Will of Kinsman Divine: I Kinsman Divine of Madison County in the State of Mississippi in sound and disposing mind knowing the uncertainty of life & being desirous during my lifetime, so to dispose of my real & personal property as to avoid contention and misunderstanding as to the division after my death do hereby make my last will and testament as follows - I nominate constitute and appoint Asa Coleman my son in law, Kinsman C. Divine my son and Elizabeth D. Divine my wife or the survivor or survivors of them to be the executors of this my last will and testament, giving hereby and granting to them all the rights powers and priviledges by law belonging or growing out of the office of executor holding and recieving by this appointment from me full power and authority in law or equity to take possession of, bargain, sell and convey ___ all my real as well as personal estate so as fully to meet the bequests, and carry out the objects and ____ comtemplated in making this last will and testament as is hereafter enumerated. And First of all I require of my executors after they shall have come into possession of all my estate both real and personal in accordance with the laws of the state under this my last will and testament, and in such time and manner as they may concieve to be for the best interest of all concerned to pay out of the same or the proceeds then of all my just and lawful debts of any description whatever, and then to divide the residue of my said estate in the following manner. 1st to give and convey to my grandchild William K. Fly his heirs or administrators acknowledged payment of indebtedness for four hundred and seventy three dollars & ten cents which I hold against his father John D. Fly. Also a Negro man named John who now dead, and also a Negro woman named Evaline now as the possession but nor owned by the said J. D. Fly and another Negro girl named Caroline about fourteen years old and another Negro girl seven [?] years old named Amanda, to him to be as full of his claim as the heir of his mother my daughter Martha J. who died Oct 27, 1846. And also I furthermore appoint and declare that should my said grandson die before he comes of age that then and in that case the property devised and bequeathed to him in this last will and testament shall not descend to his father John D. Fly as heir at law but shall revert to my estate to [be] equally divided among my other children. I further authorize my executors to hold the property of William K. Fly in their possession and manage it to the best interest of the said Wm. K. Fly until he shall become of lawful age to ____ the same. I hereby further appoint & declare that the property bequeathed to each of my daughters by this last will and testament is granted only and burdened always with the condition that it shall in no case & under no circumstances be subject to the debts of their husbands but shall be held by them only and their heirs at all times forever free from all and any obligations at law for the debts and conducts of their said husbands, the same as if they had always remained unmarried. And furthermore I require my said executors to give and convey to Elizabeth D. Divine my faithful and affectionate wife who has been with me in making and taking care of what I now possess, the following servants, to wit Hogun and his wife Maud & the following named children Sally, Frank, Nancy & Jeni; and also a girl by name Frances & Abram & his wife Esther, Giles & Mary & her three children, and also Aggy & June and a girl Milly; and also the west half of Section Thirty- six including all the improvements and also an equal share of all my stock with the other heirs, and also of my farming implements. To be received, enjoyed and disposed of by her, her heirs or assigns as she may appoint or direct. The above named property to be in full of her right of dower in my estate according to law in such cases made and approved. And also I require my said executors to give and convey to each of my children now living their heirs, executors, administrators or assigned an equal proportion share and share alike of all that may belong to my said estate real and personal after the foregoing part of this my last will and testament shall have been complied with, this division to be so made as that one child shall receive just as much as the other. But as three of my daughters who are merried have already received through their husbands a protion of their share of my estate it is hereby declared that the said division of the residue of my estate among my children shall proceed in the following manner. The amount with seven percent interest to the date of division that eah child has received shall be completed as a part of my estate and then in turn in the division the amount that each child has so accrued shall be deducted from his or her share of the residue of my estate. In this manner Emiline, Maggie, Mary and David H Galtrey [?] has already received two thousand four hundred and