When a chancery bill involved an estate, the Execution Docket Books provided a wealth of information naming the deceased landowner with a list of heirs and the amount they received, sometimes stating where the recipients were living at the time of the estate settlement. Each settlement commenced with a lawsuit heard before the chancellor. If the chancellor determined that the land in a bill should be sold by decree of partition, the clerk and master held a sale, usually on the courthouse steps, the land going to the highest bidder, generally on time and with interest. "It would appear that the workbook was devised by James A. Greer, clerk and master of the Chancery Court, to aid him in receiving funds from the sale of lands necessitated by the order of the court. Equally important to Mr. Greer, and the court, was the dispersement of the funds in the correct proportion to the legal heirs. These procedures sometimes required several months to conclusion and thus "open cases" were recorded in his workbook." A full-name index is included to aid in locating ancestors.