I was going thru land records for my great grandfather and noticed that he held a bunch of mortgages (1870s, 1880s). For a while he had run the country store in his small town and it looks like he loaned people money who would mortgage their house for the loan. He wasn't a bank, but he did register the mortgages and some he foreclosed on 15 years later. Maybe the person had loans out. I know now if you are an executer or executrix you need to both pay bills and collect debts owed to the deceased -- at least that is what I was expected to do. Erica Voolich On Sat, Jan 26, 2013 at 10:48 PM, Dee Dee King, Certified Genealogist < king@forensicgenealogyservices.com> wrote: > 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 > > 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 > -- Erica Dakin Voolich •Genealogist, check out my genealogy blogs http://genea-adventures.blogspot.com http://ursulawright.blogspot.com •President The Somerville Mathematics Fund, an Affiliate of Dollars for Scholars Chapter, Winner of the 2011, New England Chapter of the Year Award Chapter, Winner of the 2003-2004 *Golden Tassel* Service Award We celebrate and encourage mathematics achievement in Somerville MA! http://www.somervillemathematicsfund.org Become a fan on our Facebook page: Facebook | Somerville Mathematics Fund Check out my blog: http://somervillemathematics.blogspot.com/