Willing Your Wishes to be Known

Willing Your Wishes to be Known
By Donna Murray

Two unshakable tenets dominate genealogy. Document every life event. Follow the money. With wills and probate records, you do both.

Wills and probate records are not synonymous. The paperwork may not even be filed together. So don't stop searching when you locate your ancestor's will because you may discover even more valuable genealogical information in the probate records.

Wills are the legal means by which people recount their last wishes. Probate records reflect how the property was actually distributed. Or not.

When a person dies leaving property but no will (intestate), the court usually appoints an administrator to handle the estate. If there is a will (testate), the person named as executor in the document manages the affairs. Executors and administrators, as well as witnesses, tend to be relatives or close friends. Either way, the legal proceedings are filed in the county of residence.

Sometimes an estate is not of sufficient value to warrant a will or administration. And in earlier times, family members may have informally distributed any assets and no official documentation exists. Occasionally, holdings were substantial, but inexplicably there are no legal records.

Much can be learned from wills. They offer proof of kinship. Spouses and children are usually named. A share of the estate may go to the progeny of a deceased child, which substantiates additional family connections. Minor children involved? Look for guardianship papers. Guardians may be relatives or close friends. Burial instructions, religious affiliations and charitable interests are often included.

Wills make an excellent resource for gleaning maiden names or discovering whom the daughter married. Jacob Snyder's references to his daughters confirm their unions: …“Catherine, intermarried with George Phillippi, Hette, intermarried with George Fritz, Rachel, intermarried with William Arthur, and Helena intermarried with Samuel Infield…”

Family dynamics get revealed. Who's in favor. Who's not. Henry Snyder evidently got his share of the family's worldly goods while his father Jacob was still alive if this clause in Jacob's will is any indication: “… my son Henry has already received his full share out of my whole estate, real, personal and mixed, and therefore he is to receive nothing more…” Jacob Snyder, 1847, Milford Twp., Somerset County, PA.

Certain circumstances or restrictions may be dictated. “… all above is conditioned that the said Eliza A. Growall shall keep and care for her father the said DeWalt Snyder , during his natural life free of charge...” DeWalt Snyder, 1906, Black Twp., Somerset County, PA.

Thoughtful husbands provided for their wives in their wills because women's property rights were severely limited well into the 19th century. Women were by law entitled to the minimum “widow's third” or dower, but some found themselves destitute and dependent upon their children. In other words, Mom got the homestead sold out from under her.

The county of residence is where you'll find wills and probate records. If you know the locale, you should easily be able to get a copy even if you don't know exactly when your ancestor died because wills are usually indexed by surnames. (Some counties ship these records off to the state archives to free up space, so look there if the county doesn't have it.)

Start by writing to the Registrar of Wills at the county courthouse to see if the person's will is on file. Even if your county calls it something different, putting that term on the outside of the envelope will take your letter where you want it to go.

Expect to be charged a small research fee and duplication costs. Wills generally run two to three pages. Some counties want payment in advance; others will send an invoice with the documents.