The advice of Mr. Wallace is excellent. Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: <Hdanw@aol.com> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2001 11:03 PM Subject: Re: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] Will > Someone more knowledgeable than I should answer you about what happens when a > person dies without a will. > > However, this is what I have learned by reading many a court record from a > lot of Southern States; in other words, we learn to do by doing. > > If a person died without a will, there was generally an administration, > providing the decedent died with property of any kind. > > In the case of an administration, first there was an appraisal of the estate. > The court (county court, in most cases) would appoint several men (always > men), but generally four or so, three of whom were appointed to appraise the > estate--make an inventory--and report back to the court. > > An administrator or administratrix was appointed by the court, and that > person generally had to post bond. > > I forget in what order an estate sale was held, but generally it was held by > the administrator or administratrix and a report of the purchasers and their > purchases and the amount of the purchase had to be presented to the court by > the administrator. This is where one can get an idea of the wealth or > poverty of the decedent. > > If there were minor children, generally there are appointments of guardians, > etc. If the family was poverty stricken, the children may be bound out, > depending on the time and the place. > > That is why Probate records and court records and guardian accounts and > orphans accounts all have to be read. > > If you will look at the LDS website--the Family History Library Catalog--at > www.familysearch.org--you will see that for nearly every locality listed on > the catalog there is a topic labeled Probates. > > Sometimes these accounts go on for YEARS, especially if there are minor > children. Then, occasionally you will see an entry that an executor (in the > case of a will) or an administrator will resign his position in favor of > another male. Why? Because frequently the widow has remarried, and the new > husband is taking over that position. > > Always read the guardian accounts or orphans court records, where they exist, > because this is where you will find the most genealogical links. Sometimes, > I have found, as the older children, males, again, of course, get older, they > petition the court to appoint them/him as guardians of their younger siblings. > > In one case I read, the daughter of the deceased petitioned the court to > change her guardianship from her stepfather to her older brothers, > maintaining that her stepfather was not according her the education to which > her rank entitled her (this in Mississippi in the 1840s). This family tiffs > make interesting reading!!! > > Always read the court minutes, where available. Frequently the guardian and > the remarried widow (his wife) will fail to provide the court with the annual > account of the estate and the guardianship and he is ordered to show cause > why he has not presented these in a timely fashion. > > Years later, you may find in the deeds where the now grown-up heirs are > selling the real estate which they inherited, but at times they have to wait > until the heirs of deceased heirs are of age. That's why genealogists have > bloodshot eyes--squinting at bad microfilms!!! > > If you can find newspapers of the period and of the area in which you are > researching, you may find some interesting tidbits--legal notices, etc. By > prowling around courthouses, I found the probate of a man who died in an > adjoining estate and in it was a newspaper clipping--a legal notice. His > widow had remarried, her second husband had died, and she was having to sell > the slaves who had belonged to the first husband. In reading at the probate > further, I learned the names of the children she had had by the first > husband. One thing leads to another. > > E.W.Wallace > southern California > > > > > ==== VA-SOUTHSIDE Mailing List ==== > USGenWeb Archives http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb > > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! >