Dear Jennifer, you wrote: Dear Good Folks, I am looking to find copies of the will of John Mitchell who died in Madison County July 29, 1837 and of David Gass who died in Madison County May 5, 1806. Could anyone give me advice on where to begin my search. I'd be beholdin'. Thanks so much. Sincerely Jennifer Dear Jennifer, Not long ago I posted some information about David Gass of Madison Co.. He is not my ancestor, but one of the Gass females married into my Harris family; hence, my interest. About probates, I believe the Family History Library in Salt Lake City has 22 reels of film regarding probates in Madison Co., KY--and goodness knows how many films of land records. Tax records are very good--sometimes they are good census substitutes, particularly for Kentucky. If you are near an LDS family history center, you can borrow these films, but since you can borrow for only a short time, only order one at a time, even if that film reveals nothing. Here is some information about David Gass, which is in the form of notes. An e-mail correspondent believes he may have come to Virginia from Pennsylvania. Submitted by E.W.Wallace DAVID GASS. (d. 1806, Madison Co., KY) Little is known of David Gass. He probably was earlier of Hanover Co., Va and possibly later of Albemarle Co., VA. His name, and that of John Gass, apparently his son, appear on a petition to divide the county of Lincoln [Kentucky, but then a part of Virginia] into three counties, Lincoln, Mercer and Madison. 1786. Granted "Many of the signers of this petition were at Boonesboro," states the compiler. (Katherine Phelps Caperton, "A Partial List of Those at Fort Boonesborough," in THE REGISTER OF THE KENTUCKY STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, VOL. 23, p. 151 [renumbered, it seems, from original].) He appears on Madison Co. tax lists from time to time from 1787 to 1799. Some years his name does not appear, probably meaning he was delinquent or exempted because of age. Other Gass males who appear: John, also 1787 to at least 1795; Thomas, 1789 & 1791; William, 1799. Davod died in Madison Co., KY between 14 Apr and 5 May 1806. The first date is the date he wrote his will, and the second date is when the will was proved. In the abstracted will, he names his wife Sarah. His named children were Susannah Harris; John, William, James [with assumed surname of Gass]; Mary Black; Thomas [no surname] Margaret Mitchell. Son-in-law John Mitchell. Gr.son James Mitchell. Ex: wife, sons John and James. Wit: Richard Gentry, John Reed. (J. Estelle Stewart King, Abstract of Early Kentucky Wills and Inventories (Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1969), p. 163) Comment: Richard Gentry was married to a daughter of Christopher Harris the elder. Susannah Gass was married to James Harris, another child of the elder Christopher Harris of Madison Co., KY. Some Virginia Records There is a reference to a neighbor of William Harris of Hanover Co. in his patent of Aug 1745 on the N. side Saxons Sw near the Rod [Road]... adj the sd. Harris, Davis, Gasse/Gass, Robert Shildrake, Charles Yancey, John Field & John Williams. (Dennis Ray Hudgins, CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS, VOL. FIVE, [Richmond: Virginia Genealogical Society, 1994], p. 98) From Albemarle Co. Deed Bk 2-143: 14 Jun 1759 David Glass [Gass?], planter, to Wm. Shelton for 37 pds., 10 shill., 275 acres N. side Mt., Buck's Elbow, Moreman River; adj. Rich. Blalock. Pat 7 May 1759. Wit: Dan Burford, Arch. Woods, Jno. McCord, Robt. Harris. (Shelton's wife was a daughter of Major Robert Harris of Albemarle Co. but earlier and later of Louisa Co., VA.) Kentucky Records The name of David Gass appears in a list of men in the company of Captain John Holder, in Madison Co., VA but later KY near Boonesborough June 10 1779. This appears in Lewis Collins' History of Kentucky. It is unknown whether David Gass was married when he first appears in the Kentucky records. His wife's name may have been Mary, instead of Sarah, as the name Mary Gass shows up in the court records of Madison Co., KY May 1792; she apparently was a witness for James Stephenson. (Gass did have a daughter named Mary, whose married name in 1806 was Black.) David Gass was early in Kentucky as reflected in Lincoln Co., KY (then Virginia) court order books, Lincoln Co., KY which was the parent county of many other Kentucky counties. On 22 Jan 1783, he was one of three appraisers appointed by he court to appraise the estate of Adam Caperton (COB 1-28). On 18 Mar 1783, he was appointed one of three commissioners "for the purpose of collecting the specific tax in this County." (COB 1-34) The following day, he and the other two commissioners, made bond. On 16 June 184, he recorded his stock mark, "a smooth crop in the right ear." (Michael L. Cook, LINCOLN COUNTY, KENTUCKY RECORDS, Vol. 2 [Evansville, IN: Cook Publications, 1988], p. ) "On the motion of David Gass, surviving Trustee of the town on [sic] Boonesborough, it is ordered that the Sheriff summon the freeholders of said town to proceed to the election of other Trustees in place of those who are dead and otherwise disabled by law." (COB 1-226) Gass was residing in Madison Co., KY in 1792, as his name shows up in Court Order Bk B: 6 Mar 1792: Ordered that David Gass sheriff make the necessary repairs to the prison in this County. (Jackie Couture, MADISON COUNTY, KENTUCKY COURT ORDER BOOK B, 1791-1801 [Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 2000), p. 15)