BERTIE COUNTY    WILL - Pierse, John - 1799

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Will Cooper wcooper@cot.net
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Will of John Pierse

State of North Carolina}
	     Bertie County}

						In the name of God, amen
I John Pierce of the state & County aforesaid, being weak in body, but of
perfect mind and memory, do constitute and ordain this my last will and
testament, Imprimis, I give & bequeath my soul to Almighty God, beseaching
his most gracious acceptance of it, & my body to the earth to be buried in
a Decent Christian burial at the discretion of my Executors herein after
named; ~ and as to my worldly Estate I will dispose of in the following
manner, VIZ - 
	First, I will & possitive order, that as soon as may be all my debts be
paid ~
	Nextly, I give and bequeath to my loving sister Charity Mitchel (wife of
William Mitchel) one hundred pounds Currency, to be paid her as soon as may
be after my decease, to her, her heirs and assigns forever ~
	Item, I give to my loving sister Elizabeth Clemons (widow of George
Clemons) one hundred pounds Currency, to be paid her as soon as may be
after my decease, to her, her heirs, & assigns forever. ~
	Item, I lend to my Dear and loving wife Mary, all the rest & remaining
part of my Estate, both real & personal, during her widowhood (or natural
life,) ~ and after her, my said wife Mary's marriage or death; ~ I give and
bequeath to my said wife's daughter, Jinnett Phillaw, all that part of my
Estate that I have lent to my said wife Mary; to her the said Jinnett, her
heirs, and assigns forever, ~~
	Item, and Lastly, I constitute, and appoint my Brother-in-law John Lester,
& my friend George West, Executors, & my dear and loving Mary Executrix, of
this my last will and Testament, uttirly Revoking & disannulling, all
former Will or Wills, Ratifying this, and no other to be my Last Will and
Testament, In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal this 27th
day of April 1799.

John Pierse
							     (signed)
signed, sealed, Declared
and pronounced in presence of ~		
Wm P Hardy
	Jesse M------


State of North Carolina}
	    Bertie County}			May Term 1799
						The Last will and Testament
of John Pierse Deceased was proved in open court by the oath of
William P. Hardy one of the subscribing witnesses and ordered to be recorded
									George Gray  CC



Notes:

Note the difference in the spelling of the surname: Pierce, Pierse. In the
preamble of the will, the spelling is Pierce: "I John Pierce . . ." I take
it that this spelling is the work of the scribe who wrote down the dictated
will. It is also apparent that the will is signed by the testator’s own
hand and that is clearly:   JOHN PIERSE .   On the jacket of the will the
name is, "John PIERSE" and in the excerpt from the court minutes regarding
the order to record the will the name is also spelled, "John PIERSE." 

Also note the spelling of the name of the secondary beneficiary, 
Jinnett PHILLAW. "PHILLAW" is hyphenated and the spelling is quite clear.
Likewise note the spelling of  "JINNETT." It can NOT be discerned from the
hand written will if the name is" "Jinnitt" or "Jinnett" or "Jennett."
There is no obvious "dot" over the first or second vowels. I have "guessed"
that the correct spelling is, "Jinnett," based on the subsequent will of
Mary Pierse, wife of this John Pierse and mother of this Jinnett Phillaw,
which was proved in Wake Co, NC in 1810. It is apparent that Jinnett (at
that time, married to Blount Cooper) signs in her own hand as witness to
that will. Her signature is clear: "JINNETT Cooper." 

>From these signatures, i.e. "John Pierse" and "Jinnett Cooper" it is clear
that both individuals are literate and have written/spelled their own
names. Hence, I assume as "correct" their spelling of their own names.

Finally, I have recorded the spelling, punctuation and capitalization
exactly as was originally written in 1799 and 1810, respectively. The
scribe who wrote the dictated will of John Pierse was quite obviously
better at spelling, grammar and actual penmanship than the scribe who wrote
down Mary Pierse’s will. I looked at, and held in my hands, the original,
handwritten wills at the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh, NC in
May, 2000

Will Cooper  
November, 2000