"Learn to find and use wills, probate inventories, and other public records to research and interpret local history."

With: Kevin Sweeney, Professor of American Studies and History, Amherst College
Held: April 4, 2007
           Northampton High School

Primary Sources

1. Land Deed, recorded May 21, 1673 in Suffolk County, MA
2. Will and Testament, recorded 1689 and 1690
3. Talcot Estate Probate Inventory, recorded April 28, 1698
4. Probate Inventory of Nathaniel Frary, recorded May 1727 in Deerfield, MA
5. Probate Inventory of James Rider, recorded 1766 in Deerfield, MA
6. Property Taxes, recorded October 1798 in Charlemont, MA (click here for second page)
7. Census Schedules, 1790-1850

Secondary Resources

1. Historical Terms, compiled by Kevin Sweeney
2. Sources for Local History

Web Resources

• The Plymouth Colony Archive Project
  A collection of searchable primary sources, including probates, wills, maps, and architectural plans, from the original colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• York County Probate Inventories
  A large collection of transcriptions of probate records from residents of York County, Virginia, 1660-1785. Online through Colonial Williamsburg.
  
• Gunston Hall Plantation: Probate Inventory Database
  A database of over three hundred transcriptions of probate inventories, recorded between 1740-1810 in Maryland and Virginia.