I came across this this morning. Here is the link to the original page:
http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/archives/findingaids/estates.htm
Once you follow the county link, you get an index of names for each county. Nice
resource if you didn't know this was there already.
Denise
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Original County Estates Papers The body of material referred to as "Estates
Papers" or "Estates Records" in the Guide to Research Materials in the
North Carolina State Archives: County Records, are preserved as loose documents filed
first by county and then in folders arranged by name and date. Each folder contains
material relating to one person's estate, but it does not necessarily hold all the
extant material regarding an individual. Further, it has not always been possible to
separate absolutely the papers relating to two or more identically named individuals who
died about the same time in the same county. Researchers are advised to consider
consulting all available folders for a given surname, all pertinent bound volumes, and
related records of jurisdictions other than the county of interest. The references given
below are listings to these estate folders; they were compiled by volunteers and then
proofed by staff members. At this time, the listings of names do not
link to images of the actual documents. Any discrepancies or corrections should be sent
to:
Druscilla R. Simpson
Head, Information Technology Branch
4614 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, N.C. 27699-4614
druscie.simpson(a)ncmail.net Currently available lists (as of August 24, 2000):
Alamance County
Alexander County
Alleghany County
Bute County
Cabarrus County
Camden County
Catawba County
Cherokee County
Clay County
Cleveland County
Columbus County
Dare County
Durham County
Gaston County
Graham County
McDowell County
Macon County
Martin County
Mitchell County
Moore County
Pamlico County
Pender County
Polk County
Stanly County
Transylvania County
Yancey County