Johnston County NcArchives Wills.....McLeod, John 1847 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Mark Valsame MV66NC@msn.com August 17, 2018, 3:13 pm Source: N C Archives Written: 1847 Will of John McLeod Johnston County, NC Original Wills, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC; Recorded Copy, Johnston County, NC Will Book 1, 1760-1859, pp. 626-630. Devised December ___, 1847, Proven February Term, 1850. In the name of God Amen, I John MacLeod of the County of Johnston deeply considering the certainty of death and the importance of being duly prepared for its coming as well in spiritual preparation, as in a satisfactory disposition of what worldly wealth or property may surround one. Therefore, under these considerations I do make this writing my last Will and Testament and place it among my valuable papers that it may be established in due conformity with law, if it should please my Almighty God to cut me off suddenly without an opportunity of adding to or altering it. This my handwriting and signature being so well known in this community that surely there can exist no doubt of its genuiness and made with proper mind and reflection. As it hath been the holy will and pleasure of my God to take from this Life before me all my dear children and do leave me as it were alone in family, it devolves upon me to look around for those to whom I had rather give my property than leave it subject to strife and controversy between such as it might neither improve or make happier. Should death take me hence leaving my wife (now in Mississippi) surviving, my will is that she shall have the following named Negroes, being all the negroes of my Estate which came to me through her and one (Penny) over to wit Sarah, Rossetta, Phereby, Ailey, Rufus, Romulus, and Penny - the latter being now in waiting on her mistress in Mississippi, with all their increase and also negro men Sam Balt and Adam the latter in Mississippi also to her and her heirs forever, Together with a bed and furniture and such bed furniture as Quilts and counterpanes, as may be in the house of her own design and work and also a bureaux with five hundred dollars as her years support and the use and injoyment of my Bona Vista plantation as long as she lives, only, if she should choose to live thereon, but if she should not choose to live thereon, the use and enjoyment of it is to follow the fee simple right of it. My will and desire is to provide for the comfort of my well tried friend William H. Morning having found him long a faithful and endearing friend but as he is now under old prawning embarrassments, which cannot be well paid out of this my bequest to him, I do therefore, and for that reason, will, bequeath, and give unto Hiram W. Husted and George W. Haywood as Trustees for the use benefits and enjoyments of William H. Morning to them and their assigns for ever the following property (viz) my lots in the Town of Smithfield No. 13, 14, 15, 16, and 117 with all my Houses and improvements thereon - together with my dear Bona Vista Plantation containing with the adjoining tracts of lands from fourteen to twenty hundred acres (see my Title papers) but on which my wife it to enjoy a life estate if she may choose to live thereon as herein before mentioned - and together with the following negroes (viz) Phillis and her children, Juliet and Guilford and husband, Nat and Frank and Davy - to them the said H. W. Husted & George W. Haywood Trustees as aforesaid to them and their heirs forever. Upon more reflection I do add negroes Erasmus and Dennis to these given in the last item to H. W. Husted and George W. Haywood Trustees as aforesaid. And should the said William H. Morning die and depart this life before this Trust may be fully executed or dissolved - my will is that he may dispose of all that is herein given in Trust for his use and benefit to whomsoever he may desire in right and in fee. But further in regard to this provision made for the use and benefit of William H. Morning my will and desire is that the aforesaid Trustees may as soon as they may be thereunto required by the said William H. Morning in writing in proper form, coming in fee simple and in all right to himself above all and singular the foregoing property hereby devised to them as Trustees for his use and benefit. I hope that he may be able to keep and improve my dear Bona Vista residence as long as he may live. The next object of my care and providence is my dear female friend Nancy Avera daughter of my near neighbor David Avera. She has long been a favorite of mine. She has long and often been a member of my Household. She has known and witnessed many of afflictions and with as pure and virtuous a heart as ever beat, she has deeply sympathized and shared in my sorrows, pure and religiously chaste, as I know and believe her to be, and so thus pronounce her, as if on my deathbed she feels near to me and more like near kindred that has been around me, than any other. And therefore I will and bequeath unto said Nancy Avera the following