At the time this work was originally published, Mr. Grimes, the author/compiler, was the Secretary of State of North Carolina, and, in these pages, published for the first time some of the most interesting wills and inventories that had been filed or recorded in the office of the Secretary of State up until the Revolution. These wills and inventories give an accurate illustration of industrial and social life in the colony of North Carolina during the 17th and 18th centuries, and furnish students of our history an invaluable source of information about economic conditions prior to the Revolution. In selecting the wills for printing, Mr. Grimes intended to choose those that reflected most clearly the varied phases of domestic life of the colony, with a strong inference on the economic conditions in the colony at the time the inventories were made. There are approximately 200 wills and 50 inventories included, and an index that contains approximately 800 individuals. The information contained in each can vary, but often include death dates; the names of the deceased, family members, beneficiaries, executors, and witnesses; and real or personal property bequeathed. The wills and inventories are arranged alphabetically. Paperback, (1912), repr. 2011, Index, 586 pp.