Wisconsin, Ashland County Probate Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Wisconsin Ashland County

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of images of probate books for the years 1889 to 1942. Originals are housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison. Probate records include petitions, inventories, accounts, decrees and other court documents.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
Depending on the record type, Probate records may include:


 * Name of testator or deceased
 * Names of heirs such as spouse, children, and other relatives or friends
 * Name of executor, administrator, or guardian
 * Names of witnesses
 * Residence of testator
 * Document and recording dates

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the deceased
 * Other identifying information such as the approximate date or place of the death or probate date

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the /waypoints Browse Page.
 * 1) Select Volume Title and Year

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use a Probate record to identify adoptions, guardians, heirs and relatives.
 * Use a will to approximate a death date, then find a death certificate.
 * Use the information in the probate record to substitute for civil birth and death records for earlier years.
 * Use the information to find other church and vital records such as birth, baptism, marriage, and death records. Also search for immigration, military, land and probate records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members in censuses.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record. Indexes and transcriptions may not include all the data found in the original records. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relatives that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Try variant spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Wisconsin, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the FamilySearch Library Catalog

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

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