In a message dated 5/23/2007 11:17:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time, bhkleine@bellsouth.net writes: Are the records of wills in Orange county from the late 1800's all located at the county court house or have they been moved somewhere like the state archives. ------------------------- All the original wills from the mid to early 1900's and earlier should be at the NC State Archives in Raleigh. The county courthouses will have the will books. In some cases, they may not have the originals of those, as some very old will books were copied again, due to wearing out, and the older will books may have been sent to the archives. But there are exceptions - as there are to other things in life. If you can find a copy of Mitchell's "North Carolina Wills: A Testator Index, 1665-1900," it will tell you what wills exist for what names, the year involved, and where they are located (county or archives). Some widows left wills and some didn't. A lot of that would depend on whether she inherited property or held property or assets in her own right. If you cannot find a will on anyone, male or female, check to see if there is an estate record. If the person had property or assets, there should be an inventory. The type of records left by an intestate situation vary widely, depending on the time period, the assets involved, and the thoroughness of the executor and the county court. If you are researching in NC, and don't already have a copy of the excellent book, "North Carolina Research: Genealogy and Local History," edited by Helen Leary, you need to find one on a shelf and read the pertinent sections on it, or else buy one from North Carolina Genealogical Society. It is well worth every penny when working in NC records. One last word: the NC State Archives Search Room is closed for renovations until July 10th, and that will make any on-site visits impossible until after then, and any requests for records by mail will be slowed down as well. Also, I just read that the MARS online catalog will be unavailable over the weekend. NC State Archives website: _http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/archives/_ (http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/archives/) Katherine Dick Benbow ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.