(From Ancestry)

Of all the pieces of evidence genealogists love, an ancestor's probated will is one of the most prized and sought after—and the search is not without justification. In a single document, researchers can often obtain a listing of some of the most important people in the deceased person's life. Married daughters and their spouses are often enumerated; trusted friends are named executors.

So we're satisfied that once we've found a will, we've found the pot at the end of the rainbow? Think again. In the case of death records, there may be more. In fact, the will is only one document in the probate process. Other documents include guardian appointments and reports of minors, appointments of people to conduct various tasks associated with the settlement of the estate, the inventory of the estate, the appraisals that set the value, the sale of the property including the price paid and the person buying the item, and the final settlement.

In addition, there are often codicils—court orders to record these documents. A will is sometimes contested and legal suits are filed; land titles change ownership. Sometimes, the lack of a will may set off even more frenzied legal activity among the potential heirs. In other words, a death sets in motion many legal actions and paperwork.

The Estate Inventory
Among all the documents is the estate inventory. An inventory and appraisal of the estate is made if the estate is to be liquidated or if the terms of the will were to divide the estate among heirs or to give the estate to charity.

Note that an inventory may be made without a will, or intestate. In fact, an inventory and its associated sale and final settlement of an estate are sometimes the only probate records left behind if the person died without a will.

Typically, a committee of two or three appraisers was appointed to inventory the estate and assign value to each of the items left behind. These appraisers were often neighbors or trusted citizens in the community. They were responsible for submitting to the county court the inventory with the estimated value of each item in the estate. The documents were then certified as true and complete, and were generally recorded in will books or in separate volumes called inventories and settlements, or inventories and appraisements.

Inventories provide a unique and detailed glimpse into the daily lives of our ancestors. The inventories were usually taken by room, so by observing the order in which the possessions were listed, a nearly complete picture of the household and its activities can be seen.

One man in my research died in 1857 without a will and the following is a transcribed copy of the inventory on the books at the courthouse, it was done January 15th 1858

(anything in CAPITAL letters or noted as **** is either a word Im not sure of, or a word I cannot read at all...some farming equipment terms I am not familiar with and I havent tracked them down yet)

Inventory and appraisment of the estate of Elijah Adams (deseased) January 15th 1858 the total was 821.97

1 Bay Mare 80.00
1 Black Mule 90.00
1 Bay Mule 75.00
1 two horse wagon & harness 45.00
1 buggy and harness 50.00
1 Sythe and Cradle 3.00
1 set plow gear 1.00
1 cow and calf and bell 10.00
1 ***** heifer 7.00
1 red **** heifer 6.00
1 Speckle heifer 5.00
1 Red *** Cow supposed Rick 3.00
7 head of goats 4.00
1 lot of corn supposed to be 20 lb 40.00
1 lot of fodder supposed to be 1500 7.50
1 lot of oats supposed to be 40 day 12 ½ 5.00
1 lot of shucks 6.00
1 lot of fodder taps 3.00
Eleven Shoats 33.00
1 sow and 7 pigs 6.00
1 Coulter And two stocks 1.00
3 Club axes 3.00
2 plow stocks and gears 2.00
1 grindstone 1.50
1 Mattock And other ***** .60
1 lot carpenter tools and ½ **** 2.00
3 raw hides 1.00
**** supposed to be 1000 lbs at 10 lbs 100.00
1 jars of lard supposed to be 60 lbs 6.00
2 large boxes, 1 barrel an hogshead 1.50
2 bee stands .05
1 shovel, 2 hoes .50
Supposed 5 bushels of wheat 4.00
2 wash tubs .30
2 hamper baskets .30
1 lot pot ware 3.00
1 large wash pot 2.00
2 old saddles and bridles 5.00
1 table of pine .50
1 lot tri*ware 1.25
1 coffee mill .25
2 water buckets and small tub 1.00
1 loom, 2 spinning wheels & reel 8.00
1 barrel & box and baskets **** **** 1.25
1 fine melted spring clock 5.00
1 ½ doz cain bottom chairs 6.00
desk and book case 4.00
one pine table 1.00
2 **** and **** 1.50
1 lot bottles not from above .10
10 split bottom chairs 4.00
1 folding table 4.00
3 pine chests 1.50
1 pine cupboard 10.00
1 lot crockery ware 2.00
1 lot stone ware .50
1 shovel & tongs & 2 candlesticks .25
2 jugs, 1 lard can and 2 baskets .50
1 rifle gun and shot bag 8.00
3 beds, bedsteads and furniture 50.00
1 small pine table and cover .50
1 small bank seed potatoes 1.00
1 lot seed cotton supposed 2000 lbs 50.00
1 side table 7.50
8 knives & 8 forks 1.00
1 **** and **** .25
1 pine table .50
2 large smokehouse **** 1.00
2 pockets books a small and a large
1. Cash on hand None
2. One note John Adams Due Mar 7 1846 for 10.75
3. One note Samuel Agnue due the 1st day March 1846 for 9.12
4. One note on John Adams due the 25 Dec 1843 for 9.50
**** two dollars dec 25th 1846
One **** on Thomas Ewing for 1846 for 3.00
One order *** R Betts for 4.00
Dated *** 22 1856

We do certify upon oath that as far as was produced to us by the Adams ****** the above and foregoing contains a true appraisement of the goods, ***** and credits of the estate of Elijah Adams deceased to the best of our judgment and understanding January 15th 1858

S.F Crawford
Johh Martin
J.J. Bonds
T.L. Evans

I do hereby certify the above appraisers was sworn to perform this duty as appraisers according to law this 15 day of January 1858
Recorded May 1st 1858
J.A. Nunally

Thank you for this. I was just considering this very thing - the probate and inventory for an estate - just the other day. With my greatest brick wall, she died intestate, but had only one child. Hence, the probate was a very simple process. Great-grandpa was appointed as her administrator, filed an inventory, filed a first and final accounting, and that was the end of it.

Although her death was in 1945, I still am going to obtain a copy of the inventory. You never know what kinds of clues can be garnered from it!

I agree that a will is a valuable document, but I have had problems with 2 over the years, both were in books in a lot of librarys, they had errors which took me a long time to correct..the first one a comma was left out between names & were written up as one person, it was back in 1853, it took a copy of the family bible, pictures of their graves & their marriage license to get it corrected...the other was in 1868, one of the daughters name was listed by her husbands first name, it took church records and a marriage license to get fixed. I found a lot of family trees on the internet that had both of them wrong.
The one in 1868, he was on his death bed and they brought some one in to write it up & it was signed with an x, it seems that no one checked it