USGenWeb NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation. Will & Probate Records of Ebenezer Miller Pkt. 378, Pontotoc Co., Mississippi, dated 1847 Transcribed from a courthouse copy by Sandra Lake (Newton) Lassen November 1996 with original spelling and punctuation intact The last will and testament of Ebenezer Miller of Pontotoc County, Mississippi. Be it known that I Ebenezer Miller of said county and State, being of sound mind, do make, ordain and appoint, this to be my last will and testament. Item lst: I desire that my funeral expenses and all my just debts shall be paid, and my executors are hereby empowered to sell such portion of my personal property as may be necessary for that purpose. Item 2nd: I desire that all my personal property shall be kept together on the place where I now reside, for and during the natural life of my wife Margery Miller, to be used and worked for the benefit and support of my said wife, and of such of my children as may continue to reside with her. Item 3rd: I give and bequeath to my daughter Susan my negro woman named Sarah and her child named Tom. Item 4th: I give and bequeath to my daughter Margaret Ann, my negro woman named Betty and her youngest child named William. Item 5th: I give and bequeath to my son Robert Alexander my negro man named Stepney and his two children, one named Esther, and the other named Israil, and also that parcel of land known and designated as the South East quarter of Section Thirty Six, in Township Nine, of Range Three East, according to the survey of the Chickasaw Cession, lying and being in the county of Pontotoc; and it is to be understood that this bequest is in full payment for all services which my said son Robert A. has heretofore rendered in attending to my business. Item 6th: It is further my will and desire that if either of my children Susan, Margaret Ann, or Robert Alexander, shall desire to live separate and apart from their mother, instead of residing with her during her lifetime, such child shall be at liberty to take with them for their own separate use, the negroes bequeathed t them respectively above. Item 7th: It is my will that in the event of the death of either of my children provided for in this my will, without issue living at their death, the share or portion of such child, shall belong and be distributed to my surviving children and their heirs of such as may have died leaving issue. Item 8th: It is my will that after the death of my wife, all the rest and residue of my property, both real and personal, and the increase thereof, shall be equally distributed amongst all my children, share and share alike, with this exception that the share and portion of said property which shall be allotted in the distribution to my daughter Jane Pickens Norwood shall remain in the possession of my sons Andrew Miller and Hugh R. Miller, and shall be held by them in trust, for the benefit of my said daughter Jane Pickens, and of her children, and shall be paid by said trustees to her, or in case of her death, to her children when they become of age respectively, in such sums and at such times as in their opinion may be proper. Item 9th: I do ordain, constitute and appoint my sons, Andrew Miller and Hugh R. Miller my executors, to execute this my last will and testament. In testimony that the forgoing three pages contain my last will and testament, I hereunto set my hand and affix my seal this 31st day of August A.D. 1847. [signed] Ebenezer Miller [seal] Witnesses: Jas. D. Brome A. H. Aston Madison King The State of Mississippi Pontotoc County In the probate Court of said County At the March term A.D. 1849 In the matter of a certain instrument of writing purporting to be the last will and testament of Ebenezer Miller Deceased. Be it remembered, that at a term of the Probate Court of the County of Pontotoc in the state aforesaid begun and held at the court house in and for the county aforesaid on the first monday in March in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred and forty nine personally appeared in open court, James D. Brome, A. H. Aston, and Madison King, Subscribing witnesses to a certain instrument of writing purporting to be the last Will and testament of Ebenezer Miller late of Said county, deceased, bearing the date the 31st day of August A.D. 1847 who having first been duly Sworn, deposed and Said that Ebenezer Miller Signed Sealed published and declared Said instrument as his last will and testament in the presence of these deponents on the day of the date thereof that Said testator was then of sound [note: word "mind' was struck through] disposing mind and memory and more than twenty one years of age and that these deponents subscribed said instrument as witnesses thereto at the instance and request and in presence of Said testator and also in the presence of each other on the day and year above Said Sworn to and Subscribed Jas D. Brome in Open Court this the 5th day of March A.D. 1849 A.H. Aston Wm Spencer Madison King Judge of probate ______________ Filed for record this 5th day of March 1849 & Recorded in Book 4 of Record of Wills and administration on page118. 119. & 120 J. A. Forentvatt (?) Clk By B. C. Earb (?) Dept clerk Recording fee 55¢ ________________ Pkt 378 Ebenezer Millers Estate To the Hon. Probate Court of Pontotoc County. The petition of Hugh R. Miller and Andrew Miller Executors of the last will and testament of Ebenezer Miller deceased late of said county, shows that said testator by his last will and testament bequeathed all the rest and residue of his property, after naming certain specific legacies, To be equally distribute amongst all his children, share and share alike; and that said testator left at the time of his death nine negro slaves not specifically devised. Petitioners show that said slaves are incapable of division in kind, and petitioners represent that a sale of said slaves will be absolutely necessary as a preliminary step to the division and distribution of said slaves. Petitioners show that said Ebenezer Miller left surviving him and now living, 1. Andrew Miller, 2. Ebenezer Erskine Miller, 3. Jane P. Norwood wife of Wesley C. Norwood, 4. Susan Miller, 5. Hugh R. Miller, 6. Robert Alex.Miller & 7. Margaret A. Miller, your petitioners Hugh R. Miller & Andrew Miller, and the others named above, being the only children devisees or legatees of said testator, and the only persons interested in said negro slaves, and that said children are all of lawful age To represent their interests in this behalf. Petitioners show that all of said children and parties interested in said slaves reside in the County of Pontotoc, State of Mississippi, except Jane P. Norwood and Wesley C. Norwood her husband who reside in Abbeville District, South Carolina. Petitioners therefore pray that Said Ebenezer E. Miller, Susan Miller, Robert Alex. Miller and Margaret A. Miller may be summoned to be and appear before this Hon. Court, on a day certain, and that an order of publication of citations To said Jane P. Norwood and Wesley C. Norwood may be granted, requiring them and each of them, To appear before this Hon. Court on a day certain, To show cause, if any they can, against the sale of said slaves, and that a proper time, a sale of said slaves may be decreed by your Honor, & that such other orders & proceedings may be had, as to your honor many seem meet & proper. And your petitioners as in duty, &c. Petitioners state that said negro slaves are named and described as follows, Ben, a man aged about 45 years, Harry, a man aged about 35 years, Mose, a man aged about 60 years, Eliza, a woman aged about 23 years, and her three children, Inde, a woman aged about 70 years, and Isaac a boy aged about 11 years. Sworn To subscribed in Andw Miller open court, Sec. 8th 1856 Hugh R. Miller John [last name obscured] Robert [last name obscured] Transcriber: Sandra Lake Lassen, 1499 Lakeside Drive, West Jefferson, NC 28694 or email: slassen@infoave.net