Family Tree Maker’s FAMILY ARCHIVES series has added one more important work to its growing library. NORTH CAROLINA WILLS, 1665-1900 is sure to make ancestor hunting in this neck of the woods a lot easier and a lot more interesting!

Originally published by the Genealogical Publishing Company, the four titles reproduced on this Family Archive CD name approximately 135,000 individuals who are cited in wills, administrations, and inventories recorded in the probate records of North Carolina between 1665 and 1900. Probate records are among the very best genealogical sources because they provide proof, of family relationships.

The four titles on the CD include: NORTH CAROLINA WILLS: A TESTATOR INDEX, 1665-1900 by Thornton W. Mitchell; ABSTRACT OF NORTH CAROLINA WILLS, 1663-1760 by J. Bryan Grimes; AN ABSTRACT OF NORTH CAROLINA WILL, 1760-1800 by Fred A. Olds; and NORTH CAROLINA WILLS AND INVENTORIES by J. Bryan Grimes.

Mr. Mitchell’s work names 75,000 persons who died and left wills in North Carolina and by listing the name, date, and location of the wills with book and page number may just be the most important finding-aid in North Carolina genealogy. Mr. Grimes, work is based on wills found in the Office of the Secretary of State of North Carolina and furnishes such information as date of probate, place of residence, names of family members and bequests.

Supplementing Grimes, work on state wills, Mr. Olds, book contains abstracts recorded on the county level for the entire state. Included in Mr. Grimes second book are the full texts of selected wills and inventories of North Carolina’s pre-Revolutionary War families.

The CD (#7509) is priced at $29.99 and may be ordered from Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc. at 1001 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202 or by phone at 1-800-296-6687. Postage and handling is $3.50 for the first item and $1.25 for each additional volume. UPS Ground Service is available for $5 for the first item and $2 for each additional volume.

DOES ANYONE KNOW:

n Larry Hudson (113 CR. 305, Corinth, Miss. 38834, e-mail hudson@tsixroads.com) is looking for information regarding HENDERSON JONES (born 23 October 1812 and died 13 April 1900). Mr. Jones married MARY CAFFEY who was born 18 October 1810 and died 26 August 1902. They were both born in Rockingham County, N.C. and moved to Alcorn County, Miss.

Both are buried at the Wheeler Grove Cemetery. Three of their daughters were also residents of Alcorn County. Does any reader have any information on this family?

Mr. Hudson is also seeking information on WILLIS MONROE DAVIS who was born 28 October 1821 and died 18 January 1912. He was married to HARRIET PERSONS who was born in 1839 and died in 1911. Both are buried in the Bethany Cemetery in Tishomingo County, Miss. Can any reader provide more information on this couple and their family?

n Bebe Roper Byerly (4105 St. Joseph Avenue, Louisville, Ky. 40216) needs assistance with research on her WARD line. Her grandmother, BERVIL WARD ROPER, appears as a five year old child in the 1900 Lee County, Mississippi, census. She died in 1937. It is believed she is the daughter of an N. Ward (born 17 December 1830 and died 8 September 1900) and his wife whose name was CATGARUBE. She is buried in the old portion of the Springhill Cemetery near Saltillo, Lee County, Miss. Does anyone have any information on this woman or any perspective toward her name? All help would be appreciated.

Please send your announcements and queries to FAMILY TREES at 900 Main Street, Natchez, Miss. 39120 or e-mail at Famtree316@aol.com. All queries printed free of charge. We look forward to hearing from you!

Family Trees is a weekly column written by Nancianne Parkes Suber of Natchez.