Hi, Joe, and everybody.  Good questions.  I have marked my answers with ****
  Paul,

      I have several questions.  Please explain: in the courthouse at Southampton there are both Minute Books and Order Books, what is the difference and what types of information might each have?

  ***  Very early there were many differences, yet over the centuries those terms were used loosely and often almost as synonyms.  Early, the "minute book" was a "day book" or diary of sorts in which a clerk (and sometimes the judge, when the clerk was absent)  made running notes of what happened in the courtroom as the days passed.  Such entries included any unusual incidents, who all appeared that day and why, what witnesses were there, the names of lawyers and judges, and any other events that were noteworthy, including the weather if it was in any sense inclement, literally almost "minute by minute".

  ***The "order books" were/are those notebooks in which the judge or the clerk entered the judges "orders" - the dispositions of cases, and often included his rulings made in the course of trials, rulings on motions, objections, actions of grand-, petit-, and coroners juries and inquests, and such as matters of contempt and the findings of those who listed tithables and raxes.  Anything the judge ruled on went into the order books    Those "order books" later often and in other jurisdictions were called "journals", and entries in those were known as "journal entries".  It should be apparent that many matters in the minute books were critical to the orders found in the order books, and so confusion and duplication reigned.  As a researcher you must carefully review such materials wherever those records are extant.   

  ***Notice that very often at first, and almost always as the 19th century approached, order books were indexed in the names of the parties to whatever actions were being taken, while minute books are almost always in chronological order - BIG difference there.    

      I know you have explained this once before, but I am thick headed.  Persons dying without a will, how are their estates generally handled, and where would find the information regarding such estates?

  ***There are 2 principal categories of death; testate where the decedent left a will, and intestate where there was no such document.  In a will, an executor/executrix was/is nominated by the decedent in the will and usually accepted to that task by the court.  In intestate death, the court appoints a administrator/administratrix who sees to the duties that the executor would have done had there been a will.  In both cases and in all other probate death proceedings the entire purpose is to conclude ALL the Earthly business of the dead person, after which the estate is "closed".  

  ***The volumes that have death records are called variously "estates and inventories", "wills and administrations", "wills and inventories", "testate deaths", "intestate deaths", and sometimes simple "estates records".  Best thing to do is ask anybody working in the courthouse, "Where are the death records, please?"  They will know of what you speak and will send you to that office, whatever it is called in that state. 

     And lastly, on several wills and deeds at the bottom, some signatures are designated "seal" and others "his mark", am I correct in assuming that those that are notated "seal" are an actual signature, whereas those notated as " his mark" would indicate someone who could not sign his name?

  ***Unless the deed is an original (and VERY few are), the word "Seal" or "LS" at the end of the deed simply means that the original had a seal affixed.  The use of seals and the indication that there was one on the original document gradually fell into disuse from 1850ish till the 1950s.  There are no seals required now, however if you wish to attach one to your document, it is perfectly legal to so so.  

  ***The seals had/have nothing to do with the literacy of the persons signing.  The early history of the use of seals is very interesting, but not appropriate for writing here.  Now you know more than anyone will ever ask you about seals and signatures, Joe.  hahaha


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