Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The work at hand consists of abstracts of Prerogative Court of Maryland records for the period 1658 to 1674. Author V.L. Skinner has combed through administration bond, will, inventory, administration account, and final balance entries to produce this collection. The abstracts are arranged in chronological order by court session, and in every instance they give the names of the principals (testators, heirs, witnesses, administrators, and so forth). In many cases we also learn the details of bequests, names of slaves, appraisers, and more.
Synopsis
Compiler Vernon Skinner has completed the 19th volume of "Abstracts of the Testamentary Proceedings of the Prerogative Court of Maryland," a series of books based upon this important source for Maryland genealogists. In compiling the series, Mr. Skinner has worked primarily from microfilm copies of the Prerogative Court records; however, he has also traveled to the Maryland State Archives to work directly with the original manuscripts in order to resolve problems associated with eighteenth-century handwriting or limitations of the microfilming process. The series is arranged, volume by volume, chronologically by court session. Volume XIX consists of abstracts for the period 1730-34, as found in the remainder of Liber 29 of these records. In all, the latest book in this remarkable series refers to an additional 6,500 inhabitants of the Province of Maryland in the years just prior to 1730.