User:Pipkincm/Sandbox

These are the items that I found on the wiki that either I want to edit/create or that I'll suggest someone else gives attention to. If you've been asked to collaborate, please review the topic of interest and add to the "discussion" tab.

Probate Records
Most text has been moved to the U.S. Probate Records main page.

Earlier Text for State Topic Pages
[insert an image]

See the Illinois Probate Records page for items that can be copied and pasted to other state pages.

Record Overview
[Captured in case I decide to use this on some state pages.]

Probate encompasses all matters and proceedings pertaining to the administration of estates, whether there is a will (testate) or not (intestate). Various types of records are created throughout the probate process. These may include, wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. These documents are extremely valuable to genealogists and should not be neglected. In many instances, they are the only known source of relevant information such as the decedent’s date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their places of residence. They may also include information about adoption or guardianship of minor children and dependents. Probate records may not give an exact death date, but the death most often occurred within a few months of the date of probate. Wills usually mention the names of heirs and frequently specify how those heirs are related. Names of children are given, as well as married names of daughters.

While probate records are one of the most accurate sources of genealogical evidence, they have limitations.

Probate
Probate records are court records created after an individual’s death that relate to a court’s decisions regarding the distribution of the estate to the heirs or creditors and the care of any dependents. These documents are important to family history researchers because they usually exist for time periods before civil birth and death records were kept.

The [court] has responsibility for the probate records of [name] County.

The following [name] County probate records have been indexed or abstracted:

Glossary of Probate Terms
[currently, the Iowa Probate page provides wikipedia links to some of these terms] [text moved to Glossary of United States Probate Terms]

= U.S. Census Records =

Suggested State "Overview" Text
[The State] often took censuses in the years between the federal censuses, the dates are listed below. State census records may have columns that were different or more unusual than those found on federal censuses, [make this specific for the state, such as the 1892 gives religion or 1925 gives a married woman’s maiden name]. The responses and years of coverage may give additional information on the family.

State Censuses
For a list of state and territorial censuses:


 * Lainhart, Ann S. State Census Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publ., 1992. (FHL book X2Lai.) State-by-state list of censuses, and selected census substitutes. Describes dates, coverage, content, indexes and availability.

In addition, the staff of the Family History Library has compiled the following register which lists all state census records available at the library:


 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Family History Library, US/Canada Reference Staff, State Census Register, 3 vols. (Salt Lake City: Family History Library, 2005). FHL Ref. book 973 X23us. Available free online through Brigham Young University's Family History Archive: Vol. 1, Alabama - Kansas; Vol. 2, Kentucky - New York; Vol. 3, North Carolina - Wyoming.

= US Land and Property =


 * Explain federal land tract books and how to determine which film to search using a combination of Hone's county boundaries and the FHL catalog entry.
 * Timelines.
 * Include both "general tips" and "state tips" within each state.

= Colorado =


 * Note that the state Archives has an incomplete divorce index, probate and tax indexes for some years/counties, and State Pennitentiary Index 1871-1973.
 * Add "occupations" topic and "mining" article.

= Articles =


 * Link "legal ages" page to land, military, court, immigration, and vital records pages.
 * Mining
 * Northern Liberties, Pennsylvania