Will Books

Collection Status: Open for Transcription

Transcription Difficulty Rating: Intermediate/Expert

About the Collection

Part of the Secretary of State wills collection, this is a series of bound recorded copies of probated wills. Some volumes also contain recorded deeds, inventories of estates, powers of attorney, commissions, proceedings of the Court of Chancery, and Council minutes.

Common Legal Abbreviations

• &c—things of like character
• Ca Sa: capias ad satisfaciendum-- a writ issued by a court to the sheriff to bring the defendant, having failed to appear, to answer a civil action against him.
• Fi Fa: fieri facias—a writ issued by a court to the sheriff to execute a judgement
• Non assumpsit—a plea by which the defendant states they did not promise as alleged.
• Non est factum—a plea that an agreement is invalid because the defendant was mistaken about its meaning when signing it.
• Nul tiel [record]--a plea alleging the record on which the action is founded does not exist.
• Oyer—a criminal trial held under a commission of oyer and terminer; the hearing of a document read in court
• Sci Fa: scire facias—a court order to answer a judgement.
• Sur trover: legal remedy for recovery of damages for wrongful taking of personal property.
• Vizt: videlicet—to wit, namely, that is to say.

Information on Currency in North Carolina

• "Currency" by John R. deTreville and R. Neil Fulghum in NCPedia.
• "The Value of Money in Colonial America" by David Walbert in NCPedia

How to Help Transcribe Documents

The transcription conventions, or “rules,” are located at the bottom of every page in the transcription view.

For more information, check out our Transcription Guide, Handwriting Guide, or the FromThePage transcription demo video

When transcriptions are finalized and exported out of FromThePage, they will be added to the digitized items in the North Carolina Digital Collections. Here are a few examples of what that looks like! These are real transcriptions finished by TranscribeNC volunteers just like yourself. Click the word Transcript below the image of the item to view the transcription.

• European Journal, Volume 2, 1859
• Local Draft Board Records, Macon County
• Appalachian Training School

About Us

The State Archives of North Carolina collects, preserves, manages and provides access to information that protects citizen rights, documents North Carolina history and culture, promotes transparency, and encourages stewardship of government records.

Thank you for helping us improve public access to historic documents and materials through your transcription efforts.

For more information, please visit the State Archives website

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