No Probate? A Problem Solving Investigation.

Next to having an ancestor who didn’t leave a will, one of the most frustrating experiences is finding a will in which the testator lists “children,” but provides no first names. Or, the oldest child is mentioned and the testator leaves the rest of the estate to “my other children.” Minor children are often the ones who are lumped into the “other” category. Sometimes you’re just stuck wondering who was not named in the will. But there are some avenues to explore that can yield the names.
Deeds settling the estates can prove valuable in these cases and show the necessity of being thorough and patient in searching deeds for a particular family. We’re not just talking about those happy discoveries of deeds that name all the heirs in one swipe. Those do happen, and are as good as a will. There are other times when it takes a little more work. This is the case with Lewis Conner Sr who wrote his will on Sept. 16, 1817 in Jefferson County. Lewis named only his wife, Polly, and his oldest son, Lewis. In another case, William Hankins’ will of 1861 which mentions only his wife, Elizabeth.
In the case of Conner, the Jefferson County deed index that showed a number of Conners sold the same tract to the buyer, James Campbell, but through separate deeds. The deed index provides a way to quickly survey who sold or bought what in a particular period. In Indiana, the indexes (when filled out properly) show the name of the grantor (the seller), grantee (the buyer), date the deed was written, date it was recorded, amount of acreage (or lot and name of town when a platted town is involved), and the legal land description. (Section, Township, and Range) Indexes also record the consideration of the sale (dollar amount, although in the twentieth century Indiana seems to have started allowing every one to use $1 and other valuable consideration as the sale price), the type of deed (warrantee, commissioners, quit claim), and book and page number.
Investigation of the Conner deeds shows that these persons each sold their interest in the land of Lewis Conner. The property description in each of the deeds proves they were all selling their interest in the same tract. Importantly, each deed termed the grantors as heirs. (You don’t get that in the indexes)
For example, James Conner and wife Mary, and Atwell David and wife Rebecca sold their interests as heirs of Lewis David in the SE1/4 Section 2 Twp. 5N Range 11E on Sept.13, 1825. Jefferson County married records shows that Atwell David married Rebecca Conner. William Benefiel and wife Phoebe, along with Nancy and Elizabeth Conner sold their interest in the same section on Feb. 12, 1834 Marriage records show William Benefiel married Phoebe Conner on June 13, 1825. Since a biographical sketch states that Phoebe is Lewis’ daughter, we can assume that Nancy and Elizabeth were also Lewis’ daughters. When all the deeds involving Section 2 and individuals who style themselves as Lewis’ heirs are assembled, we can put together a fairly convincing family of 13 children through six different deeds. Make sure to copy the exact land description. Being able to show all parties sold land in the SE1/4 Section 2, nailed down the property. Of course, sometimes, heirs may be selling different tracts in selling their ancestor’s estate, which makes a positive identification trickier.
Deeds involving the Hankins’ heirs proved similarly helpful, although none of the documents refer to the sellers as heirs of William Hankins. However, in this case, each deed contained language that points to the relationships. Most deeds show that the sellers sold their interests to an undivided ninth of the land of William Hankins. This indicates there were nine surviving children (or more accurately, the estate could be split among nine lineages, such grandchildren were involved.)
There were five individuals, who in separate deeds, each sold the undivided one fifth of the undivided ninth. This proved that one of William’s children was deceased and had five surviving children of his own. In another set of deeds, two heirs sold their undivided halves of the undivided ninth, which ultimately helped prove that one of William’s daughters died before William died, but had two surviving children of her own.
Both these cases involved thoroughly checking the grantor index to find every instance in which a Conner or Hankins sold land. They also required checking the grantee index. In the case of the Conners, James Campbell purchased all the lots and checking the grantee index was necessary to look for daughters who had married and sold their rights under their married names. The same grantee search was necessary to check all possible Hankins heirs who had sold their interest to William Wilkins. There is also a need for a search over decades. The Conner deeds stretch from 1825 through 1835. The Hankins deeds stretch from 1864 until 1883, when the last grandchild, who was a direct heir, sold her interest.
Another solution is finding a power of attorney in which heirs, usually those living out of state, appoints a sibling to sell their parent’s property. Prior to 1878, these legal instruments were recorded in the deed books. However after 1878, they are recorded in a set of books called “Miscellaneous Records.” These volumes are kept in the County Recorder’s office. Similarly, the Recorder’s office has Partition Records, also covering a limited period, which contain deeds that execute court settlements of estates involving real property. Unfortunately, these two sets of records are probably not available on microfilm, so you are pretty much stuck visiting the courthouse. The same holds true for civil suits, in which the heirs oppose each other. These records are held in the court clerk’s office, but are trickier because suits are indexed by plaintiff. If the plaintiff is a son -in-law, grandchild, or administrator whose name you are unfamiliar with, finding a suit can be tedious.

Online Genealogical Workshop