Caswell Co NC Wills – BROOKS

The following original wills are housed at the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh, North Carolina.  The collection title is “Caswell County, North Carolina Series of Original Wills, 1771-1927″ and the call number is C.R. 020.801.1. The Brooks family wills were contained in the first box of the series (no. 1).  There might have been more Brooks family wills contained in the box written after 1900. I only inventoried those wills written before 1900 (on 10/25/2008).

1. Richard Brookes, dated 1790 (wife Ann)
2. Ann Brooks, dated 1808 (wife of Richard)
3. Thomas Brooks, dated 1855 (wife Martha)

The will of Richard Brookes was recorded in Caswell County, North Carolina Will Book B, p. 321.  This will was abstracted in Katherine Kerr Kendall’s book “Caswell County, North Carolina will books, 1777-1814″ on page 30. (See entry below)

The abstract reads the following:

Richard Brooks (spelled Brookes on original) [actually the "e" is crossed out on the original that I looked at in 2008] – Will – w. 3 Oct 1789. Wife Ann; 4 youngest children William Bird Brooks (under 21), Betsy Brooks, Frances Armstead Brooks, John Brooks; daughter Ann Smith Graves; Exec: wife Ann and son in law Solomon Graves. Wit: W. F. Smith, Israel Barker.

The will of Ann Brooks was recorded in Caswell County, North Carolina Will Book E, p. 379.  This will was abstracted in Katherine Kerr Kendall’s book “Caswell County, North Carolina will books, 1777-1814″ on page 109. (See entry below)

The abstract reads the following:

Ann Brooks – Will – w. 4 Mar 1806. Son William B. Brooks; 9 grandchildren: Wm B. Brooks sons John, Robert, & William and daughters Betsy, Ann, and Joanna; Frances A. Sheppard’s daughters Ann, Betsy, and Polley.  Exec:  son Wm B. Brooks. Wit:  Sol Graves, S. Graves, John L. Graves.

The will of Thomas Brooks includes the following:

Thomas Brooks – Will – written 31 Mar 1855
Wife: Martha Brooks
Children: son William Brooks (under 21), daughters Nicy and Mary Ann.
Exec: Wife Martha Brooks
Wits: Charles G Russell and Byrd D Paylor

There was no estate folder for Richard Brookes at the archives. There are, however, estate folders for the Thomas and Ann Brooks listed above.

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Goals:

1. To copy, scan, and transcribe the wills of Richard, Ann, and Thomas Brooks of Caswell Co., NC from the Archives – update 10/25/08: These 3 wills were copied by the Archives.  4/2/09: Wills were scanned into my computer and info entered into my genealogy software.
2. To copy, scan, and transcribe the estate records of Ann and Thomas Brooks of Caswell Co., NC from the Archives 

Sources:

1. Caswell County, North Carolina Series of Original Wills, 1771-1927, C.R. 020.801.1, North Carolina State Archives.
2. Katherine Kerr Kendall, Caswell County, North Carolina will books 1777-1814. 1784 tax list. guardians’ accounts 1794-1819 and Caswell County North Carolina will books 1814-1843. guardians’ accounts 1819-1847. 1850 & 1860 census mortality schedules powers of attorney from deed books 1777-1880, can be searched online at ancestry.com.

Related Posts:

Brooks family estate records from Caswell County, North Carolina

Looking for Wills at the NC State Archives

 

I consider Mitchell’s “Will Index” to be my #1 resource material to researching NC families. It is a two volume set that sits out on the main counter at the NC State Archives. It can be searched online using the NS State Archives MARS search Engine. This is how I went about finding the last will and testament for Henry Williams:

Go to NC State Archives webpage

Click on the MARS Catalog link on the left side and a new window will open. It may take a couple of minutes to completely load. You will see the main search page. I have included a screen shot below:

Main MARS search page

Next I type in “Henry Williams” in the search box and I put a check mark beside the Mitchell Will Index listing. Then I click on the search button.

The database loads the Mitchell Will Index and reports back that there are 7 hits in the County Records Part 1 section and 9 hits in the County Records Part 2 section. This index is alphabetized by county name. Counties starting with a letter in the first half of the alphabet are in County Records Part 1 and those in the second half of the alphabet are in County Records Part 2. The actual published copy of the index is alphabetized by last name.

If I wanted to look for a will for Henry Williams in Caswell County, NC only, then I could type in “Henry Williams Caswell” into the search box and it would bring up 1 hit in County Records Part 1.

Search of Henry Williams in Caswell Co., NC

Hits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the County Records Part 1 link and I get a display of 1 record for Henry Williams.

Information Results Display

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the blue “I” icon in the first line

Will Record of Henry Williams, Caswell Co., 1786

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The record depicts information for this Henry Williams. The will was recorded 1786 in Caswell Co., NC. The call number and MARS Id number are not important.

Once you find the will date, person’s name and county, you can go to the Archives and look through the will boxes. They are organized by county first, then alphabetized by last name. Before you can look through the records you have to fill out a call slip. The call numbers start with a 3-digit prefix assigned to the county of interest. Caswell County’s 3-digit prefix is 020. Then the next 3-digits are assigned to document type. For wills, that number is always 801. The last number of the call number is the box number that contains your ancestor’s file. This last number is left blank on the call slip. You will put your surname on the call slip instead. They will bring you the box that contains the surname for the county of interest. For example, I might find the will of Henry Williams, 1786, Caswell County, using the following call number: 020.801.25. Box 25 containing the surname Williams.

The archivist will give you the whole box and you can only take out 1 file folder at a time. You must keep all documents inside the folder in order at all times. You can request copies be made by filling out a copy request form. Copies are $0.10 a page.

Related Posts:

NC State Archives: Loose Estate Papers