Summary: Stewart Title Company donated Land Abstracts of Title and Probate Abstracts accumulated for title ownership of real property under examination.  These probate records may be incomplete and not the full actual probate filings because only those probate documents pertaining to the ownership of real property were needed for title examination.

Stewart Title Company

• Land Abstracts of Title - This link will take you to the Land Research Page where a .pdf document is available listing the Survey Names covered in the Stewart Title Collection
• Probate Abstracts -  This link will take you to the Probate Abstracts Database listing what is housed in 25 large boxes in the Archives. This database, entirely created by Archives Volunteer Cecelia Gilbreath, offers some detailed information regarding the holdings as described in the notes below.

Notes for Viewing Probate Record Database:

In viewing these records, the Probate Court Case Number is shown where complete official documents may be obtained from Tarrant County Probate.  Below are various abbreviations used in the Probate Abstracts Database accessed above. These will more easily help you understand what documents are on hand, at the Tarrant County Archives as part of the Stewart Title gift. Please keep in mind that these documents are privately created abstracts and not official County documents.

Prob;will;proof;inventory: The Will was filed for probate. A proof with the witnesses of the will is provided to prove the will valid and an inventory is available, which may only contain real property and values.
Prob;will;codicil;proof;inventory: Same as above, but a Codicil (addition) to the will is also available.
Prob;will;interrog;inventory: Same as above, but depositions taken to determine if the will is valid by a person claiming to know the facts.  Usually occurs when a will is disputed or a will was made and probated in another county or state.
ApptAdmin;Inventory: A petition has been made to the Probate Court to Appoint an Administrator of the Estate and an inventory is made of the deceased persons property.  Usually this occurs when a person dies without a will or there is immediate need to take care of business of the estate prior to the Probate of the Will.
App to Administer the Estate: Same as above but usually not as involved.
AppGuardian;Inventory: A Petition is made to the Probate Court on behalf of minor children, or a person of unsound mind, to appoint a Guardian to manage their estate.  An inventory is made of what real and personal property may belong to the minor, or person of unsound mind, that is to be managed.
CC Probate Dallas Cty, TX: A certified copy of the probate proceedings that were made in another county in Texas or another state.  The reason to obtain such a document is that the deceased also owned property in Tarrant County at the time of their death.  In these instances the column "Additional Notes" may list the documents received, i.e., copy of the will or copy of the inventory.
Affidavit of Family History, Affidavit of Heirship (AH), Affidavit of Facts: A statement by a person swearing to know the true facts regarding family history or facts pertaining to real property.  These may contain some very important information to family genealogy that may not be found in other records.
ApptAppraisers;Inventory: Probate Court appoints a person or company to appraise the property and provide a list to the court of their findings in the form of an Inventory.
Lunacy Hearing or NCM Guardianship: In the Probate Court, a six-person jury delivers their verdict on the sanity of a person. A Guardian of the Person is appointed by the court to take care of the physical well-being of a ward and a Guardian of Estate is appointed to care for a ward’s property. Often both a guardian of person and a guardian of estate are appointed and this can be the same person.

The column headed "Additional Notes" may provide you with information regarding other documents that are on hand, relationships to other persons listed and unusual facts or documents that were found to be contained in the files.