These records were filmed in September, 1959 by the Genealogical Society of Salt Lake, Utah. They are Charleston County Probate Court records which have not been transcribed. The roll of film consists of the following records, appearing in this order: three books of letters of guardianship, covering from 1783 to 1827; a collection of real estate receipts from 1853- 1870; and an assortment of miscellaneous probate court cases from 1783-1812. These collections were all filed by the Court of the Ordinary.
Please note that the Court of the Ordinary was replaced by the Probate Court in 1868 in Charleston County, and both courts performed similar functions dealing with wills and other probate issues.
The Letters of Guardianship consist of three volumes or books. The letters are legal proceedings dealing with minor beneficiaries who are named in the wills of Charleston County deceased. The letters were written by the Court of the Ordinary to inform the newly appointed guardians of the under age persons mentioned in the wills of their new duties. Each entry includes the name of the guardian, the deceased, the minor dependents, the conditions of the guardianship, and the date that the letter was written. The person that the letters are addressed to had typically filed to become the guardian, and the standard agreement was that they would use the minor beneficiary’s inheritance for their upkeep and would manage the money until they came of legal age.
Volume A includes letters from 1783-1827 and has a name index for the minors at the beginning.
Volumes B and C include information from 1827 to 1839. There is a name index at the beginning of Volume B that includes names for both B and C.
Please note that even though the index for these two volumes are grouped together, the page numbers start over at the beginning of Volume C. The page numbers can be found written in at the top right hand corners on the pages.
The Receipts, 1853-1870 collection consists of receipts filed with the Court of the Ordinary for transactions that dealt with estate property. The entries include a date, receipt amount, the name of the deceased whose estate is in question, the name of the individual who is receiving money, and what the circumstances are for transaction. The entries were written in by the Ordinary and were signed by the person receiving the cash.
Miscellaneous Cases, 1783-1812 are additional Court of the Ordinary records. The cases deal with contested issues surrounding wills and estates. Each entry is headed with the date and the name of the person whose will is being addressed. The hand written entries discuss suits over who is the rightful executor of the wills, who should receive what portion of benefits form the wills, and other estate settlement issues. There is a name index at the beginning of the collection, organized alphabetically by case name, i.e. the name of the person whose will is being debated. The pages are numbered in the top corners as in the previous collections.