Have you ever received a hint that your ancestor has a probate record, but then just saw an index record and thought that was all there was? The indexes are all that are cataloged for searching, but all of the probate records are scanned in - you can use that information from the index to go to the page with your ancestors will (or letters of administration)
When I viewed the hint for Valentines' Probate Record, and chose "view record", this is the record it takes me to. When I zoom in on the record, I can find Valentine Ritter right near the top -
Third line down here. I know from this that it's Letters Of Administration, not a will, and that it is found on page 62 (of will book 6, which is what we have open here)
Near the bottom of the ancestry screen, you will see how many pages are included in this film, and what page you are on. We want will page 62 for Valentine, but that could be any number of pages on the film. Each page of film is typically two pages of wills, and the wills will start anywhere from 10 to 25 pages into the film. So it may take a few tries to flip to the right film. Watch the page numbers at the top left and right -
Page Number 62
And there, in the middle of page 62, are the Letters Of Administration for Valentine Ritter. This may not seem like a great find, it's not a will.. but in this example, it gives me a date for when Probate was filed. Before finding this, I had no idea what year Valentine died, now I can enter "about 1872" to his record. The record also mentions his wife, telling me she was still alive when he died, and it it names William S, Ritter, which is very likely the oldest living son.
It's even better when these records take you to a will, with specific listings of the daughters married names - but even a Letter Of Administration can have helpful info!
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