Ancestry Magazine

Open a window into the daily life of your more prominent ancestors with the help of estate inventories.

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 behin d. 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.

Interpreting the List
In order to take full advantage of inventory and appraisement records, here are a few suggestions for performing a good analysis.

First, fully transcribe the inventory. You may want to put it in a spreadsheet for easy manipulation and categorization.

Second, take your time performing your analysis and formulate some questions. What do you want to know about this person? What do you know already and how is this information confirmed or denied by the possessions he or she left behind? Are there items you expected to find listed in the inventory but didn’t?

As you read over the inventory, consider each item to help you get a better perspective on the life your ancestor lived. Perhaps use the following questions as a guide and add some of your own.
• What items made up the majority of the person’s possessions? Was he or she wealthy?
• Were there books and reading glasses listed in the inventory?
• Does the inventory list glass mirrors and clothing?
• Was the house comfortably furnished? How many beds were listed in comparison to the number of people in the household?
• Was the kitchen well-equipped?
• What luxury items were in the household?
• If the individual owned land or a farm, was it well-run and productive? How many acres were there and what types of crops were raised?
• What animals did your ancestor keep?
• Is there mention of a family Bible or other heirloom? If so, who might have it now?

Now put things in perspective. Look at other inventories from the same time period and locality. What’s different about your ancestor’s household when compared to the neighbor’s?

Conventions in Inventories
When transcribing and reading an inventory, you’ll find the following information helpful:
• The format for probate inventories and appraisements typically lists the amount of a particular item, then describes the item and its value.
• Inventories were usually taken room by room, and the appraisers stayed together.
• The inventory was provided to the courthouse where it was recopied and transcribed; this process may have introduced errors.
• Appraisers were not chosen for their spelling abilities. You’ll want to sound out words that you don’t recognize immediately.
• The monetary value in inventories is sometimes listed in pounds and shillings. There are twenty shillings in a pound and twelve pence in a shilling. Keep in mind that “pound” is sometimes expressed with the letter L, and “D” is short for pence.
• The first word of the list may be something similar to Do, which means “ditto.”

Two Examples and Analyses
Once you’ve recorded the inventory, the analysis comes next. The whole point to analyzing an inventory is to obtain a glimpse into the type of person and type of life this person led, and hopefully to be led to further research possibilities.

The 1850 inventory of Mr. Huffman reminds us of the soci al, political, and economic climate of the day. The inventory shows an affluent household. Mr. Huffman was a slave owner of some wealth who ran a farming operation. The tools listed on the inventory are weaving tools for the flax grown on the farm. Livestock and other products of a modest farm are clearly present.

Each of the clues on the inventory will perhaps lead a researcher to other sources. The large amount of farm products would lead to the agricultural census. Similarly, the presence of slaves in the inventory warrants additional attention.

Inventories, together with the will, are a good way to track slave ownership since the will may only mention the age and gender of the slave. Sale documents may show who the slave was sold to, thus allowing a researcher to track the slave further.

You’ll find that aside from a glimpse into the lifestyle of your deceased ancestors, inventories are an overlooked way of understanding and learning about other ancestors who left behind few records, such as African American and female ancestors. Analyzing and comparing the possessions left behind by more prominent citizens may provide a unique glimpse into the real, everyday life of other individuals.

Now, consider the partial listing of an inventory of William Taylor’s possessions taken in 1857.

We can deduce from the inventory that William Taylor was literate, a carpenter by trade, and affluent enough to afford a silver watch. There was no mention of farm products or animals, so he was probably a city dweller who kept a horse for transportation.

And what about the items not listed in the inventory? What can we surmise from Mr. Taylor’s lack of household goods for the kitchen, etc.? Was he elderly and living with a son or daughter at the time of his death? Were these items already in their possession? If so, why wasn’t the silver watch among the items they would keep to cherish their memories? What happ ened to the silver watch? Does it show up in the sale? Who bought it?

Pay close attention to the individuals who bought the items listed in the inventory, especially the household goods. They just might be relatives.

Roseann Reinemuth Hogan, Ph.D. has been researching her family history since 1978. Her special interests include oral histories and social history.