Stephen Gibson Middlesex County Estate Sale Part II

We'll be posting these images over the next several days with transcriptions following shortly there after. The first column is the appraised amount of the item in dollars and cents and the second column is the value received at the estate sale. Feel free to comment on any items in the inventory that you think are particularly interesting.

This comes from the probate case file of Stephen Gibson in Middlesex County, Massachusetts (case file 9115).

Stay tuned.

Stephen Gibson Middlesex County Estate Sale Part I

We'll be posting these images over the next several days with transcriptions following shortly there after. Feel free to comment on any items in the inventory that you think are particularly interesting.

This comes from the probate case file of Stephen Gibson in Middlesex County, Massachusetts (case file 9115).

Stay tuned.

Why John Gibson Was Alive on 10 April 1811

The Gibson genealogy indicated that John Gibson who was born in Stow, Massachusetts in 1751 died after 10 April 1811.

The problem was that it made no mention in the section on John Gibson of why the author thought that John Gibson was alive on that date.

While the author appears to have utilized local court, probate, and land records in the compilation, there are no specific citations to individual statements. My suspiscion was that there was some document that referenced John Gibson on that date.

The discussion of John Gibson (in Mehitable Calef Coppenhagen's John Gibson of Cambridge, Massachusetts and his descendants, 1634-1899, published in 1900) indicated that the compiler lost track of him in 1799.

Then I got to thinking.

What document could a researcher find without knowing where John Gibson lived that would indicate he was alive?

The answer was obvious: the estate settlement of his father.

And sure enough in the estate settlement of Stephen Gibson of Middlesex County,Massachusetts (father of John Gibson and located in estate packet 9115) there was a final disbursement record to the heirs dated 10 April 1811. 

John Gibson is listed--there is just no indication of where he lived mentioned. This is the only document in the estate papers of Stephen Gibson that mentions all his children by name, including the married names of his daughters and the children of one daughter who died before the final disbursement was made.

It's important to note that the daughter may have survived her father. The only thing that this document specifically indicated is that she died before the final disbursement was made.

Stephen Gibson Inventory from 1807 Stow, Mass. Part VI

The image on this post is part of the inventory of Stephen Gibson filed in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in 1807.

We'll post images of the entire inventory over the next several days, along with items marked for discussion.

Inventory of Estate of Stephen Gibson, Middlesex County, Mass.,
Probate file 9115, filed in 1807; digital image made from FamilySearch microfilm.

The image on this post is part of the inventory of Stephen Gibson filed in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in 1807.

We'll post images of the entire inventory over the next several days, along with items circled for discussion.

Probate Notice from 1807

Date: Thursday, May 14, 1807 Paper: Independent Chronicle (Boston, MA);
digital image obtained on  Genealogybank.com

We've been posting images from Stephen Gibson's 1807 estate inventory, but local probate records are not the only place that can mention some details about his probate.

While newspapers won't contain all the details of the actual court records (and usually contain far fewer), they can confirm some information. This 1807 notice indicates where Stephen Gibson lived and who has been appointed administrator of the Gibson estate. The appointment of an administrator usually means that Gibson left no valid will upon his demise.

This notice would have been more important to us as a researcher if the court records could not be located or were no longer extant. It's possible, but unusual, for the published item to include details that are not already in the court records.

Sometimes it's just neat to see our ancestor's name in the newspaper.

Even if he had to die to do it.

Stephen Gibson Inventory from 1807 Stow, Mass. Part V

The image on this post is part of the inventory of Stephen Gibson filed in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in 1807.

We'll post images of the entire inventory over the next several days, along with items marked for discussion.

Inventory of Estate of Stephen Gibson, Middlesex County, Mass.,
Probate file 9115, filed in 1807; digital image made from FamilySearch microfilm.

Sometimes these are simply historically interesting, sometimes there are subtle clues contained within them, and other times there are blunt, 'in your face" genealogy leads. If you don't read them, you'll never know.

Feel free to comment on the marked items in the comments.

Stephen Gibson Inventory from 1807 Stow, Mass. Part IV

The image on this post is part of the inventory of Stephen Gibson filed in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in 1807.

Inventory of Estate of Stephen Gibson, Middlesex County, Mass.,
Probate file 9115, filed in 1807; digital image made from FamilySearch microfilm.

Sometimes these are simply historically interesting, sometimes there are subtle clues contained within them, and other times there are blunt, 'in your face" genealogy leads. If you don't read them, you'll never know.

Feel free to comment on the marked items in the comments.

We'll have a complete transcription after the entire set of images has been posted.

Stephen Gibson Inventory from 1807 Stow, Mass. Part III

The image on this post is part of the inventory of Stephen Gibson filed in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in 1807.

We'll post images of the entire inventory over the next several days, along with items marked for discussion.

Inventory of Estate of Stephen Gibson, Middlesex County, Mass.,
Probate file 9115, filed in 1807; digital image made from FamilySearch microfilm.

Feel free to comment on the marked items in the comments.

We'll have a complete transcription a few days after the entire set of images have been posted.

Stephen Gibson Inventory from 1807 Stow, Mass. Part II

The image on this post is another part of the inventory of Stephen Gibson filed in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in 1807.

Inventory of Estate of Stephen Gibson, Middlesex County, Mass.,
Probate file 9115, filed in 1807; digital image made from FamilySearch microfilm.

What is underlined on this document?

Stephen Gibson Inventory from 1807 Stow, Mass. Part I

The image on this post is part of the inventory of Stephen Gibson filed in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in 1807.

We'll post images of the entire inventory over the next several days, along with items circled for discussion.

Inventory of Estate of Stephen Gibson, Middlesex County, Mass.,
Probate file 9115, filed in 1807; digital image made from FamilySearch microfilm.

Sometimes these are simply historically interesting, sometimes there are subtle clues contained within them, and other times there are blunt, 'in your face" genealogy leads. If you don't read them, you'll never know.

Feel free to comment on the marked items in the comments.