Thanksgiving 1918

1840 Van Buren Co TN Will of Robert Boyd--caught in the middle of a county formaton

The above image is a snippet from the inventory of the Estate of Robert Boyd.  Robert's will was written in 1837(Oct 26th) in Warren Co Tennessee.  Van Buren Co TN was formed from part of Warren Co TN along with parts of White County & Bledsoe County. The act to form Van Buren county passed on January 3rd 1840 but according to the information in the act at the TN.gov site, it appears records didn't start until April 1840.

It looks at though Robert Boyd's probate records were caught in the middle of the formation of Van Buren Co. TN.  A note from Will Armstrong, Warren County Clerk states that it(the will in the Van Buren Co Record Book) is a true copy of the original will on file in his office.  So although the probate records start in Warren Co TN...they end in Van Buren Co TN but do have a copy of all the will there.  In the will Robert left pretty much everything to his wife Jane to use in the support of his "little daughter" Ann. He appointed William Logue and John Boyd as executors. The listing of inventory along with the sale starts May of 1840 and wraps up July the 8th of 1840.  I should note that although Wm Logue is listed on the will as executor along with John Boyd I don't see any more listings of him as a witness or purchaser at the estate sale.  This adds more weight to this being William Marrs Logue, Robert Boyd's Father-In-Law who is known to have passed before September 4th 1839(I need to do a blog post on his estate info.). Wm Marrs Logue was the maternal 1/2 brother of my 4th Great Grandfather, John Fleming.

Person making purchases at the estate sale:  John Boyd, Isaac Hillis, James Hillis, Lemuel Romons, Wm L. Fleming, D. C. Russell, Wm McDonald, Jacob Romons, Wm Johnson, J.A. Miller, Thomas Meders,  Isaac? Tomas, Jesse Mooneyham. Wm McDaniel, Elisha Mayfield, George Ledbetter, Wiley Johnson, and John Russell

"Tennessee Probate Court Books, 1795-1927," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-2RKT-G9?cc=1909088&wc=M6QQ-L38%3A179830201%2C179855401 : 22 May 2014), Van Buren > image 3 of 186; county courthouses, Tennessee.

An Example of the Shortcomings of an Index

I really cannot stress the importance of looking deeper than the index enough.  Mistakes will be made....sometimes mistakes on top of mistakes.  If something doesn't look right then you should be digging deeper.  The Ancestry.com records of Joseph S. Cook provide the perfect example.   I believe I have mentioned that his estate record is included in with another Joseph Cook but let me show you.

A search returns the following listing

Looks normal enough.    But let's take a closer look.(yes. ...I put corrections in the comments to help other researchers but for the time being ignore those)

This is the folder....I can tell you both the name and the dates are correct....but they are both also incorrect as well.  Confused yet?  Now let's look at the index card of contents.

Do you notice anything strange?  You would if you examined the Inventory of Estate Sale AND read the date on the will included.  The Inventory & Estate Sale is recorded in Jan Term of 1839 while the will was written in Dec 1839 and proved in Feb Term of 1840.  What you have here is a Joseph S. Cook who died without a will and W. C. Cook(my 2nd Great Grandfather) who was appointed admin to take care of Joseph S Cook's Estate Sale. ( The actual petition is in another record book.)  The other papers including a will, deed and various other records are those of the estate of  Joseph Cook of Davidson Co TN. The Davidson Co TN Joseph's estate is fairly extensive. His estate is finally settled in 1843.  If I had only looked at the File Folder information and the index card I might have assumed that these were ALL Joseph S. Cook's estate papers given the closeness of the dates.

I find Joseph S. Cook(although he is not listed with the S. initial) in  25th Dist of Williamson Co TN in 1838...W. C. Cook is listed with him on the Tax List there although W. C. Cook is listed in Bedford Co TN(Rover Dist 10) in all other years. The Joseph Cook from Davidson Co TN is also listed in Dist 4 on Davidson Co TN's 1839 tax list...and wouldn't you know it....there is another Joseph Cook in Dist 2 during the same time period.  I have spent the better part of the week looking at each of these and familiarizing myself with them and their friends, family, associates and neighbors.  Speaking of which--if you have the opportunity to catch Elizabeth Shown Mills'  presentation FAN + GPS + DNA: The Problem-Solver's Great Trifecta which was a recent webinar available thru Legacy Family Tree Webinars, I highly recommend it. The case study is mind-blowing and very inspiring.

Source Citation

Probate, Divorce and Original Wills Records, 1800-1899; Author: Tennessee County Court (Williamson County); Probate Place: Williamson, Tennessee

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data: Tennessee County, District and Probate Courts.