Williamson Co TN Probate packets

I've been working with probate files a lot lately.  I have many ancestors who were living in Williamson Co TN in the early 1800s.  There is a database at Ancestry which is called  Tennessee, Divorce and Other Records, 1800-1965. While it does showcase the divorce records, the Williamson County TN section of this database is where I have been finding probate packets.  Probate packets are files which contain all the information used in wrapping up a person's estate after their death.

Items you might find in a probate packet:

• The original will(if one existed) 
• Inventory of the Deceased's estate
• Records of the Estate Sale(items, price, and buyer) 
• Additional court records if there are minor heirs or if a will is contested etc.
• Allotment records for the widow and minor heirs
• Records of Bond posted
• Affidavits on a number of subjects.
• Subpoenas of witnesses
• Records of death of the widow
• Land Records/Deed Plots

(these are just some I have found..your results may vary)

In addition to Williamson County, the database contains the following TN counties: Anderson, Carroll, Cheatham, Dickson, Franklin, Haywood, Henderson, Obion, and Tipton.

The record types covered are searchable and browsable and in some cases listed alphabetically:

ANDERSON 

Divorce Court Minutes 1947-1949 

Divorce Court Minutes 1949-1951 

CARROLL

Divorce Court Files 1826-1900 (listed by Surname A-Z)

CHEATHAM

Divorce Records 1919-1950, A-Z 

Marriage Bonds/Licenses 1904-1910 

DICKSON

Death Records 1930-1939 

Divorce Records 1849-1932, A-Wr 

Original Wills 1800-1899 

FRANKLIN

Divorce Records 1860-1900, A-W 

Divorce Records 1900-1910, A-Z 

Divorce Records 1900-1930, A-Z 

Divorce Records 1910-1919, A-Z 

Divorce Records 1920-1929, A-Z 

Divorce Records 1930-1939, A-Z 

HAYWOOD

Divorce Court Docket 1941-1965 

Divorce Files 1860-1936 

Divorce Index 1860-1936 

Divorce, Probate and Other Files 1808-1885 

HENDERSON

Chancery Court Records 1870-1915 

Divorce Index 1896-1950 

Divorce Records 1896-1950 

Other Court Records 1800-1918 

OBION

Divorce Records 1930-1939, Ve-Yo 

Divorce Records 1940-1950, A-Wy 

TIPTON

Divorce Index 1911-1950 

Divorce Records 1911-1950, A-Z

Wills 1829-1950 

WILLIAMSON

Divorce Files 1900-1950, A-Z

Divorce, Probate and Other Records 1800-1899, A-Z 

Misc Records (Liquor Licenses thru Slave Records) 

The Tennessee, Divorce and Other Records, 1800-1965 is a part of the Wills & Probates, Estates & Guardian Records Collection at Ancestry.com.  If you save the files to your tree please be sure they are listed as probate and not divorce facts.  Several years ago when I added a probate file for my Putmans from this database it would list the event as a divorce rather than a probate.  This is fixable but not without some work manually editing sorce.  This is likely something which could occur in mixed records sets and may be propagated if people aren't paying attention while they are adding the documents. Consult the database at Ancestry.com(if you aren't subscribed you may be able to view while at your local library.)  Many of these files are also available at FamilySearch.org.  Check the catalog there under Tennessee and the county in which you are interested.

Looking at the Head of Households for 1820 Elbert Co Georgia --Capt Oliver's Dist

Wanted to read through the Census for the area where my Upshaw/Patton lines had lived.  They would have been gone from the area for likely at least 15 yrs by the time this census was taken.  I see a lot of Cooks and also some familiar names like William King and Leroy Upshaw.  The Upshaw may be a cousin as the age was too young to be my direct Leroy Upshaw.  I'm sure there are errors in this listing as it is my attempt at reading the handwriting from the scanned images.  That said, the writing is worlds better than some I've tried to decipher.

PAGE 1
John Y Allgood
William Nolan
Issachar Cook
John F Cook
Thomas Bell Sr
David Matten?
James Morrison
John Nunley
Peter Allgood
James Bell
Thomas Elliott
Abraham Cook
John Cook
Joshua Cook
Smith Cook
Thomas Cook
Samuel Cook
Thomas Thurlkill
Isaac Mobley
Aaron Brown
Mary Cook
Nathaniel Cook
William Stone
John B Cook
Nicholas Goode
Thomas Childers
David Hudson Jr
Becker Hudson
William Allgood Jr
Mchenry Irons
George Cook
Saml Snellings
William Allgood Sr
Patrick Jack

PAGE  2
James Ragan
Edmond Lowrey
Parish Smith
Thomas Oliver
William King
Leroy Upshaw
Valentine Smith
Jesse Hendrick Sr
William Woods
William S Burch
Thomas Forstson
D??er Jeter
Walker Richardson
Thomas Laninham
Ralph Blackwell
Lewis Wilhight
John Winfield
Peter David
Gideon Hamm
Leonard Smith
William Hendrick
James A Depriest
William Burns


These are listed after the totals on the 2nd pg. (no explanation is offered by the census taker as to why they are listed separately)
Dyonesus Oliver
Isaac O Edwards
David Hudson Sr
William B Key
Andrew Woodley
Chole T Kee
George Perrin
William C Davis

Jane B Campbell's unsold estate inventory--1825 Williamson Co. Tennessee

I've been working on my Ogilvie family a bit today, more specifically the family of William Ogilvie(1728-1813) and Mary Harris(1732-1807) who lived in College Grove, TN during the early 1800s.  William and Mary are my 5th Great Grandparents. While reading thru the Ogilvie wills I noticed an inventory listing for a Jane Campbell from Williamson Co. TN just below part of the probate of Richard Ogilvie.  I thought this was very interesting and have listed some of the items below.  As far as I know she is a part of my family.


Pg 33 Williamson Co Tn Will book July Term 1825   A list of articles belonging to the estate of Jane B Campbell deceased  remaining unsold which according to law will be kept for the use of her children.

Map of United State with a book
Map of the World with a book
Large Family Bible
Guthrie's Geography(2 Vol)
Scott's Family Bible
Sheriden's Dictionary(2 Vol)
Plowden's History of Ireland(5 Vol)
Swifts Works(2 Vol)
Burns Works(4 Vol)
Tattler(4 vol)
Life  of Bonapart(3 vol--1 vol missing)
Rush Works (2 Vol)
Lock's Essay(2 Vol)
Brown's History of Missions(2 Vol)
Curran's speeches(2 Vol)
Angustil's Universal history(9 vol)
Carr's sermons(2 Vol)
Emmon's sermons
Campbell's Lectures
Don Quizote (4 vol)
Charlemagne (2 Vol)
Bailey's Dictionary
Henry's Dialogues(2 Vol)
Broken set of Shakespeare(5 Vol)
Confession of Faith
Jackson's Book keeping
Court of St. Cloud
Moses' Gazetteer
Freeman's Poems(2 Vol)
Bucks Miscellany
Breckenridge Insurrection
History of Virginia
Stodert on Judgement
Mrs. Graham's works
Reliques of Burns
Franklin's works
January Letters
Rainey's poems
Baxter on the Soul
Hervey's Meditations
Lee's Memoirs
Buck's Expositor
Henderson's sermons

also listed were 6 beds, bedroom furniture, kitchenware(pots pans and utensils as well as dishes) and of course.....bookcases.