping if I can find a will of Phinaes father may help me find out that family. Any suggestions? I'm guess fathers name was either James or John (male children of P.L. were named those names). Is there an online listing of old wills from Clermont County OH?
Ideas would be appreciated.

What happens to rejected wills?

DonaldRNewcomb — 2018-02-17 14:27:24Z

I'm looking at a case in Portage County, Ohio, where someone (d. 1876) left a will but the court, for whatever reason, declined/refused to probate it. Do wills like this generally end up in the trash bin or do they get filed someplace? It does not seem to have been recorded in the wills books.

Re: Would there be a will or record if minor children?

jimtoo2 — 2018-10-16 15:05:54Z

Iowa does not have a separate probate court, the county District Court handles probate matters. If there were formal adoptions, that is likely where the records would be.

Re: Obtaining a will / probate England

nzgenz — 2018-07-13 05:22:37Z

If you google "find a will" it will take you to the UK government website, which contains indexes up to the present day. Enter the surname of the deceased person, and the year of death and it will bring up the probate abstracts. If you wish to purchase the grant, fill in the relevant boxes on the same page. The grant of probate (or grant of administration) will be emailed to you in around 10 days. I've used it quite a lot over recent years, and find it a great service, and not too expensive.

Andrea

Sum left in probate

trevorlroberts — 2017-12-24 15:21:34Z

What do people use to estimate the value of a sum of money left in probate many years ago at todays prices?

Cambridge Will, Jarrold 1857

warncoort1 — 2017-08-09 04:43:58Z

Folks,
https://www.ancestry.com.au/interactive/5111/40611_311586-00...

Is anyone able to make out detail of this,interested to know names of children and if any mention of children in Australia?
Eric

Re: What does "Int. Adm'rs" mean in 1794 will?

AmyAndrick1973 — 2017-10-18 16:53:49Z

Was interim administrators right? I suspect intestate administrators. Intestate: died w/o a will.

Re: How can I obtain the will for Mary Crosson who died in New York City, proved 17-Dec-1901, Liber 671, Page 156

sbny357 — 2017-11-05 04:05:18Z

You can access it through FamilySearch.org:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L99T-483N?i...

The text of the will itself begins on Pg. 159.

Steve

Re: Will, but not sure of the name in Ohio

sbny357 — 2018-03-27 01:59:06Z

Probate records for Clermont County have been filmed and are available on FamilySearch. Click on this link, and then on Clermont County to see what's available:
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1992421

Steve

Re: Transcription of Will from 1618

sbny357 — 2018-09-15 03:00:14Z

The attachment doesn’t show his will. It is an estate inventory, listing the items of value that he owned when he died.

There’s nothing here that suggests he was a weaver. It’s actually more suggestive of someone who lived on a small farm: one calf, one young pig, one cupboard, a bed & bedding, kitchen items (pewter dishes, spit, candlestick, brass pot, small kettles, skillet), etc.

It does mention that most of his apparel had been sold, but nothing to suggest it was any more than his personal clothing.

Steve

Re: Would there be a will or record if minor children?

barbdale_1 — 2017-12-06 04:59:19Z

There may be a probate court record naming a guardian. I would suggest posting a query on the appropriate county board for Iowa, listing the names. You could also search newspapers around her death date. The site www.linkpendium.com has many helpful county level links.

Re: Understanding 'England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations)'

carobradford — 2019-02-26 00:30:39Z

The address given for the testator is the postal address at which they normally resided, not the place of death - though it is entirely possible that your grandmother died at home (her death certificate will have that information). The probate office referred to is the one to which the executor(s) applied for the grant. In this case, it suggests that your grandmother’s executor(s) lived closer to Oxford than to Leeds, the nearest one to Doncaster. The Will itself would supply information about the executor(s).

Re: Disappearing records

diskoverit — 2018-08-16 23:31:47Z

Ancestry:
http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6393

FamilySearch:
https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&...

Re: How can I obtain the will for Mary Crosson who died in New York City, proved 17-Dec-1901, Liber 671, Page 156

StephenMFlynn — 2017-11-05 10:38:11Z

Steve,

Fantastic, thank you! The probate records on FamilySearch are a fantastic resource that I will now be exploring. I'm surprised that Ancestry.com does not have these records and that the process of getting from the index to the referenced records hasn't been made easier by Ancestry.com.

How can I obtain the will for Mary Crosson who died in New York City, proved 17-Dec-1901, Liber 671, Page 156

StephenMFlynn — 2017-11-04 20:00:41Z

I found this record in the New York Index to Wills Vol A-D 1662-1910. Are the contents of the will available on line anywhere?

Re: WILL

deeflint01 — 2018-01-06 20:20:32Z

Write the clerk of courts for the probate court.

Re: Would there be a will or record if minor children?

deeflint01 — 2018-10-17 15:18:25Z

Try the 1895 Iowa state census. It would not have been uncommon for children to be taken in by friends or relatives without going through the court, especially if there wasn't any estate to settle.

Re: Obtaining a will / probate England

userone164 — 2017-09-25 16:03:22Z

i believe that it would be too recent, check out the dates listed in the Ancestry card Catalogue under Wills probate etc for England it has been updated somewhat recently, but i haven't seen anything that recent

Dr. Charles Snow and son John Snow

vivp2020 — 2019-01-30 06:24:13Z

Would someone be willing to email me a copy of Dr Charles Snow And his son John Snow of Tuscaloosa Al. The Wills are located in Alabama Wills and Probate 1753-1999.
Specifically looking for slave list. ITUIA.

