On Feb 11, 2009, at 3:01 AM,"Cary Anderson" <drcary@cox.net> wrote: Right you are, Cary. We do not know exactly when John Berry died, nor exactly where. You are correct in that it would be between the date his signed his will and the date it was proved. In the usual course of things, a will was presented to court about a month after the death of the testator. But this is no firm and fast rule. I have many cases where wills took months, even years, to be presented to court. Two recent cases come to mind. One is the will of James Robinson of Lancaster County. This will went to chancery court, though no copy of it was ever recorded. In this case, the chancery suit states that James Robinson died "in the summer"of 1832. The civil case involving the disposition of his real property by his will of February, 1832. The suit was commenced in October of 1832. Another case involved one Eleazar Robinson who died in Lancaster County in June 1782. His will was not "discovered" until the next winter. Here are the notes from that case study, since it is rather amusing all by itself: Lancaster County Virginia Court Order Book 16, p. 102a, dated 20 June 1782: "Eleazar Robinson being dead and buried it is ordered he be not only struck off the Commissioner's List of Taxes but Erased out of the memory of Man, as having been a poor, inoffensive being and a useless member of Society. He would fall asleep while on duty of a jury." Indexed as "Eleazar Robinson exempt from taxes." [NOTE by CMK: I should think so, he was dead} Lancaster County, VA Order Book 16, p. 118. 26 February 1783. Will of Eleazar Robinson presented by Epaphroditus Robinson one of the executors, proved by the witnesses and ordered to be recorded. Indexed as "Will of Eleazar Robinson found." [NOTE byCMK: Apparently this clerk did not like Eleazar Robinson.] So, yes, Cary, we do need to be careful about assigning death dates based solely on the date a will was presented to court. I should not have given it as a statement of fact that John Berry died in 1779. LIkely? Yes. Fact? No. Thank you for correcting me. Craig Kilby > > Subject: Re: [GERMANNA] Death place of John Berry > To: <germanna_colonies@rootsweb.com> > > > Considering that we all began ignorant of the finer points of when, > where of > genealogy as well as a lot of other things, suggestions to those > who get it > a wee bit confused would be greatly appreciated by most. > > I have no proof of the following statements, but I do trust Craig > to be > outstanding in his genealogical endeavors. > > He stated the two following things in regard to John Berry: > > "He died in Culpeper County, Virginia in 1779." > > "His will was written on 10 > MAY 1771, in which says is [he] lives in Bromfield Parish, Culpeper > County[, Virginia]. It [the will] was proved 5 JULY 1779 and > recorded in > Culpeper County[, Virginia]." > > Thus, is I was writing about John Berry, I would use the > following: "John > Berry wrote his will 10 May 1771 while living in Bromfield Parish, > Culpeper > County, Virginia. John probably died and was buried just before 5 > July > 1779 when his will was proved and recorded in Culpeper [now > Madison] County, > Virginia. > > Of course, I am assuming that Bromfield Parish, Culpeper Co., VA, > is now in > Madison Co., VA. Also, if there is land owned by John Berry, it > would be > easier to describe where he probably died. > > I hope this helps a bit for the person who first wrote requesting > assistance > re John Berry. > > Cary