Although Philip Wise died in Belmont County in 1829 and his wife, Mary, died there in 1846, there is no probate record for either of them. I have found wills of those who had wills during that period, but no probate records for those who didn't have wills. Were these all destroyed? Neil E. Folsom, CA

There is not reason to think that these two folks had wills and they were destroyed in some way.......it's just likely that they left no wills - many didn't - and there would be no probate if there was no will. There might have been administrative papers, in the case of the person who owned property/land and died intestate....in that case the estate was taken before the court and determination and distribution was made by that court. However, when a person didn't own a great deal, especially those that didn't own land, there was no real reason for a will. After all, if the wife and children agreed on and knew what 'Pa' wanted in the disposition of his personal possessions, there was no reason for a will... Sandra > Although Philip Wise died in Belmont County in 1829 and his wife, Mary, died > there in 1846, there is no probate record for either of them. I have found > wills of those who had wills during that period, but no probate records for > those who didn't have wills. Were these all destroyed? >

Sometimes there are two different indexes for estates--testate (with a will) and intestate (without a will), but more often they are listed in a "General Index" along with guardianships and other types of cases presented to the Probate court (adoptions and insanity type of cases may be sealed but may be listed in the index) If you write and ask the clerk to check for a will, most of the time they will check the indexes--but if they find an estate without a will and you're asking for a will, they say "NO"--No will. So always ask to see if there was an estate filed and that if there is a will, and tell them that you'd like a copy, if not then you'd like the "next of kin" paper. (usually a next of kin is filed in both cases, but it appears from my research, that if the "next of kin" was not living in Ohio they were not required to be listed...actually saw several instances where they had been listed and crossed out). Hope this helps. Carol

You might check with the recorder's office at the court house to see if they owned land. Often the family tried to keep the land so check for several years after the deaths, Often there was a fight and a partition action was filed, or if there was a guardian for minor children, they may have had to sell the farm to support the kids.. Good hunting! Carol ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected].com> Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2004 8:03 PM Subject: [OHBELMON-L] Brick Walls- WISE, MACMILLAN > Although Philip Wise died in Belmont County in 1829 and his wife, Mary, died > there in 1846, there is no probate record for either of them. I have found > wills of those who had wills during that period, but no probate records for > those who didn't have wills. Were these all destroyed? > > Neil E. > Folsom, CA > >