12.5 Wills
It may be helpful for researchers to understand property laws in the place of research at the time the research family was alive. People will go out of their way to avoid taxes and keep control of their property and possessions. Sometimes trusts are put in place to protect assets, and wills may be written with the same intention: to make sure that wealth stays within the family or is distributed as the deceased intended. These types of documents may be archived by the government, in civil courts, in church courts, or with church records. Sometimes they are privately held with family records. Utilizing the FamilySearch Wiki to check for collections that match the place and time period will help immensely. Creativity and extra exploration may be required to unearth these types of records, but finding the records makes it worth the effort. Sharon DeBartolo Carmack put it well when she wrote:
While you might cringe at the thought of plowing through dry, intimidating legal documents, finding your ancestor’s will can bring a smile to your face and some vivid color to your family history. Sure, there’s that mumbo-jumbo legalese you wonder if even lawyers really understand. But once you get beyond the ‘sound mind and body’ and the ‘I set my hand and seal’ parts, you’ll find some fun and interesting aspects about your ancestors in wills, giving you a rare glimpse of their personalities — not to mention fascinating facts for your family tree.1
Wills and probate records are indexed by the person who died, so not everyone listed in wills and probate records will be searchable. Look for the will or probate record of each member of the research family. The most likely person to have a will is the male, head of household but, once the will is identified, the names of many family members may be contained within the documents.
Lists of family members may be found in wills. Other people who inherit, along with the text of the will, can give insight into relationships and the personal lives of the family. A will is one of the few places that often reveals the married names of daughters; their spouses may also be identified. Sometimes the names of beneficiaries can span several generations of the family.
The value of the estate provides insight into the lifestyle of the family, and occupations may be listed. Donations could be helpful in identifying community connections and causes that the deceased was involved in. Taking time to understand the last wishes written up in a research subject’s will helps the researcher understand what that person valued. To research a document created near the end of a person’s life brings close and personal feelings. Writer Margaret Linford explains:
Finding the will of one of your ancestors is an amazing experience. Walking into the vault of a courthouse sometimes feels like walking into a time machine. As you read through the pages that tell of people who lived so long ago, you feel like for even just a small moment that you have gone back in time. You are sitting with them and hearing their stories whispered through the aging and brittle pages that have been left behind. They are all there just waiting to tell their stories.2
CHICAGO STYLE:
Name of collection in quotation marks, name of individual with year and standardized place, italicized website, access date written in full month, numerical day, year, url.3
“Arizona, Wills and Deeds, ca. 1700s-2017,” SA Jefferies deed from 1863 in Yuma, Arizona, United States, FamilySearch, accessed February 12, 2025, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6X4F-R4XW?lang=en.
EVIDENCE EXPLAINED:
Record description with details like book and page numbers, collection in quotation marks, description of database, italicized repository (url : standardized access date), "entry for" name of research subject, description of image location including image numbers.4
Yuma, Arizona, Land Records, Mines Records Castle Dome, Book B, 1863, p. 189; consulted as “Arizona, Wills and Deeds, ca. 1700s-2017,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6X4F-R4XW?lang=en : accessed 12 February 2025), entry for SA Jefferies, path: 007945301 > Item 13> Yuma. Mining Claims, image 76 of 119.
SENSIBLE CITATION:
Collection name in quotations marks, individual and description of item with standardized date and standardized place, describe the database, add identifying information, italicized website, standardized access date. Embed the url from the person’s name to the end of the standardized place.
“Arizona, Wills and Deeds, ca. 1700s-2017,” SA Jefferies deed from 1863 in Yuma, Arizona, United States, database with images, DFN: 007945301_013_M9MY-79J, image 76, FamilySearch, accessed 12 February 2025.