Book Description

This Gates County Index is the third volume in a series of indexes for the loose County Estate Record Files that exist for the inhabitants who died in northeastern North Carolina before 1945. One of the most useful resources for genealogical research on a specific ancestor and their immediate family is the discovery of his or her estate papers. Unfortunately, finding the records for an ancestor is not always easy to accomplish. If a genealogical researcher does not already know where their ancestor was living before his or her death, isolating an ancestor's estate records may be challenging. The county boundaries changed several times during the early years of the Colony's or State's existence. Depending on the approximate time when a death may have occurred, genealogical researchers may need to examine the estate records for several different counties in order to find the one associated with their ancestor. The names in this index are arranged alphabetically by surname using the exact spelling recorded on the original files at the North Carolina State Archives. Also included in this volume is any additional information written on the individual estate file folders as well as a cross index for the estate files that listed multiple names.