Wills and Estate Records

Probates included two parts, wills and estate records, both of which can be very useful in researching our ancestors. These are considered to be among the most valuable and accurate of genealogical information.

Wills generally tell us who some close family members, including in-laws, were. They often even give married names of daughters, or indicate that particular daughters remained unmarried when the father's will was written. A will also gives us an indication of where the ancestor lived, what possessions he had, what land he possessed and where this property was located. Often wills named specific creeks and rivers, along which the land lay, that can help us to plot the approximate location on a map. Sometimes the person's occupation is given, and of course, the date on which the will was proved also gives us a death date estimate. 

Estate records give the court's ruling on what is to happen to items mentioned in the will, or other personal or real property. These documents might include an inventory of the deceased ancestor's possessions and the value of each, which are very interesting in assessing what day to day life might have been like. They also deal with the sale or division of property. This process was handled by the court, whether there was a will or not.

Some of the files I have posted are only transcriptions, while others also include images of the original documents. I've organized them by county, according to origin and formation date, and then chronologically within each county.

REGION	COUNTY	FORMED	ORIGIN/LOCATION	RECORDS
ENGLAND	Kent	Ancient	Southeast Coast (London area)	1612 Nicholas Lanier 1623 John Drake 1658 Clement Lanier
VIRGINIA	Isle of Wight	1637	Warrosquyoake (cut from James City) S. side of James River to the Blackwater River	1635 John Brewer I 1636 Thomas Butler 1669 John Brewer II 1693 Anthony Crocker 1735 William Crocker 1751 Edward Crocker
	Surry	1652	James City S. side of James River (Lawne's Creek and Southwark Parishes)	1712 Henry Wyche
	Southampton	1749	Isle of Wight S. side of James River W. of Blackwater River	1750 Robert Crocker
	Prince George	1703	Charles City S. side of James River	1717 John Lanier Jr 1727 John Vinson Sr
	Brunswick	1720	Prince George Isle of Wight Surry S. side of James River Along NC border	1741 George Brewer 1760 George Brewer 1787 John Vick Jr
NORTH CAROLINA	Hertford	1759	Below Southampton County, Virginia (Meherrin River area)	1780 John Brewer
	Orange	1752	Bladen Granville Johnston	1800 Katey Brewer 1810 Sackfield Brewer
	Chatham	1771	Orange	1778 Henry Brewer 1791 Oliver Brewer 1824 John Brewer 1836 Nathan Brewer
KENTUCKY	Hopkins	1806	Henderson	1858 David Hunter