Thursday, November 26, 2015

Why Genealogy Researchers should Examine the Pleas and Quarter Session Records

An explanation of Pleas and Quarter Session records in North Carolina. This type of court emulates a court which met quarterly in Great Britain. In early colonial America, it also had criminal jurisdiction. The genealogist should always examine the minutes of this court. And for good reason. It is similar to the (later) Inferior Court Minutes which registered everything from wills, administrations, inventories, and estates in general. The colonial North Carolina court recorded last wills and testaments as they were entered for probate, detailed inventories, distributions, sales of perishable goods and who purchased them, names of orphans and who they were apprenticed to, appointments of adminstrators, bonds, road commissioners and a general description of road junctures, adjoining lands and ferries. These minutes tell the story of the neighboring lands and what was happening. Simply a mention of your ancestor's name is reason enough to search them, because you discover the years that he resided in that county, as well as some of his personal affairs, like proving deeds as he purchased and sold property, registering of brands (animals), the appointments of church wardens, and districting lines drawn through his property. So often, the genealogist is unable to locate a last will and testament in the will books. The minutes will mention that it was filed as well as the date, even if it was not found in the will books. You simply have too much to gain to overlook this valuable source! 

arrow Become a Members

Need to know if your ancestors left a will or estate record?  An easy, quick (and free) way to find out is to click on the links below.
arrow

County Records of 8 Genealogy Websites

Alabama
Georgia
Kentucky
North Carolina
Virginia
South Carolina
Tennessee



Bundle and Save BUNDLE RATE for 8. Access to all eight websites plus additional data in other States: Bibles, genealogies, civil war records, colonial records, marriages, wills, estates, special collections, books written by renowned Georgia genealogist Jeannette Holland Austin.

Membership to 8 Genealogy Websites - Reoccurring subscription with guaranteed low rate

REOCCURRING SUBSCRIPTION WITH PAYPAL = $150 per year. Guaranteed low rate so long as your subscription continues to renew itself. You may unsubscribe at any time, however, to prevent the reoccurring charge, you must "cancel" before the renewal date. To do this, login to your PayPal account and select the cancel option.


About your password. Please allow up to 2 hours for your password. If not received in a timely manner, click to send reminder

View Images online

No comments: