I found something that the Columbia County courthouse by accident on one of my persons of interest. I was there for a totally different reason. On prior visits I had asked about loose probate papers/packets (intestate) and I have always been told that there aren't any (most of everything is in bound books but there should be some loose papers). The clerks said they knew nothing about it so I assumed they were lost. I had searched the vault myself and couldn't find any. The FHL has no microfilm of the loose probate packets. Yesterday I found a little loose leaf folder buried under a bunch of other stuff. Guess what it was. It was a catalog of the loose probate packets. They were sent to the Georgia Archives years ago so the clerks didn't have a clue. This little folder listed ALL of the persons in the probate packets and exactly which boxes in the archives they are in. The individual papers are in files by person in the boxes. My person of interest, Calvin R. Lewis was on the list. I have been trying to prove who his father was. Calvin was only 26 at the time of his death in 1851. I am hoping, praying, that his father (who I think his father is) or one of that man's known sons was listed as the administrator which will help me solidify the bond (I do have other evidence but more evidence would be good). So, I guess I will be going to the GA Archives this Friday or next Friday. I had checked the GA archives card catalog but I think it is very user unfriendly and I didn't see it. Michele

And perhaps just as importantly, you should ask for permission to transcribe the information in the folder and publish it so others can find the documents. best regards, Dee ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michele Lewis" <ancestoring@gmail.com> To: "TGF Mailing List" <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 8:07:58 AM Subject: [TGF] an interesting find at the courthouse I found something that the Columbia County courthouse by accident on one of my persons of interest. I was there for a totally different reason. On prior visits I had asked about loose probate papers/packets (intestate) and I have always been told that there aren't any (most of everything is in bound books but there should be some loose papers). The clerks said they knew nothing about it so I assumed they were lost. I had searched the vault myself and couldn't find any. The FHL has no microfilm of the loose probate packets. Yesterday I found a little loose leaf folder buried under a bunch of other stuff. Guess what it was. It was a catalog of the loose probate packets. They were sent to the Georgia Archives years ago so the clerks didn't have a clue. This little folder listed ALL of the persons in the probate packets and exactly which boxes in the archives they are in. The individual papers are in files by person in the boxes. My person of interest, Calvin R. Lewis was on the list. I have been trying to prove who his father was. Calvin was only 26 at the time of his death in 1851. I am hoping, praying, that his father (who I think his father is) or one of that man's known sons was listed as the administrator which will help me solidify the bond (I do have other evidence but more evidence would be good). So, I guess I will be going to the GA Archives this Friday or next Friday. I had checked the GA archives card catalog but I think it is very user unfriendly and I didn't see it. Michele The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Good luck, Michele. In my experience, loose papers in estates (and regular court cases as well) tell stories like no other courthouse evidence does! Harold On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 8:07 AM, Michele Lewis <ancestoring@gmail.com>wrote: > I found something that the Columbia County courthouse by accident on one of > my persons of interest. I was there for a totally different reason. On > prior visits I had asked about loose probate papers/packets (intestate) and > I have always been told that there aren't any (most of everything is in > bound books but there should be some loose papers). The clerks said they > knew nothing about it so I assumed they were lost. I had searched the > vault > myself and couldn't find any. The FHL has no microfilm of the loose > probate > packets. > > > > Yesterday I found a little loose leaf folder buried under a bunch of other > stuff. Guess what it was. It was a catalog of the loose probate packets. > They were sent to the Georgia Archives years ago so the clerks didn't have > a > clue. This little folder listed ALL of the persons in the probate packets > and exactly which boxes in the archives they are in. The individual papers > are in files by person in the boxes. My person of interest, Calvin R. > Lewis > was on the list. I have been trying to prove who his father was. Calvin > was only 26 at the time of his death in 1851. I am hoping, praying, that > his father (who I think his father is) or one of that man's known sons was > listed as the administrator which will help me solidify the bond (I do have > other evidence but more evidence would be good). > > > > So, I guess I will be going to the GA Archives this Friday or next Friday. > I had checked the GA archives card catalog but I think it is very user > unfriendly and I didn't see it. > > > > Michele > > The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive > environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to > professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Harold Henderson midwestroots.net Research, Writing, and Brickwall Dismantling from Northwest Indiana Regularly Researching at the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center Certified Genealogist (SM) No. 1029 Certified Genealogist and CG are proprietary service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists® used by the Board to identify its program of genealogical competency evaluation and used under license by the Board’s associates.