Craig make an excellent point. I have worked with several probate files here in North Carolina where individuals with seemingly small amounts of personal property were owed large sums of money by their friends, neighbors and acquaintances. Banks weren't on every street corner, and if you were in a position to make a loan to someone in your community (because your crops came in or you had the money to spare) you might have been inclined or motivated to make those loans to people you knew. If you can locate the notes that may have been recorded in your deeds office (or wherever your notes would have been recorded in your locality) that relate to your research subject, you may find that he was making loans collateralized with property; that makes him a good businessman for the time! Janeth L. Murphy North Carolina On Jan 26, 2013, at 9:43 PM, "Craig R. Scott, CG" <crscott@HeritageBooks.com> wrote: > Because you loan someone money does not make a you a loan shark. Charging > high interest, practicing usury, or causing undo pain to those who fail to > pay up on time, yes. Just loaning money, no. > > I would look into the chancery and see if the wife brought suit against the > others for their debts. If not, it would seem that there was agreement on > the part of the parties as to the amount due and the term of the loans. > Could have been 12 years, we were not there. > > C. > > > On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 5:15 PM, Michele Lewis <ancestoring@gmail.com>wrote: > >> The main reason I went to the Georgia Archives yesterday was to see Calvin >> Russell Lewis’ probate file. These records were transferred to the Georgia >> Archives from the Columbia County courthouse in the 1980s and they were >> never microfilmed. I was hoping that Calvin’s alleged father John Lewis had >> been made administrator but no such luck. I did find something >> interesting/puzzling though. >> >> Calvin Russell Lewis was born 23 Feb 1824 in North Carolina (Wayne County, >> most likely). He died on 26 Jan 1851 in Columbia County, Georgia. He was >> only 26 when he died so it was no surprise that he died intestate. Calvin >> was married and had 2 small children, ages one and two. Calvin did not own >> any land and on the 1850 census he was listed as “overseer for Burt” which >> would be Moody Burt listed as a planter on the same page. Calvin’s wife >> Emily (Miles) Lewis was named administrix of the estate. The inventory of >> his possessions amounted to $142.87. You would think that this would be a >> cut and dried case with a very thin probate packet but that wasn’t the >> case. His probate drug out for 12 years and I am not sure why. One of the >> odd things found was there were several people that paid IN to the estate. >> Emily collected over $2300! These people apparently owed Calvin money. >> After reading the probate file I am beginning to think he was a loan shark >> or something. The archivist at the Archives looked over the entire probate >> file with me and he couldn’t figure it out either. He is pretty accepting >> of the loan shark theory though☺ >> >> 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 > > > > > -- > Craig R. Scott, CG > President & CEO > Heritage Books, Inc. > 229 Danagher Ct. > Holly Springs, NC 27540 > > 800 876-6103 > 919 279-3874 > > Fax 410 558-6574 > > crscott@HeritageBooks.com > > Visit www.HeritageBooks.com and HeritageBooks.com on FB > > Blogs: As Craig Sees It > Stump Craig > > CG (Certified Genealogist) is a service mark of the Board for Certification > of Genealogists, used under license by board certificants after periodic > evaluation, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark > Office. > 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

As Craig and Janeth have said, there can be all kinds of reasons for such debts. I've seen cases where the deceased raised and then sold livestock on credit, some who bought and resold land at a profit on credit, helped finance crops on credit, accepted credit in their blacksmith business, and more. Lots of things were bartered or sold on credit as actual money was sometimes scarce. The value was still there, just not the coin. Upon the person's death, the debt became due. With a breadth of experience we see that many of these unusual new findings are not unusual at all. They were just the way of living at the time. ----- Original Message ----- From: mrsmurphy1@aol.com To: "Michele Lewis" <ancestoring@gmail.com> Cc: "TGF Mailing List" <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2013 9:12:33 PM Subject: Re: [TGF] Probate File Craig make an excellent point. I have worked with several probate files here in North Carolina where individuals with seemingly small amounts of personal property were owed large sums of money by their friends, neighbors and acquaintances. Banks weren't on every street corner, and if you were in a position to make a loan to someone in your community (because your crops came in or you had the money to spare) you might have been inclined or motivated to make those loans to people you knew. If you can locate the notes that may have been recorded in your deeds office (or wherever your notes would have been recorded in your locality) that relate to your research subject, you may find that he was making loans collateralized with property; that makes him a good businessman for the time! Janeth L. Murphy North Carolina On Jan 26, 2013, at 9:43 PM, "Craig R. Scott, CG" <crscott@HeritageBooks.com> wrote: > Because you loan someone money does not make a you a loan shark. Charging > high interest, practicing usury, or causing undo pain to those who fail to > pay up on time, yes. Just loaning money, no. > > I would look into the chancery and see if the wife brought suit against the > others for their debts. If not, it would seem that there was agreement on > the part of the parties as to the amount due and the term of the loans. > Could have been 12 years, we were not there. > > C. > > > On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 5:15 PM, Michele Lewis <ancestoring@gmail.com>wrote: > >> The main reason I went to the Georgia Archives yesterday was to see Calvin >> Russell Lewis’ probate file. These records were transferred to the Georgia >> Archives from the Columbia County courthouse in the 1980s and they were >> never microfilmed. I was hoping that Calvin’s alleged father John Lewis had >> been made administrator but no such luck. I did find something >> interesting/puzzling though. >> >> Calvin Russell Lewis was born 23 Feb 1824 in North Carolina (Wayne County, >> most likely). He died on 26 Jan 1851 in Columbia County, Georgia. He was >> only 26 when he died so it was no surprise that he died intestate. Calvin >> was married and had 2 small children, ages one and two. Calvin did not own >> any land and on the 1850 census he was listed as “overseer for Burt” which >> would be Moody Burt listed as a planter on the same page. Calvin’s wife >> Emily (Miles) Lewis was named administrix of the estate. The inventory of >> his possessions amounted to $142.87. You would think that this would be a >> cut and dried case with a very thin probate packet but that wasn’t the >> case. His probate drug out for 12 years and I am not sure why. One of the >> odd things found was there were several people that paid IN to the estate. >> Emily collected over $2300! These people apparently owed Calvin money. >> After reading the probate file I am beginning to think he was a loan shark >> or something. The archivist at the Archives looked over the entire probate >> file with me and he couldn’t figure it out either. He is pretty accepting >> of the loan shark theory though☺ >> >> 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 > > > > > -- > Craig R. Scott, CG > President & CEO > Heritage Books, Inc. > 229 Danagher Ct. > Holly Springs, NC 27540 > > 800 876-6103 > 919 279-3874 > > Fax 410 558-6574 > > crscott@HeritageBooks.com > > Visit www.HeritageBooks.com and HeritageBooks.com on FB > > Blogs: As Craig Sees It > Stump Craig > > CG (Certified Genealogist) is a service mark of the Board for Certification > of Genealogists, used under license by board certificants after periodic > evaluation, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark > Office. > 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 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