Will of Elijah Rettinghouse, St. Clair County, Illinois Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives Copyright 1999 Jim Bridges Copied from the microfilm (available from IRAD at SIU) of the original will by James R. Bridges, 4 Capital Drive, Washingtonville, NY 10992-1342 (jimbridg@frontiernet.net). Will of Elijah Rettinghouse A True Copy In the name of God, Amen! I Elijah Rettinghouse of the County of St. Clair and State of Illinois calling to mind the uncertainty of this mortal life, being in good state of health and sound perfect mind and memory, blessed be the Almighty God for the same, I do make and ordain this to be my last will and testament in manner and form following viz. 1st I give and bequeath unto Alexander Scott all that certain tract of land on which my eldest son Peter Rettinghouse, deceased, formerly lived, on condition the said Scott pays to the said heirs of the aforesaid Peter Rettinghouse, decd, according to contract or otherwise it is to remain with the said heirs, that is to say, Polly McMurry & Elizabeth Short, said tract beginning on the southwest corner, and cornering on a stone, thence running in an easterly direction fifteen chains & thirtynine links, thence running northerly direction the whole length of said tract; I give and bequeath to my son William Rettinghouse all that certain tract of land on which he now lives beginning on a stone on William Scotts line, thence running westerdly sixteen chains fourty links, thence running a Northerly direction the whole length of the said tract & I also give to my son William a horse, bridle and saddle and saddlebags. 3ly I do also give and bequeath unto my youngest son Elijah Rettinghouse all that certain tract of land on which he is now living, said tract beginning at the southwest corner of William Rettinghouse's tract, thence running westerdly Sixteen chains & fourty links, thence running northerdly the whole length of said tract. 4ly I do give and bequeath unto the heirs of my son Cornelius Rettinghouse deceased all that certain tract of land lying & being as follows, viz. beginning at the Southwest corner of Elijah Rettinghouses, thence running westerdly fifteen chains & thirtynine links thence running northerdly the whole length of said tract, the said tract to be equally divided amongst the several heirs of the Cornelius Rettinghouse, decd, that is to say, Isaac Rettinghouse, Elijah Rettinghouse, John Rettinghouse, Canzada Rettinghouse, Catharina Rettinghouse, and Cornelius Rettinghouse. 5thly I do give and bequeath unto my daughter Nancy Phillips all that certain tract of land beginning & covering on the Southwest corner of the heirs of Cornelius Rettinghouse decd thence running Westerdly Eight chains & twenty links, thence running northerdly the whole length of said tract. 6thly I do give and bequeath unto my several daughters & others as I shall hear name, all the certain tract of land beginning & cornering in the South West corner of Nancy Phillips & running westerdly Eight chains and twenty links and cornering on the South East corner of the heir of Peter Rettinghouse decd, thence running Northerdly the whole length of said tract, this said tract to be equally divided between Sarah Scott, Elizabeth Scott, Ruth Larama, Nancy Phillips, & Benjamin F. Rettinghouse, Eliza Carr they two to have equal part of the said tract. 7th I do give and bequeath unto Benjamin Rettinghouse & Eliza Carr the one third of a certain tract of land lying & being in township one south of Range five West, the South East quarter of section No 9 of the third principal meridian. which tract is to be one hundred and fifty acres, and fifty acres of the said tract is to be equally divided with the said Benjamin F. Rettinghouse & Eliza Carr. 8thly I do give and bequeath unto my two daughters Sarah Scott and Elizabeth Scott one hundred acres of Land of the aforesaid above described tract it being in town one South Range five West, the South East quarter of Section Nine which hundred acres is to be equally divided among the two aforesaid; And now it is to be further understood that the remaining balance of ten acres of the above described quarter section including the Lake & fishery, that shall be an equal stock to all my heirs, that is to say, to Wm Rettinghouse, Elijah Rettinghouse, Sarah Scott, Elizabeth Scott, Ruth Larama, Nancy Phillips, Benjamin F. Rettinghouse, & Eliza Carr, they two to have one share with the rest and they are to have the same jointly and severally for their only use & Benefit. 9thly I do further give and bequeath to my four daughters & R. F. Rettinghouse & Eliza Carr which two is to have on share that is to say Sarah Scott, Elizabeth Scott, Ruth Larama, Nancy Phillips, Benjamin F. Rettinghouse, Eliza Carr, all my goods and chattels & I everything to me belonging after my funeral charges are all paid & which shall all be eaqueally divided among the aforesaid. And now I do hereby ordain and appoint William Rettinghouse & John Stuntz, Executors of this my last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all former Wills by me made, in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & Seal this Eighth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand Eighthundred and twenty nine. Signed in presence of Test. Elijah Rettinghouse seal Wm Phillips David W. Thompson John Stuntz State of Illinois, St. Clair County The within Will being this day presented for Probate, William Phillips and David L. Thompson witnesses, whose names are subscribed to the same or such, appeared, and the said Witnesses declared on oath, that the said Testator Elijah Rettinghouse did sign and seal the same in their presence and declared the same to be his last Will and testament And the said witnesses further declare that they respectively signed their names thereto in the presence of the said testator, and in the presence of each other, and of John Stuntz, who also signed his name at the same time as a witness and that the said Testator, was at the time of executing the same of a sound and disposing mind. Sworn to and Subscribed before me Wm Phillips this 12th March 1831 David W. Thompson John Hay, Judge of Probate I do therefore hereby prove, approve and allow the foregoing testament this day exhibited as the Last Will and testament of Elijah Rettinghouse decd Given under my hand this 12th March 1831. John Hay, Judge of Probate We do solemnly swear that this writing contains the true last Will and Testament of the within named Elijah Rettinghouse deceased so far as we know or believe, and that we will well and truly execute the same by paying first the debts and then the Legacies mentioned therein, so far as his goods and chattels will thereunto lend and the Law charges us. And that we will make a true and perfect inventory of such goods and chattels, rights and credits as may come to our hands and knowledge belonging to the Estate of said deceased and render a fair and just account of our Administration when thereunto required by Law, to the best of our Knowledge and abilities. Sworn & subscribed before me Wm Rettinghouse this 19th of March 1831 his X mark John Hay John Stuntz Judge of Probate Recorded this Nineteenth day of March Eighteen hundred and thirtyone. John Hay, Judge of Probate ------------------------------------------------------------------ USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organiza- tions or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contri- butor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ----------------------------------------------------------------- File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: James Bridges