Where there is a Will there is a Way

Another type of document that can be very useful to you in your search for your history are wills. The amount of information that can be garnered from the will of someone in your history is priceless. Old courthouse records contain will along with family papers. If you can find the family papers then this will be a tremendous help.

Wills provide information on the person who died to include their children, spouse, possibly parents and siblings and also their grandchildren. It will list the property they owned, which is helpful because you can find out more information from land records, but that post is for another day. It also might provide valuable insight to that ugly vase you have sitting on your mantle, you knew it was a family heirloom, you just didn't know where it came from. This can be beneficial in appraising items.

These documents can also give you birth dates and places which could give you some valuable information on how to find out about the next in the line. With having the information on their siblings you might be more likely to find the parents, because someone could be researching a person and not know they had a sibling but with the information you found you can verify they did.

There are websites that will help you with wills and other documents that are beneficial to your family history research. If you know of any I haven't listed, let me know and I will add it to my list.

Thanks and Happy Hunting
Patti