The following is an excerpt from the upcoming August 2011 issue...
Follow the Money For Accurate Results!
According to Donna Murray, a trail of dollar bills will usually lead to research success!
Back when I was a newspaper reporter, two maxims guided our course. “If your mother says she loves you, check it out” was one. The other was “Follow the Money.” Both apply equally to genealogy.
Don’t believe everything you see or hear, no matter where the information comes from, and whenever possible, find three sources to prove important links. If one or more of those sources involves money, all the better. Financial records are usually the most accurate.
Sometimes, though, researchers narrowly focus on what they are familiar with, to the exclusion of other potential records that could hold just the clue they need. If you haven’t ticked off all of the following resources, you’ve got work to do.
Wills and Probate Records
The wag who once opined that you never know a person until you share an inheritance with them was probably a genealogist. Money can bring out the best and worst in people. That’s why wills and probate records are so important.
Wills and probate records are not synonymous. Wills are the legal means by which people dictate how they want to dispose of their worldly goods. Probate records reflect how these assets are actually distributed. The paperwork may not even be filed together. So don’t stop searching when you locate your ancestor’s will because you may discover even more valuable genealogical information in the probate records.
Much can be learned from wills. They offer proof of kinship. Spouses and children are usually named. A share of the estate may go to the progeny of a deceased child, which substantiates additional family connections. Minor children involved? Look for guardianship papers. Guardians may be relatives or close friends. Burial instructions, religious affiliations and charitable interests are often included.
To glean the most from probate records, examine every loose piece of paper and photocopy any entry that appears even remotely significant. The tiniest scrap may yield vital information.
When DeWalt Snyder died in June of 1828, he left a sizeable estate and no will. Eva, his youngest daughter, was among his heirs. Between June and the following December, Eva married Samuel Murray. This fact may have gone unproven except for a crumpled bit of paper tucked away in the probate file. In a handwritten note, Samuel relinquished all future claims to the estate by him or his wife, Eva Snyder Murray. Ultimately, this note turned out to be the only legal document ever uncovered to confirm that DeWalt Snyder’s daughter and Samuel Murray’s wife were the same person.
Probate records may take an interesting twist. An immigrant leaves his estate to relatives in his homeland. An illegitimate child surfaces.
Wills and probate records are generally found at the county courthouse. Older records may have been shipped off to the state’s archives.
Collateral Relatives
Collateral relatives are siblings, aunts and uncles. Your direct line means you, your parents, your grandparents, etc. It’s strictly linear. But just because Uncle George or Aunt Helen aren’t in your direct line doesn’t mean their financial records should be ignored.
If it weren’t for George Murray, the fate of his brother, Samuel, might have forever remained a mystery. George never married. In his will, he left his estate to his siblings or their heirs. A portion went to the “children of my late brother, Samuel.” Probate records name the kids, Samuel’s second wife and show them living in another state.
Don’t overlook single females either. Whether widowed or never married, they often left estates to their nieces and nephews...
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