Tip of the Week

TIP OF THE WEEK:
Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994

By now, everyone should be familiar with the ever-increasing databases available online at Familysearch.org.  However, many people limit their searching to INDEXED records, and thus never discover the many “image only” unindexed historical records that are available on this site.
One such database is Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994, found at:https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1999196
This database has over 3.2 MILLION images of wills and other probate records in it.
It takes some gumption to click on the BROWSE button with that many records, but don’t despair!  The images are arranged first by county, and then by the will books, in chronological order.  Nearly all of them have indexes at either the start or the end, making it possible to search for and locate a specific document without too much effort, just as one used to do in the “old days” with microfilms.
Using this site recently, I was able to find and download three pre-1850 wills in one sitting, without leaving home.
If you have Pennsylvania ancestors and want to check for probate records, check out this database.

 

This tip from the Seattle Genealogical Society