New York State Court of Probates Inventory of Wills, Administration Papers and Inventories Transferred from the Secretary of…

Prerogative court records fell into the hands of the American forces in February 1776. During the Revolutionary War, they were maintained by the Secretary of State of New York. After the war, the records of business conducted by the Prerogative Court from 1776-1783 were also filed with the Secretary of State. Chapter 24 of the Laws of 1782 ordered these records transferred to the Judge of the Court of Probates, who was required to make a list of all wills delivered to him. In complying with the law, the Court of Probates made an inventory of inventories and administrative papers as well as wills transferred.

This series consists of one volume, containing an inventory of the records of the provincial Prerogative Court transferred from the Secretary of State to the Court of Probates. The inventory is divided into five sections: Wills probated before the Revolution in 1776; Wills probated behind British lines by the provincial Prerogative Court between 1776 and 1783; Inventories and accounts exhibited before 1776; Inventories and accounts exhibited behind British lines between 1776 and 1783; and Administration granted before 1776. Each section in the inventory, except the fourth, is arranged alphabetically by the name of the decedent and then chronologically by the dates covered by each file unit.

Each entry in these sections consists of the date span of the file unit and a list of from one to seven names of decedents for whom records could be found in the file unit. At the end of each alphabetical category in sections one and two of the inventory, the names of decedents whose wills were unrecorded are listed. Section four is in strict alphabetical order by the name of the decedent, and does not include dates. Section five is incomplete, stopping after "B"; it includes page references to an unknown series.

The arrangement of the inventory reflects the filing system of the Prerogative Court not the present arrangement of the records referred to. Many of the records appearing in the inventory can be found in Series J0038, Probated Wills; J0033, Administration Papers; and J0301, Inventories and Accounts.

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