Additional information
by Michael Schoettle (Author)
The Princess Anne County Order Book and Minute Books are a must have resource for any researcher and can provide the needed clues to help fill in missing information in a family tree. For Princess Anne County, the Order Book and Minute Books are the clerk's annotations of the county court proceedings. The books include valuable information on family ties, marriages, deaths, orphans, deed acknowledgements, immigration, and determining the existence of an ancestor. These books can provide information that is not found in any Deed Book or Will Book. For example, Humphry Hayes died around 1711. There is no will found for him in the Deed Book but there is an entry in the September 1711 Court that states that Adam Hayes, his next of kin, made oath that Humphry departed this life without making a will. Without the Minute Book, the death information on Humphry Hayes would be unknown. Family information can also be gleaned from these informative Minute Books, an example of this is in the December Court of 1709 when Nicholas Cocke & Frances his wife, daughter of Thomas Lawson, petitioned for a part of Thomas's estate. This type of information clearly defines the family relations. An example of immigration is in the November Court of 1713 when John Bolithoe made oath that he and his wife Mary came into the Colony in the year 1693. The Princess Anne County Books contains information that may also include surnames from Norfolk County and upper northeastern North Carolina, such as Currituck County and Knott's Island.
