Will Index 1818-1904

Monroe County, Indiana
Will Records, 1818-1904: Books 1 Through 5
INDEX
Randi Richardson
Spencer, Indiana
Copyright January 2012
Preface
The index noted below is an alphabetical, every-name index to Monroe County, Indiana, Will Records, 1818-1904: Books 1 Through 5, compiled by Ruth M. Slevin. As the Slevin book did not include an index, the reader should find this companion publication a useful tool.
Although Slevin’s book is undated, it is believed to have been published before 1923 and, therefore, in the public domain. A copy of the original is available at the Monroe County History Center in Bloomington, Indiana. Additionally, copies are available for purchase from Amazon.com through Nabu public domain reprints. Although there are some minor irregularities in the reprint, the text appears to be a scan of the original as opposed to a document compiled by optical character recognition. Occasionally, the last line of text on a page is partially or fully deleted and, in contrast with the original, the author’s name includes “CN” between the middle initial and the last name.
Slevin compiled her book by abstracting the names of heirs, other beneficiaries, executors, and witnesses from original, handwritten wills. She did not indicate her familiarity with Monroe County names. Consequently, she noted some of the names with unique and unusual spellings due, perhaps, to typographical error, misinterpretation, or spelling errors in the original document.
In the compilation of the index to Slevin’s book, odd looking names were compared against a number of other records in order to identify the most common spelling. Occasionally, minor changes are reflected in the index without reference to the Slevin’s spelling, i. e., Ellitt was changed to Ellett. At other times, one spelling of a name may reference an alternate spelling, e. g., “Weir” may reference “Wier” and “Wier” may reference “Weir.”
In the use of Slevin’s book and the index, one is encouraged to make rather broad interpretation of names and look beyond traditional spelling. For example, a hundred years ago a person with the surname Richardson might have pronounced and written the name Richeson. With that in mind, it is always best to consult the original document.
Will books 1 through 5, containing original will records, have been placed in cold storage by the clerk of the Monroe County court. To access these documents, one must contact the clerk who will make a copy of the document available when time permits. Prior to placement in cold storage, the books were microfilmed, and that microfilm is available at the Monroe County Public Library. A photocopy of books 4 and 5, made from microfilm, is available at the Monroe County History Center in Bloomington. Book 1 has been transcribed and a copy of that transcription is also available at the Monroe County History Center.