Vol. 21, No. 45 — June 12, 2016
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Probate records are some of the most valuable, informative genealogical records you will come across. There are several different kinds, and each one can tell you previously unknown things about your ancestors. You may find probate records that are simple inventories of estates, wills with varying amounts of personal information in them, and legal records from proving the will (and sometimes, contesting it). Probate records
let you know what things your ancestors owned, how much money they had, how well they lived, and their family connections. If a will names children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, in-laws, and friends, as they often do, this information will allow you to confirm suspected relationships and learn new ones.
So, where do you find probate records? There are a few different places...
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FindMyPast Offers Over 750 million English, Scottish and Welsh genealogy records, dating back as far back as 1200
Find out about your English, Welsh and Scottish ancestors’ lives before they immigrated and extend your British family tree even further. FindMyPast.com has been a British company with over 45 years of experience in family history, they’ve built an extensive collection of
records from all over the United Kingdom.
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Are you doing census research in your genealogy right now? You’ve probably already discovered that only heads of households were listed by name until the 1850 census. Many genealogists, particularly beginners, look at earlier censuses as mostly useless. Of course, the more experienced you become with genealogy, the more use you will get out of pre-1850 census records. These earlier census
records can tell you how many people lived in a person’s household, what their genders and age ranges were, and whether there were any slaves in the household (including genders and age ranges). If you know nothing about the family, this information will give you clues to study in further research. If you know a little bit about the family, you can start to place the people you know into the appropriate households.
Still, the things you can do with most pre-1850 census records is limited. Things start to change for the better with the 1840 census, though. This is the first census that really provides a wide range of genealogically useful information beyond numbers, genders, and age ranges in a household. In fact, the 1840 census is a little-known genealogical treasure, even though it still only lists the names of the heads of households. You can glean a lot of important information
from this census that earlier ones don’t provide.
Here are the things the 1840 census includes that you won’t find in earlier census records...
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Latest Genealogy Gold Podcast
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Did your ancestor keep a diary? You may find a treasure trove of genealogical information in it if they did. Here's a history of diaries in America and how to find out if your ancestors kept them.
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