This book breaks new ground by offering the first detailed and systematic analysis of inheritance practices in New York City from the beginning of Dutch settlement in the 1620s to the onset of the American Revolution. By analyzing a broad range of original sources including more than 2,300 wills David E. Narrett shows how the transmission of property at death reflected the distribution of power and authority within the family.

The author makes an especially important contribution to early New York history by explaining the Dutch origins of social and family customs, and by tracing the...

This book breaks new ground by offering the first detailed and systematic analysis of inheritance practices in New York City from the beginning of Dutch settlement in the 1620s to the onset of the American Revolution. By analyzing a broad range of original sources including more than 2,300 wills David E. Narrett shows how the transmission of property at death reflected the distribution of power and authority within the family.

The author makes an especially important contribution to early New York history by explaining the Dutch origins of social and family customs, and by tracing...