Craven County Wills – Devisor/Devisee Index – A’s

The following is a transcription of the Craven County Record of Wills Devisor/Devisee Index for the letter A. The devisor is the deceased person who left a will, and the devisees are those to whom the deceased person has bequeathed items in his or her estate.

An index such as this is of critical importance to genealogists, since it shows family connections that might not be obvious just based on one’s surname. For instance, if you’re trying to figure out the name of the wife of John Smith, and you only know her first name was Petunia, it can be helpful to have a Devisor/Devisee index in which it can be found that a Rupert Jones has bequeathed items to his daughter, Petunia Smith.

Once you find your ancestor in a Devisor/Devisee index, the next step is to obtain a copy of the will. This can be done several ways: by visiting a local library where they have microfilms of wills from Craven County (such as the fantastic Kellenberger Room at the New Bern library), by visiting the Craven County Courthouse — but bring a camera, because there is no photocopying machine in the room where the wills are stored, or by requesting a copy from North Carolina Archives.