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.

Perfect Example of why you should always check the image

Never in my research has there been a better example which illustrates the importance of always clicking thru to view the linked images.  If you check the image you will see this is the page on which the census taker, Lula S. Berry is adding all the people that were left out of earlier households. She has the words "Out Of Order" written at the top of the page.  It looks like the information to find the households which they were a part of is included in the Location & Household Column along with a note on one of the earlier entries before this grouping that says Information furnished by Ms? Irvine.   It is difficult to tell what her system may have been for referencing those households.  The snippet I included is of the Record which is linked to Stamped page 261 Sheet 61A.  The people ABOVE the blue line are included on the page which is linked to the record.   It looks like it was in question whether some infants should have been included or not and the census taker waited til the last to add them.  Also the persons who are shown on the record snippet BELOW the blue line and  located Two images ahead are guests at the Imperial Hotel in Monterey TN.  Always check the image and never blindly add from the record.  Additionally, It's a good idea to check at the end of a district to see if there are any persons of interest which were left out of the initial entry and are included at the end of that district.  Browsing thru this district which is in order by the stamped page number, you will see that sometimes the sheet number doesn't follow the pattern you would expect it to follow.  Always check the image and browse a few pages before and after the entry of interest especially if it doesn't appear to be a standard enumeration.  We could blame this on the census taker or the indexer.  In my opinion the blame is on us as researchers for not checking more closely.

1940 U.S. census, Putnam County, Tennessee, population schedule, Monterey Town, Enum. Dist: 71-18, p. 261 (stamped), digital image(45 of 48), Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 20 April 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication T627, roll 3928.

Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.


Enumeration District : 71-18; Description: CIVIL DISTRICT 14, MONTEREY TOWN, DR. W. C. OFFICER´S SANITARIUM