Re: Scotland - Multiplepoinding

scottsinclair59 — 2018-12-29 18:55:32Z

Hi
One of the names listed - a Margaret McColl (Cameron) from Oban - is his cousin.

The other people of interest mentioned are Duncan MacColl also from Oban, Joan MacColl, Duncan MacColl from Tobermory, Margaret MacColl (Campbell), Finlay Sinclair (my ancestor, son of a McColl), Catherine McColl (previously sinclair - Finlay's sister), and Duncan McColl (Catherine's husband).

I'm presuming that McColl and MacColl are the same family and there's a little cousin marriage going on. I can't confirm the direct relationships in any of the cases above.

It's interesting to me as shortly after this even, Finlay Sinclair was admitted to and died in a Poor House in Lochgilphead.

Scotland - Multiplepoinding

scottsinclair59 — 2018-12-27 17:05:06Z

Hi
I was researching one of my ancestors (Finlay Sinclair from Ford, Kilmartin) and found a mention of him in a newspaper from 1890. I can't figure out though if the notice implies he is owed money after the death of a relative, or if he owes money himself. A short version of the article is below - can anyone help me to understand please?

I've typed up some of the notice below, but have also attached the full version as an image.

"Notice: An action of multiplepoinding, exoneration and discharge has been raised in the sheriff court of Ross & Cromarty and Sutherland...by the Reverend Murdo MacKenzie...executor of the late Reverend Alexander Maccoll...against LIST OF NAMES HERE INCLUDING MY ANCESTOR FINLAY SINCLAIR...

Defenders, to have it found that the Pursuers are the HOLDERS OF FUNDS of the total value of £811 18s 7d being the residue of the whole Means and Estate of the said Reverend Alexander Maccoll, and that they are only liable in once and single payment, and are entitled on payment to be exonerated and discharged, and to obtain payment of their Expenses, and that decree should be issued in favour of the party or parties who shall be found to have the best right to the Fund in medio..."

Re: Maryland Wills and Probate Records

brock5023 — 2019-03-03 20:33:37Z

Do a search at https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/homepage/html/family.html

WILL

Burkecounty — 2018-01-06 09:45:42Z

How do I get a copy of the will my great grandfather Everett Carpenter B. 12/25/1918 D. 10/16/1993 Catawba County, NC USA

Re: How to obtain copy of Will - New York City

SerrapedeMuro2017 — 2017-07-31 14:25:51Z

Hi there. Your advice was on the mark! I called the Kings County Surrogate's Court Clerk's office. For $90 they will do all the research for me since I do not have the record number. I think I will go this route since I cannot get time off to do it myself. Thanks for helping me out.

Is there a site for transcribing wills?

AsHepburn — 2019-04-01 13:07:24Z

Hi. I have found an ancestor's will on Ancestry but can't read it. Willy Meek died in 1821 in Bermondsey and there is a tantalising 4 page will that will tell me a lot about him if I can work it out!
The will is here on Ancestry, are there sites to go to or is this one too difficult?
https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db...
Any advice would be great.
Thanks
Alison

Understanding 'England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations)'

EstelleMo — 2019-02-25 16:22:18Z

Hello, I was looking for some help in understanding England and Wales National Probate Calendar.
So looking at my grandmothers entry at the very top left (Edna Mary Mills), what does the address relate to? I thought that this was the place that she died; however, the right hand column, entry number 6, has Elsie Sydney Mills with a PO Box adress - presumably Elsie did not pass away at that address?
Also, I believe that my grandmother passed away near Doncaster. In which case, why is the probate located in Oxford? Is this related to where the will was first put together?
Many thanks for any help you're able to provide.

Transcription of Will from 1618

poppyjones15 — 2018-09-14 17:40:15Z

Hi all,

I was delighted to find that a will exists for my direct ancestor, Bartholomew Vowte, who died in 1618.

He lived in Blickling, Norfolk and I believe that he is a second generation French Huguenot, possibly working as a weaver. I would love to learn what kind of possessions he had and see whether I can prove or disprove this theory through his will.

I have obtained a copy of the will, but unfortunately I cannot read it at all!

Is there someone out there who would be kind enough to transcribe this for me or at least give me a rough idea of what it says?

Thanks very much in advance,

Poppy

Re: Transcription of Will from 1618

poppyjones15 — 2018-09-15 08:44:39Z

Fantastic, thank you so much Steve.

That makes sense, I can start to make out some of it myself now I know what I’m looking for. A shame nothing about weaving here, but still interesting to see the kinds of things he owned. Thanks very much for looking at this for me, much appreciated!

Poppy

Obtaining a will / probate England

p_michael_williams — 2017-08-04 13:38:53Z

Hi,

I am new to searching for wills and probates. I am looking for probate records for England for my great grandparents but i can not locate them on the records. I am sure they would have left a will but i can't see it on the Gov website search.

Looking for:
Charles Henry Humphreys died 2004 in London
Joseph James Gilbert died 2003 in Bristol

any help is very much appreciated