Overview

These abstracts of wills and administrations, the oldest in existence for Southampton County, are arranged throughout in more or less chronological order by the name of the deceased, giving, in the case of a will, the name of the testator, the names of legatees (often showing relationships), summaries of bequests made in the will, the date of the will, the date of recording, and the page number of the will book wherein the full will is recorded. The administration records generally provide the dates of inventory and appraisal, the names of auditors and appraisers, and references concerning the settlement of the estate. There are in total some 2,500 wills and administrations in this work, bearing reference to approximately 8,000 persons.