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Alexander Robertson Will Extract

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:49 am
by silverly
Alexander Robertson, residence Philadelphia, decedent, date 4 April 1751, prove date 26 April 1751, silversmith

Remarks: Children John, Alexander, Margaret, Jane, Sarah and Catherine, Exec: Philip Syng, Joseph Richardson.
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 5:27 am
by buckler
Hi
Will postings are always useful

I tend to try to record
Source - in my case usually (British) National Archives
Date will proved (which is normally how the NA file them !
Date will (and any codicils) actually signed by testator
Names of Witnesses - these often tell you of persons connected with him, often other silversmiths
How he describes himself, e.g. Joe Soap of Boston, silversmith.
Executor named.
Who proved by .

Surprising how often you later on find that the witnesses or executors turn up elsewhere. Many times just the lawyers and one of their clerks, but sometimes you find they are related to the widow and give you her maiden name - often other silversmith families.

Warning on relationships. In England at the time the words aunt and uncle refer to blood aunts and uncles and in-laws. Cousens means any relationship.
You can get very mixed up, or find incest where it does not exist !
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 10:17 am
by silverly
City Hall in Philadelphia is the ultimate source of this information, Book Page J:386. I only have the extracted information available to me through Ancestry.com, and they provide no other source.
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