eight-three dollars, with interest on $203. Dollars of an account ___ January 1832 for $850; from July 1835 for 800 dollars; from January 1837 for 180 dollars, from March 1840 and __ $500 dollars from January 1849 all of which sums are in accordance with accounts filed away with this my last will and testament. And also in January 1835 one Negro man named Jim worth one thousand dollars. And also one Negro girl named Catherine worth five hundred dollars, and also one yoke of oxen worth seventy-five dollars. And also my daughter Mary Ann who is married to Asa Coleman has already received $3033.00 with interest in two thousand six hundred ninty three dollars from January 1835 and $450 said March 1832, and also a Negro girl named Louisa in January 1849 at $500; and also a Negro boy Named Can__ valued at eight hundred dollars. And also my daughter Ann Maria has married William Ford and has received of my estate $3311.00 with interest from January 1830 on $3271.17, and $45.00 from January 1833 and also a note of four hundred dollars of borrowed money, a statement of which is filed away in this my last will and testament, and also I bequeath to my daughter Ann Maria the tract of land on which she lives it being the same tract that I bought from John M. Elder and containing nine hundred and thirty eight acres it being the east half of the SE quarter of Section ninety-two and the SW quarter of Section ninety-three in Township ten Range four & the west half of NW quarter of section four in Township nine all in Range four east valued ninety-three hundred and eighty-five dollars. And also my daughter Laura Neulda I give and bequeath the following named property to wit: a Negro man named Dave at one thousand dollars, one Negro girl named Ellen and her with child and valued at nine hundred dollars and also a Negro woman named Letha valued at four hundred dollars and also a Negro girl named Arnett valued at four hundred dollars and also a Negro boy named John worth four hundred dollars and also a Negro girl named Florida worth two hundred and fifty dollars. And also to my son Kinsman C. Divine I give and bequeath the following property, to wit: his due bill for one thousand dollars which will be filed away with this my last will and testament and also the following property, to wit: one Negro man named Isaac valued at one thousand dollars, and a Negro woman named Eivy [?] & her child Matilda valued at eight hundred dollars and also a Negro woman named Margaret and her child Sarah Ann valued at eight hundred dollars, and also a Negro boy naamed Fred valued at six hundred dollars. And also to my daughter Lydia A. Divine I give and bequeath the following named servants, to wit: Noah, a Negro man & Rachel his wife valued together at fourteen hundred dollars, and also a Negro girl named Sue valued at five hundred dollars, and also a Negro woman named Delia and her two children Melissa and Campbell valued at thirteen hundred dollars, and also my two old servants Tom and Moses, the first servants I ever owned. I wish after my decease that my son Kinsman C. Divine to have Tom one of my old servants ad I wish also after my decease that Nathan [?] F. M. Divine to have my old servant Moses. And I wish these tow old servants to be well taken care of in their old age. In testamony whereof I hereby subscribe this my last will and testament written on this sheet of paper at my own residence in Madison County on this the eighth day of September AD one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five. /s/ Kinsman Divine signed in the presence of: E. D. Divine, A. W. Clark, N. Rabb The State of Mississippi, Madison County} Be it remembered that at a term of the Probate Court of Madison County, State of Mississippi being and held at the Court House Whereof on the second Monday in January AD 1858 Personally appeared in Open Court E. D. Divine, A. W. Clark and N. Rabb subscribing witnesses to a certain instrument of writing purporting to be the last will and testament of Kinsman Divine, deceased, dated the 8th day of September 1855. Now having been duly sworn deposed and said that the said Kinsman Divine signed sealed published and declared said instrument as his last will and testament in the presence of these deponents on the day and year therein written, that said testator was of sound and disposing mind and memory and more than 21 years of age. And that these deponents subscribed the said as witnesses unto at the insistence and request of said testator and in the presence of each other on the day and year aforesaid. It is thenceupon ordered adjudged and decreed that said instrument be established as the true original and last will and testament of the said Kinsman Divine, deceased, and be filed and recorded in this court. Ordered, adjudged and decreed this 11th day of January AD 1858 /s/ A. M. Simmons, Judge of Probate ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Tony Abruscato ====================================================================