BOSTON—Paul Revere left all his household furniture to an unmarried daughter.
Harriet Beecher Stowe bequeathed her stock in several railroads and a Florida orange grove to her son.
Daniel Webster willed a beloved grandson a gold snuff box with the head of George Washington on it and all his fishing tackle.
Eli Whitney left two nephews $1,000 each.
Such mundane details that shed fascinating insights into the family relationships of some of America’s most famous citizens are now just a mouse click away thanks to Ancestry.com, which has digitized the wills and probate records of about 100 million Americans dating from the Colonial era to the beginning of the 21st century.
Most Americans know the grand narrative of the nation’s most famous historical figures, but the new trove of records contains information not found in most history books.
