Document A.17 · probate index · transcription: verbatim

New Jersey Index of Wills, Inventories, Etc., Vol. II — Middlesex County section — the index page giving NJSA loose-paper file numbers for four Van Court probates.

repository: New Jersey State Archives
collection: New Jersey Index of Wills, Inventories, Etc., Volume II
identifier: Middlesex County section, the Vail-through-VanCourt page

What is transcribed: The Vail-through-VanCourt rows of the Middlesex County section, both columns. The Vail and VanCleef/VanCleve rows are transcribed as page context, not because the catalog researches those families.

People named

As written	Role	Identified as
Vancourt, Elias, Sr.	referenced	Elias Van Court Sr
VanCourt, Anna	referenced
VanCourt, Elias	referenced
VanCourt, Samuel	referenced	Samuel Van Court 1730–1777 possible

What this document records

What an index is for

THIS ENTRY IS A FINDING AID, NOT A SOURCE ABOUT PEOPLE. Its whole value is the file numbers, which is how a loose-paper original gets ordered from Trenton. ⇒ it says nothing about anyone's life, and must never be cited as evidence of a fact about a person.

It did its job

AND IT WORKED. The row "Vancourt, Elias, Sr., 2413-2421L" is what made the NJSA order possible; the loose papers were delivered 26 May 2026 and are catalogued at [A.68] — where Daniel Cooper's autograph was found on page 7 of file 2413L. The order narrative itself lived here and has been dropped: it was request progress, it belongs to [pr.31], and that project is resolved.

The nine document range

"2413-2421L" is a range of NINE documents, where most entries on the page cite one or two. A range that long ordinarily means a probate that generated will, inventory, affidavits, accounts and receipts — which is consistent with what [A.68] turned out to contain. An inference from the notation, not a statement of the index.

Transcription and notes

Provenance, what an index entry is and is not good for, and the three unordered Van Court probates are all in the source: and coverage: headers and are not repeated here.

Verbatim transcription (per user-supplied image 2026-05-03)

Section heading: "New Jersey Index of Wills, Inventories, Etc., Vol II" with subhead "Middlesex County"

Two-column layout. Vail surnames in left column; Vail through Valentine continuing; right column begins VanCleef and continues through VanCourt and VanCleve.

Left column (relevant rows):

Vail, John A.,        11591L.    W. 1832.   Inv. 1832.
Vail, John G.,        17285L.    Inv. 1899.
Vail, Jonathan H.,    12681L.    W. 1852.   Inv. 1852.
Vail, Matilda A.,     16753L.    W. 1895.   Inv. 1896.
Vail, Robert C.,      15039L.    Inv. 1881.
Vail, Sarah,          14734L.    Inv. 1878.
Vail, Thomas,         179-182L.  B. A, p 96.   W. 1718.   Inv. 1718.
Vail, Thomas,         14245L.    W. 1873.   Inv. 1873.
Vail, William,        14462L.    W. 1875.   Inv. 1875.
Vail, William H.,     15362L.    Inv. 1884.
Vaill, Timothy D.,    15249L.    W. 1883.   Inv. 1883.
Valentine, James,     16217L.    W. 1891.
Valentine, John,      12368L.    W. 1847.   Inv. 1848.

Right column (relevant rows):

VanCleef, Catharine D.,   14928L.    Inv. 1880.
VanCleef, Catharine L.,   16895L.    W. 1896.
Vancleef, Elizabeth,      12040L.    W. 1840.   Inv. 1840.
VanCleef, Jacob,          12427L.    Inv. 1848.
VanCleef, Jacob C.,       17021L.    Inv. 1897.
VanCleef, Rem,            999L.      B. 40, p. 383.   Int. 1803.   Inv. 1803, 1804.
VanCleef, Sarah,          13831L.    Inv. 1869.
VanCleve, Aaron,          14246L.    Inv. 1873.
VanCleve, John,           11241L.    W. 1827.   Inv. 1827.
VanCourt, Anna,           11242L.    Inv. 1827.
VanCourt, Elias,          10707L.    Inv. 1818.
Vancourt, Elias, Sr.,     2413-2421L. B. E, p. 449.   W. 1750.   Inv. 1750.
VanCourt, Samuel,         5687-5688L.   Inv. 1778.