Today’s document comes from my BRILES folder, and it’s one that genealogists dream of finding—an estate record that not only names living children but also accounts for grandchildren through deceased children. This particular record outlines how the estate of John Briles of Randolph County, North Carolina was distributed among his heirs following his death in October 1857.
The document reports a net surplus of $4,06.42, which was to be divided among John’s next of kin, following North Carolina’s laws of intestate succession. The record then details exactly how this division was to occur:
**“The net surplus is to be divided among the intestate’s next of kin as follows, to wit—1/14th to each of intestate’s living children, to wit: Noah, Jacob, Dan, John, Alexander, Alfred, Rachel, Mary, Martha, Hellen & Nancy.
And each of the eight children of Solomon Briles is entitled to 1/8th of 1/14th; and each of the six children of Elizabeth Laughlin, dec’d, is entitled to 1/6th of 1/14th; and each of the three children of Frederic Briles, dec’d, is entitled to 1/3rd of 1/14th of said surplus.”**
This single paragraph gives us a near-complete list of John Briles’s children—both living and deceased—along with the number of grandchildren in each deceased child’s family. From this distribution, we learn:
Living Children (each receiving 1/14th):
Noah • Jacob • Dan • John • Alexander • Alfred • Rachel • Mary • Martha • Hellen • Nancy
(11 living children)
Deceased Children:
- Solomon Briles – left 8 children
- Elizabeth (Briles) Laughlin – left 6 children
- Frederic Briles – left 3 children
This estate document not only confirms relationships but also helps reconstruct family groups for the mid-19th century Briles family—particularly valuable in a time and place where census records did not list household members by name before 1850.
Source:
North Carolina, Randolph County. Record of Wills, 1773–1964. Film #004779428. John Briles, dec’d, October 1857; Vol. 9: page 408; image 565 of 928. Digitized images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org), viewed online 22 November 2025.