Probate Archives

Discovering Allen and my Slave Owner Ancestor

I give and bequeath to my son William J Ray my yellow boy slave Allen until my son Benjamin F arrives at the age of twenty one years, at which time my boy Allen is to be set free.

My brother recently uncovered the will for my ancestor, William Calvin Ray in Murray County, Georgia. In it he mentions “my yellow boy slave Allen.” this is my first encounter with a slave owner ancestor. I have a lot of ancestors in the South, so I figured a slave owner would turn up, but thisContinue reading “Discovering Allen and my Slave Owner Ancestor”

Finding Families in Testate and Intestate Probate Records

It can be easy to find ancestors in the United States from 1850 on because of the availability of Census Records on the internet. However, before 1850, only the heads of households were listed on the census. This makes it difficult to find all the members of a family and trace your family back for multipleContinue reading “Finding Families in Testate and Intestate Probate Records”