Until the 1680s, wills were probated by either notary public’s’ or aldermen, according to Dutch law and custom. Unfortunately, the law did not require wills to be recorded at a public archive. The notaries kept these wills and other original legal documents (such as marriage contracts, guardianship’s, letters of apprenticeship, powers of attorney, contracts, and conveyances) in their personal custody. Some notarial records of persons in New Netherland (what is now New York and New Jersey) eventually ended up at the old Amsterdam Municipal Archives.
From May 1787 to the present, county surrogate’s courts have recorded probates. However, the court of probates and court of chancery handled estates of deceased persons who died in one county but who owned property in another. An 1823 law mandated that all probates come under the jurisdiction of the county surrogate’s courts. Each surrogate’s court has a comprehensive index to all probate records, including the unrecorded probate packets.
Interestingly enough, there are wills existing and on record at the Surrogate’s Office in New York City for the time-span of 1660-1680. Genealogical extracts of these wills have been provided below.
- Letters of Administration for Samuel Andrews – 1667
- Will of Chamion Arundell – 1666
- Will of Thomas Badgord – 1672
- Will of Hope Barrints – 1671
- Will of Cornelius Beackman – 1668
- Will of Isaac Bedloe – 1675
- Will of William Betts – 1673
- Will of Jan Everts Bout – 1671
- Will of Jonas Bower, – 1670
- Will of Thomas Brush – 1675
- Will of David Carwithy – 1666
- Letter of Administration for John Concklin, Jr. – 1666
- Will of Jacob Woolpherts Cowenhoven – 1670
- Letters of Administration for Francis Cregier – 1666
- Will of Charles Darriel – 1666
- Will of John Daverell – 1673
- Will of Jonathan Davis – 1674
- Will of Nicholas Davis – 1673
- Will of Balthazar De Hart, – 1671
- Will of Balthazar De Vasch – 1670
- Will of Philemon Dickinson, – 1672
- Letter of Administration for Laurence Ellison – 1665
- Will of John Elton – 1675
- Will of Richard Everett – 1668
- Will of Thomas Exton, Capt. – 1668
- Will of Edmund Farrington – 1675
- Will of Robert Fecks – 1669
- Will of Thomas Foster – 1663
- Will of Mary Gardiner – 1664
- Will of John Gerland – 1673
- Letter of Administration for Roger Goodspeede – 1665
- Will of John Hadden – 1671
- Will of Anna Hall – 1669
- Will of Balthazar De Hart, – 1671
- Will of John Hart, – 1671
- Will of John Hawkins – 1671
- Will of John Hicks – 1672
- Will of Thomas Hood – 1671
- Will of Thomas Ireland – 1669
- Will of Edward Jessup – 1666
- Will of George Jewell – 1670
- Will of Philip Johns – 1675
- Will of Thomas Jones, – 1669
- Will of Abraham Jossling – 1670
- Will of John Julius, Capt. – 1671
- Will of Samuel Lane – 1675
- Will of John Larrison – 1670
- Will of Jean Le Telier – 1671
- Will of Walnovers Letin, – 1671/2
- Will of William Ludlum – 1655
- Will of Gabriel Lynch, – 1671
- Will of Jonathan Marsh – 1672
- Will of John Marshall – 1670
- Will of John Marston – 1671
- Administration of the will of Samuel Mayo – 1670
- Will of Claas Melise – 1672
- Will of Thomas Morell – 1670
- Will of Charles Morgan – 1668
- Will of Richard Morris, – 1672
- Will of Francis Munsy – 1675
- Will of James Naybor – 1671
- Will of William Palmer – 1670
- Will of Elizabeth Partridge – 1669
- Will of Henry Pearsall – 1667
- Will of Thomas Pell, – 1669
- Will of John Perring – 1675
- Will of Thurston Raynor – 1667
- Will of Thomas Robinson – 1671
- Will of Roger Rugg – 1675
- Will of Latimer Sampson – 1668
- Will of Thomas Sayre – 1671
- Will of Robert Seeley, Capt. – 1668
- Will of John Stevenson – 1670
- Will of Thomas Stevenson – 1668
- Will of Nicholas Stillwell – 1671
- Will of John Stricklin – 1672
- Will of Petrus Stuyvesant, – 1671/2
- Will of Nicholas Tanner – 1666
- Will of Jean Le Telier – 1671
- Will of Thomas Terry, Sr. – 1671
- Will of Richard Townsend – 1670
- Will of Roger Townsend – 1674
- Will of Laurence Turner – 1668
- Will of John Underhill, Capt. – 1675
- Will of Balthazar De Vasch – 1670
- Will of Anthony Waters – 1675
- Will of John White, – 1670
- Will of Daniel Whitehead – 1669
- Will of Thomas Wicks, – 1670
- Will of John Williams, – 1672
- Will of John Winder – 1675
- Will of John Woodruff, – 1670
- Will of Peter Wright – 1675