Yes, I have seen them at the Family History Library. Like any other record, you will probably find some useful things. They have all the mentions of wills being proved, inventories presented, accounts presented, etc. A lot of it will be duplicate and/or not have as much as the actual records in those respective series. Probably the most common thing that you will find in the Testamentary Records that is not in the other series are that when there were testamentary bonds, administration bonds, or any other record which required a person to have security in regard to an estate, you will find those listed. Sometimes knowing who a person had as security can give some valuable clues. If there was some dispute in a estate, you may find a decision on those in the Testamentary Records. Especially in the early records, there was not always a recorded inventory or account, but in the Testamentary records you may find mention of a who a widow married, something normally you would find in the Inventories and Accounts by knowing who the administrators were. Another example that comes to mind is where Justinian TENNISON died in 1699 in Charles County and listed his wife, but did not name her. His nephew Justinian TENNISON died the same year in St. Mary's County. Some researchers had combined the two into one, but the Testamentary Bond for the one who died testate in Charles County showed his wife was Katherine, and the Administration Bond for the one who died intestate in St. Mary's County left a widow Elizabeth. You can also read the MD State Archives explanation of them: http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/refserv/genealogy/html/probate.html#test Rick Saunders -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 269.5.5/769 - Release Date: 4/19/2007 5:56 PM

Thank you, Rick. Norma ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fredric Z. Saunders" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 4:55 PM Subject: Re: [MDCHARLE] Abstracts /Testamentary Proceedings > Yes, I have seen them at the Family History Library. Like any other record, > you will probably find some useful things. They have all the mentions of > wills being proved, inventories presented, accounts presented, etc. A lot > of it will be duplicate and/or not have as much as the actual records in > those respective series. > > Probably the most common thing that you will find in the Testamentary > Records that is not in the other series are that when there were > testamentary bonds, administration bonds, or any other record which required > a person to have security in regard to an estate, you will find those > listed. Sometimes knowing who a person had as security can give some > valuable clues. > > If there was some dispute in a estate, you may find a decision on those in > the Testamentary Records. Especially in the early records, there was not > always a recorded inventory or account, but in the Testamentary records you > may find mention of a who a widow married, something normally you would find > in the Inventories and Accounts by knowing who the administrators were. > > Another example that comes to mind is where Justinian TENNISON died in 1699 > in Charles County and listed his wife, but did not name her. His nephew > Justinian TENNISON died the same year in St. Mary's County. Some > researchers had combined the two into one, but the Testamentary Bond for the > one who died testate in Charles County showed his wife was Katherine, and > the Administration Bond for the one who died intestate in St. Mary's County > left a widow Elizabeth. > > You can also read the MD State Archives explanation of them: > http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/refserv/genealogy/html/probate.html#test > > Rick Saunders > > -- > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 269.5.5/769 - Release Date: 4/19/2007 > 5:56 PM > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message