I love Saturday Night Genealogy Fun! We have a new topic this week:

During your research, have you come across an unexpected discovery in a probate file?

I have to admit I love probate packets, even though they can sometimes be very disappointing in terms of the genealogical details they contain.

However, I was overwhelmed with the probate file of my husband’s ancestor, Revolutionary War soldier Moses Woosley. It was quite a shock to learn that the packet had 87 pages and for the price of $1.00 per page (!!!), the county clerk would be happy to photocopy it for me.

That was the best $87 I’ve spent on genealogy through the years. My husband’s ancestor, Moses’s daughter, Rhoda, pre-deceased her father. The probate packet named ALL of the children and grandchildren who were heirs and even noted where some of them were living and who they married.

From it, I had an indisputable list of Rhoda’s surviving children, all born before 1840 – that black hole of years before the 1850 census!

Moses Woosley’s probate packet definitely provided the most unexpected information in all the years I’ve been researching.

Thank you, Randy, for another fun weekend with Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.