In other cases, the eldest son may be named and may be given a double share of the otherwise equally divided estate. You will often see a father leave his daughter's share of his estate to his daughter's husband. Often it was because a woman was not allowed to own real property or because it was felt that she could not manage the affairs of the bequest. Sometimes, because a father may have settled a dowry on his daughter when she married, the father's bequest may be a smaller one than to other, unmarried sisters. It is also possible that a will may leave an unmarried daughter a larger amount than her sisters, in order to make them equal in their overall share of the father's estate.
Watch wills carefully for names of children.
Don't make any assumptions. In the will, the names Elizabeth and Mary had no comma between them. This led her to suspect that there was one daughter named Elizabeth Mary, rather than two daughters. Further investigation of marriage records in the county bore this out as each of these daughters were married, one a year after her father's death and the other two years later. A father who did not possess a large estate may have made arrangements for the placement of a son as an apprentice or indentured servant.