Document A.41 · probate index search · transcription: partial
Warren Co. Surrogate — a five-volume internal-index NULL sweep for Aaron Cooper, covering 1825–1870 probate proceedings. All five came back empty; two new Cooper leads surfaced.
- repository
- Warren County Surrogate's Court, Belvidere N.J. (via FamilySearch microfilm)
- collection
- Five Warren Co. Surrogate record series, searched through each volume's own internal A-Z thumb-tab index: Wills 1840-1864 vol. 2-3 · Inventories 1842-1852 vol. 4-5 · Inventories 1852-1862 vol. 6-7 · Letters of Administration and Guardianship 1825-1870 vol. 1-2 · Divisions of Land 1825-1860 vol. 1.
- identifier
- Internal index pages of each volume, under C
What is transcribed: The internal C-section index of five volumes. Not a page-by-page read of any volume, and Receipts and Discharges 1825-1867 vol. 1-3 was NOT directly testable — six series were intended, five were searched.
People named
| As written | Role | Identified as | What this document says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper, Aaron | referenced | Aaron Cooper Sr 1784–1851 |
What this document records
The null
NO AARON COOPER IN ANY OF THE FIVE. ⇒ across wills, inventories, letters of administration and guardianship, and divisions of land, for the period spanning his 1851 death, the Warren Surrogate's own indexes do not list him.
What the null is worth
THIS NULL IS WEAKER THAN IT LOOKS, AND THE ENTRY SHOULD NOT BE CITED AS IF IT CLOSED THE QUESTION. Three things limit it: the indexes searched are handwritten and fallible; one of the six intended series was not testable; and [A.92] later located his 1859 Letters of Administration anyway, in the Warren Surrogate's records, indexed through [A.40]. ⇒ the record existed while five internal indexes said nothing. That is the durable lesson here — an index null is a statement about an index.
New leads
The sweep turned up two new Cooper entries in Inventories 1852-1862 vol. 6-7 that were not being looked for. Not worked up; see todo.
Transcription and notes
Provenance, the exact scope, and — importantly — why this null is weaker than it looks are
all in the source: and coverage: headers and are not repeated here.
5-volume NULL sweep results
1. Wills 1840-1864 vol 2-3 → NULL for Cooper Aaron
- Internal index C-section: image 8 of
Death/Wills and Probate/New Jersey/Probate Records 1678-1980 (familysearch)/Warren County/Wills 1840-1864 vol 2-3/ - Entries verbatim in C-section (in handwritten-list order, not strict alphabetical) — corrected v193.16 from user-supplied zooms:
Will of Joseph Carling deceased 19 " William Carter dec'd 20 " Eleana CORYELL dec'd 30 [REVISED — was misread as "Conyell"] " John Carpenter dec'd 59 " Louis Cline dec'd 80 " John Clarke dec'd 96 " William Could (?) dec'd 157 " James B Clayton dec'd 185 Levi (?) Cole, dec'd 221 Conn Margaret dec'd 246 Carle Henry 338 Cummins Matthias dec'd 350 Carle Daniel 340 Chamberlin William dec'd 350 Cooke William 352 Cook Daniel 356½ Cook Mary 358 Carter Hawkins 388 Cook Nathan 391 Carey Margaret 459 Curtis Phoebe G. 460 Cooper Dr John, Dr of Easton 470 [REVISED — was misread as "Cooper John ?., g'dn"] Cartes Charles 547 Cummins Margaret 590 - No Cooper Aaron.
- NEW Cooper-line lead surfaced (revised v193.16): "Cooper Dr John, Dr of Easton" at page 470 = likely Dr. John Cooper Sr. (= Chris Cooper's ancestor in Daniel Sr → Daniel Jr → Dr. John Sr → Dr. John Jr → Frederic Stephen → ... → Chris chain). Single highest-priority pull from this volume.
- NEW Coryell-line lead surfaced (revised v193.16): "Eleana Coryell — 30" = NEW Coryell record in Warren Co. 1840-1864. Relevant to memories
pr.16 Cooper-Coriell Y-DNA mystery.md+pr.8 Anne Cooper Van Court sister (RESOLVED).md(Cooper↔Coryell kinship via Van Court bridge). Quick collateral pull.
2. Inventories 1842-1852 vol 4-5 → NULL for Cooper Aaron
- Internal index C-section: image 7 of
Death/Wills and Probate/New Jersey/Probate Records 1678-1980 (familysearch)/Warren County/Inventories 1842-1852 vol 4-5/ - Entries verbatim in C-section:
Carter Luther C Deceased 18 Carter Joseph Assignment 45 Castner John deceased 78 Creveling Jacob (Assignment) 103 Cramer Aaron + Wm E Armstrong 109/119 Cowel William deceased 123 Clayton James B dec 195 Cline Adam dec 202 Crisman Isaac dec 223 [Cool Isaac dec?] ~207/269 Crisman Nicholas dec 260 Carter Joseph deceased 269 Curtis Geo dec 304 Castner Abraham dec 319 Cook James dec 346 Cay Nicholas dec 350 Carpenter Walter 446 Cramer Margaret dec 465 - No Cooper Aaron. Cramer Aaron + Wm E. Armstrong (Cramer-surname Aaron acting on Armstrong estate, not Cooper) appears at page 109/119.
- Strongest chronological fit volume — Vol 4-5 covers 1842-1852, and Aaron died April 1851 (= inventory expected within 6-12 months in this vol's late-1851 / early-1852 range). NULL here is decisive against "Aaron Sr inventory was filed in Warren Co. 1842-1852."
