On 01/29/2010 07:29 PM, Gloria wrote: > Does anyone know if there is a project underway to transcribe the will indexes for books 40 through the end? If there isn't, perhaps we could each volunteer to transcribe one volume. There's only 26 actual pages for most of the volumes (50+ but every other one seems to be blank.) Aside from the more popular letters (B, D, S, T, W, Mc etc.,) there seems to be less than a dozen names per letter. Because there would be a separate listing for each volume, the only info that gets typed is name and page number. As word documents, the pages could eventually be combined and all would be searchable either visually or by using "find on this page." > > Any ideas? Or, hopefully, has this already been done? > Thank you. You may find that the estate indices are easier to use. They are grouped in longer periods, so you don't have to look through as many different volumes (though typically each letter of surname is a separate download): 1852-1884 1885-1899 1900-1909 1910-1919 1920-1925 1926-1932 1933-1936 1937-1942 1943-1949 1950-1953 1954-1958 1959-1963 1964-1968 1969-1971 1972-1973 This of course means that there are more names per index. The ordering varies, mostly being organized in chronological order, but grouped first by first letter of surname, then first letter of given name. The 1950-1953 & 1954-1958 indices are in true alphabetical order. The estate indices are mostly typewritten and usually contain case number, name, year, and volume & page number in the estate volumes. With this information you can get the handwritten estate docket record, which if there is a probated will has an entry giving the volume and page number in the will volumes. While this goes through another step, getting the estate record will give you some information if the estate was probated, even if there was no will. That information usually contains the names of the administrator (usually a close relative of the deceased), sureties (also often relatives), and appraisers of the estate. --Erich -- Erich Schraer, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA erich@wubios.wustl.edu