Index to West Virginia Estates
This two-volume series covers the entire state. Entries begin with the formation of the county, many of which predate 1800. However, because Mineral County was not formed until 1866, no entries for its records are included. Records are included for Preston County because the pertinent records for that location were destroyed by fire when the courthouse in Kingwood burned in 1869.
The primary source for entries is bound will books. When coverage by will books is insufficient, i.e. record loss or damage, additional types of records are used. For instance, in Berkeley County, because will books numbers 11, 16, 18, 19, and 20 were not found, the compiler examined loose wills and bonds for clues about estates. Each index entry identifies the name of the deceased (or the subject of the estate in the case of guardianships or dower), the county in which the original record is found, the year the record was recorded, and the source citation. Introductory pages provide details about the source records that are used, the corresponding Family History Library or Library of Virginia microfilm reel numbers for viewing a copy of the record, and a list of abbreviations.
In addition to the county will books, volumes of other estate record books such as administration and guardian bond books, fiduciary record books, guardian account books, inventories, sales bills, settlement books, and loose wills are indexed.
Users will find this series especially helpful in accessing the online copies of will books and other estate records now available through FamilySearch. While FamilySearch provides an index to the will books, the index does not include all entries for an estate settlement. The 1787 will of John Jackson of Berkeley County, for example, is in the FamilySearch index and the Pippenger index. However, Pippenger’s index also includes the book and page number for the executor bond for John Jackson’s estate and the location of Jackson’s “loose” (original) will—both records are available on FamilySearch but not yet indexed. An alphabetical list of locations by volume is available here.