negroes, viz., Hanah, Lualla, Winey, Ensly, Kenan, William and Atlas and all their increase to her the said Nancy and her heirs for ever - provided however that the said Nancy may be unmarried at the time of my death I desire of my executors that all my business be immediately closed by sales and collections to meet all my obligations and that a fund may be created as well to pay off my debts, as bequests in money hereafter made, my will and desire is that my executors sell to the best advantage either by private or public sale or by both and upon such credits as the conditions of my indebtedness may allow, the following property not heretofore mentioned (viz) my Turpentine Distillery in Smithfield and all its distilling attachments - all my Turpentine or piney woods lands lying on the east side of Neuse River, being in various tracts and in quantity about two thousand acres and a Tract of three or four hundred acres on the west side of the Neuse on the Poplar Creek, and with all this land and distillery that my executors further sell my valuable Cooper Buster and Carpenter Ben and Elkam, a good leather worker, and valuable woman Mily and all her children to go with her, so also woman Angelina and her son Elbert and other children if she may have such, and negro woman Beck who is ____ - and also that my said executors sell upon usual terms and conditions all my crops, stock of every description, provisions, utensils, and furniture of all and every kind, and all property of whatever nature and kind not herein devised, or enumerated all to create a fund as aforesaid. It is of my opinion at the time of this writing, that the proceeds of such a sale as above directed will amount to $8000 or upwards. I may be mistaken - but out of the proceeds of such sale after paying my debts - my will and desire is, that each one of the daughters of my brother Alexander McLeod who may be living at my death shall have Three hundred dollars each - to be paid over to a guardian, or to each one as she becomes of age. So also to each of his two sons Marshall and Julius [McLeod] I give and bequeath two hundred dollars each. So also I give and bequeath to each of the four children left by my deceased sister Nancy McLean long since deceased, or to their legal representatives the sum of three hundred dollars each – that is Three hundred dollars each to the said four children left living by my sister Nancy. I do also give and bequeath to the two maiden daughters of my half brother John MacLeod of Thornton, Cumberland County, one hundred and fifty dollars each to be paid to them by my Executors. Out of the said fund is to be raised or reserved the five hundred dollars herein before bequeathed my wife and which may be extended to a thousand dollars if there is enough of said sales to do so and to answer the other bequeaths and demands on the said fund. I give and bequeath unto my valuable and beloved friend Hiram W. Husted one thousand dollars to him and his heirs for ever, and to my dear sister only one living Betsy Buffalow one hundred dollars to be laid out by her in some token of remembrance of me - She is like myself without children and does not need, or this bequest would have been larger. I also give and bequeath unto John MacLeod Smith, now an infant and son of Alvin & Harriet Smith of Lawrence Co. Mississippi one hundred dollars to be if possible put at compound interest until he becomes of age. I also give to each of my executors hereafter named one hundred dollars each over and beyond the usual allowance for settlement of my Estate. I do also give and bequeath to my worthy and dear friend Doctor John B. Beckwith my body servant Boy Romeo, with a hope that they may be acceptable to each other through a long life. I also give and bequeath to William H. Morning all my Library and Books and papers of every description and also my gold Watch as a memento - and also to my aforesaid favorable and dear Nancy Avera my gold spectacles as a remembrance. If there should be any remainder left of the proceeds of such sales as hereinbefore directed to be made, my will and desire is that such balance or remainder be equally divided between my wife and the Trustees aforesaid for the use and benefits of William H. Morning. On the other hand should I be mistaken and that such proceeds of sales may not amount to a sum sufficient for all the demands made thereon by the various bequests above, then and in such event my will and desire is that the monies, legacies, or bequests herein made shall each suffer such abatements or scale in the fund as shall make them equal in proportion as their respected amounts may be to the fund for their use. I further will and desire of my Executors that they may enclose over my grave a suitable monument and that they enclose the same as well as the grave of my dear [son] Willis in a permanent and durable manner. And now I do here appoint and designate as my Executors to this my last Will and Testament my truly worthy and esteemed friends Nathan Williams, Bython Bryan, and Hiram W. Husted, who I hope and do faithfully