Here's a clarification on how the Surrogate's Court at the Greene County Courthouse in Catskill used to file probate papers prior to their transfer to the Greene County Historical Society's Vedder Memorial Library. The probate packets contained some, though not all, of the following documents -- the original last will and testament, inventory of the estate, newspaper clippings of legal notices listing names and known residences of heirs and legatees, bills from the undertaker and other creditors, etc. The packets contained anywhere from one to hundreds of pages or slips of paper. The oldest, loose probate papers were folded, tied with ribbon, assigned a different number for each estate, and filed in hundreds of narrow, numbered metal boxes. These boxes nearly filled one small room and a ladder was needed to reach some of them. Also in this room were bound books containing the clerk's transcription of each will and statements made by witnesses when the wills were probated. There were also bound books containing Letters Testamentary and Letters of Administration. Newer probate records were placed in numbered file folders in filing cabinets in a different room. The filing cabinets were labeled A through Z and once those were filled, they went back to numbering them. Also in this room were the bound indexes to enable researchers to locate the documents. After the oldest probate papers were transferred to the Greene County Historical Society, they were untied, flattened and placed in file folders. I don't know if they are now filed by surname or by their original box and packet numbers, but it doesn't really matter since patrons do not have access to the files. A member of the library staff now retrieves the file for you. Patricia Morrow, Windham Town Historian (Greene County, NY) >I'm working off memory here, but I think the box/packet way of doing things may have been instituted when the County decided to donate this material to the Historical Society.