3. Inventories 1852-1862 vol 6-7 → NULL for Cooper Aaron + 2 NEW Cooper leads
- Internal index C-section: image 8 of
Death/Wills and Probate/New Jersey/Probate Records 1678-1980 (familysearch)/Warren County/Inventories 1852-1862 vol 6-7/ - Entries verbatim in C-section (in handwritten order):
Cabal Samuel dec'd 31 Cosby Robert C. 25 Conrad William 40 [unidentified] Aaron 41 (surname unclear; not Cooper per row-5 zoom) Cooper Joseph 85 Chambers Sceul (?) 141 Coffe Henry G. 148 Cuventer (?) George 164 Clymen Soeb (?) 197 [struck through?] Carter Joseph 214 Brackley John 250 Cooper Joseph C. 251 Cook Lemuel R. 257 Lowert (?) George 267 Cline Jacob 332 1/4 Cook Moseo R., Insolvent debtor 396 1/4 Carpenter John I., dec'd 423 Carter Mary 416 1/4 Cummins Peter, dec'd 431 Crosbey, Archibald V., dec'd 432 Cole Samuel 478 Cline Elizabeth 485 Cavanagh James 493 - No Cooper Aaron. User zoom verification on row 5 confirmed "Cooper Joseph" (= the first Cooper in the C-section); the row 4 "Aaron" entry has a different non-Cooper surname.
- NEW Cooper-line lead — Cooper Joseph — page 87 (page number corrected from 85 to 87 via 2026-05-15 v194 image-zoom workflow; cursive
7was misread as5at low resolution). ** PROMOTED TO BODY-DOCUMENT PRIMARY SOURCE at A.53: heading reads 'Inventory of Joseph Cooper dec'd ... late of the Township of Independence in the County of Warren and State of New Jersey ... made the 5th day of November 1852.' Appraisers Robert L. Garrison + Job J. Shaw. Substantial farmer. Likely match for Aitkin 1052U Joseph Cooper Inv. 1852 per A.37** (= state-level and local-level indexes converge on this single decedent). - ~~Cooper Joseph C. — page 251~~ — RETRACTED v193.16 per zoom: actually "Coyte Joseph C." Not Cooper. (See "people" frontmatter for v193.16 retraction note.)
4. Letters of Administration & Guardianship 1825-1870 vol 1-2 → NULL for Cooper Aaron + 1 NEW Cooper lead
- Internal index C-section: images 9 + 10 of
Death/Wills and Probate/New Jersey/Probate Records 1678-1980 (familysearch)/Warren County/Letters of administration - 1825-1870 vol 1-2/ - This volume's title (per Vol 2 spine image 258) is "Letters of Administration & Guardianship" — combining both record types
- C-section entries scanned across image 9 (Vol 1 C-section page 1; thumb tabs C D E ... visible right edge) + image 10 (Vol 1 C-section page 2)
- Surnames observed: Cingdy, Cycher, Cushey, Cunsdry, Cook, Cox, Crocy, Conn, Cole, Coleman, Carlin, Crook, Coyle, Carolan, Crannel, Carlton, Carling, Castin, Castner, Cray, Cool, Crepenan, Cooles, Crap, Carpenter, Cooper Alfred N. (minor), Cremmer, Cunningham, Cook, Cowen, Conover, Carrey, Creveling, Course, Coyusa, Cummins, Quenas, Crfton, Clauson
- No Cooper Aaron. Only ONE Cooper visible — Cooper Alfred N., a minor — at page 312
- NEW Cooper-line lead: Cooper Alfred N., a minor — page 312 = guardianship of a minor Cooper child. Could be Aaron Sr's grandson (via John W., Aaron Jr, or other son) — not in known L.55/L.56 Aaron-Sr-family roster
5. Divisions of Land 1825-1860 vol 1 → NULL for Cooper Aaron
- Internal index C-section: image 8 of
Death/Wills and Probate/New Jersey/Probate Records 1678-1980 (familysearch)/Warren County/Divisions of land 1825-1860 vol 1/ - Entries verbatim in C-section (sparse — Divisions of land are infrequent):
Cray John, William & Daniel (Division of the Real Estate of) 94 Cray Daniel (?) (cont'd) Cray Margaret (sale of Real Estate) 259 Cole Christian dec'd (sale of real estate) 325 Castner Daniel (sale of real estate) 337 Cooke Henrie (Sale of Real Estate of) 358 - No Cooper Aaron. Only 5 total C entries; Aaron's land was NOT formally partitioned through the Warren Surrogate's Court in 1825-1860.
6. Receipts and Discharges 1825-1867 vol 1-3 → not directly testable
- Internal index sample: image 7-8 of
Death/Wills and Probate/New Jersey/Probate Records 1678-1980 (familysearch)/Warren County/Receipts and discharges - 1825-1867 vol 1-3/ - Index organized by RECEIPT TRANSACTION (Payer-to-Receiver), NOT by decedent surname
- Cannot search "Cooper Aaron" the same way — would need to scan every transaction for any party named Cooper
- Sample entries visible: "Catharine Foot to Abraham Addleman", "William Foy & Jane Foy to William Miller", "Lenah Fishlough to William Furman"
- Indeterminate for Cooper Aaron — neither confirmed nor ruled out. Could be tested by full surname-grep across all 728+ index pages (= high cost, low expected value given the 5 prior null findings)