trust will see this my last desires carried into full effect and as near the meaning and plain intent thereof as may be possible according to its provisions. Thus having disposed of all my worldly attainments as best pleaseth me at the time and date hereof and in, and by which I have given unto my wife, such a share or more, as the law would allow her, and all ample and sufficient for her comfort and independence during life, and I hope that all is so plainly directed that there will be no need of disputes or controversies over or about it. In solemn testimony of all which I do hereunto affix my name in my most usual manner of signing it. This the ___ day of December A.D. 1847. Signed & acknowledged In the presence of Jno. MacLeod (Seal) Matthew Avera David Avera Exrs Qualified Johnston County Court February Term, 1850 Then was the execution of this will duly proven in open court by the oaths of Matthew Avera & David Avera the subscribing witnesses thereto and ordered to be recorded. Thomas Bagley Clk [By H. J. Bell – recorded copy] [Elizabeth McLeod widow of John McLeod dissents from will. – recorded copy] Be it remembered that at a Superior Court of Law & Equity held for the County of Johnston, North Carolina on this 4th Monday of March 1850 by M. E. Manley Judge of the said Court – before the said Judge of the said Superior Court and also in open Court. Mrs. Elizabeth McLeod, the Widow of John McLeod deceased, late of Johnston County, in due form of law, dissented from the will of her said husband and from the provisions made for her in and by the said will, as it has been proved & is of record in the County Court of Johnston aforesaid, to wit., at February Sessions 1850, and the said dissent is allowed, and being so made before the said Judge of the Superior Court and likewise in open Court, it is hereby certified & is moreover ordered to be entered of record in said Superior Court & certified to the County Court aforesaid & to all concerned. This dissent of the said widow is not made by her in proper person, but it is made for her by her Attorney Wm. H. Haywood, Jr. Esq., and is permitted so to be because it is now here satisfactorily proved to the said Judge & to said Court that the said Wm. H. Haywood is & hath been duly constituted and is her attorney for the purpose aforesaid and that she the said Elizabeth McLeod by reason of her ill health and bodily infirmity is unable personally to appear before this Court or before the said Judge or before the County Court of Johnston aforesaid. Wherefore the foregoing dissent or the proceedings thereon are hereby certified by me M. E. Manly Judge of the Superior Court aforesaid & the same are also ordered in said Court by me to be recorded in said Superior Court. Witness my hand this 25 March 1850 at Johnston County aforesaid. W. E. Manly Judge Superior Court of Law March Term 1850 Then was this dissent filed in my Court and ordered to be Spead at large on the minute docket & certified to the County Court. H. J. Bell CSC Be it remembered that at a Session of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions for the County of Johnston, North Carolina held this 4th Monday of May 1850 by the Justices of said Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions and also in open Court Mrs. Elizabeth McLeod, widow of John McLeod deceased, late of Johnston County, in due form of law, dissented from the will of her said husband and the provisions made for her in and by the said will, as it has been proven is of record in this court, to wit., at February Sessions 1850 and the said dissent is allowed and being so made before the said Justices of the said Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions and likewise in open Court, it is hereby certified and is moreover ordered to be entered of record in said Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions and certified to the Court aforesaid and to all concerned. This dissent of the said widow is not made by her in proper person, but it is made for her by her Atts. W. H. Haywood, Jr. and S. H. Rogers, S. H. Rogers being present in open Court, and is permitted so to be because it is satisfactorily proved to the said Court and to the said Justices that the said W. H. Haywood and Sion H. Rogers have been duly constituted and are her Atts. for the purpose aforesaid and she the said Elizabeth McLeod by reason of her ill health and bodily infirmity is unable personally to appear before this Court or before the said Justices or any other court of Johnston aforesaid. Wherefore the foregoing dissent or the proceedings thereon are hereby certified by us Robert W. Stephens, Mr. William T. Robertson, and William H. Watson justices of the said Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions and the same are also ordered to be recorded in said Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions. Witness our hands 30th day of [May] 1850 at Johnston County aforesaid. R. W. Stevens Chmn. Transcribed by Mark Valsame, Raleigh, NC. 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