New Hampshire Probate Records, 1635-1753

This database contains probate records (mostly wills and inventories) from the state of New Hampshire from 1635-1753. The goal of this work was to make more available the probate records created during the provincial/colonial period of the state. After the creation of New Hampshire's counties, separate probate courts were established. Their records are kept at the county seats and are easily accessible. The documents found within this work were taken from the originals, which were (in 1907) located at the office of the Secretary of State, but today are in possession of the New Hampshire Records and Archives. Wills are printed in their entirety, except for the preamble. Any omissions are indicated by asteriks.

The probate process transfers the legal responsibility for payment of taxes, care and custody of dependent family members, liquidation of debts, and transfer of property title to heirs from the deceased to an executor/executrix (where there is a will), to an administrator/administratix (if the person dies intestate - without a will), or to a guardian/conservator if there are heirs under the age of twenty-one years or in cases where a person has become incompetent through disease or disability.

Taken from Chapter 7: Research in Court Records, The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy by Arlene H. Eakle; edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1997).