Sharon, I asked the county clerk (Vada Sutton) about probate records a while back and she says they have them on file going back to 1850, the start of Bell County. You might see if you can order a copy by mail: http://www.bellcountytx.com/countyclerk/index.htm http://www.bellcountytx.com/countyclerk/bccrs.htm In fact, here is exactly what she stated: "Our probate records go from 1850 to present date. We have original papers in most instances. Some are missing, but we have the books that most of the papers are recorded in our old probate minutes (I have all of the minutes books). To answer the first question about the female ancestor. If she had minor children and had real estate, very likely before a sale could occur a guardianship was set up. The second question about the male - if those children were minors, you would have had the same situation. It would depend on the age of the children. However, they could have probated the estate in either instance for whatever reason. You will also find that a lot of times, people had affidavits of heirship filed in the deed records to dispose of property. It depends mostly on what the estate consisted of." Good luck... Joe D. Deaver TXBELL Coordinator http://www.rootsweb.com/~txbell -----Original Message----- From: Sharon Clark [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, February 29, 2004 2:43 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [TXBELL] How to Get Copies of Distribution of Will in Bell Co. in 1897 Hello, Can anyone tell me how to get the settlement papers on the estate of my gg-grandfather, Daniel C. Goode, who died 7 Feb 1897 in Moffett, Bell Co., TX? I have a copy of his will, dated Feb. 20, 1893, and he mentiones his children, and the four children (who would be his grandchildren) of Parthenia and Alonzo Clark. My grandfather was the youngest child of Alonzo and Parthenia Clark. Parthenia died in AL in Oct 1875, ten months after my grandfather was born Dec. 22, 1874. I am trying to prove that my grandfather was Parthenia's son. He wasn't born for the 1870 census, and she was dead by the 1880 census. <SNIP>
Hi Joe, Thank you so much. I will write them right now. Best wishes, Sharon Clark Fort Worth, TX [email protected]