JOHNSTON COUNTY NC WILL of Josiah Ogden Watson - 1852 File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by dsschultz@juno.com (Donna S Schultz) Filed Johnston County NC WB1/653 Will Josiah Ogden Watson In the name of God Amen, I Josiah Ogden Watson of Pineville Johnston County North Carolina do make, publish and declare the following as my last will and testament. I wish my body in my family vault in the grave yard at Raleigh by the side of my deceased wife & daughter whom it pleased God to call before me and as for my worldly estate and goods I dispose of them all as follows: Item 1 I have a brother John B. Watson in Alabama to whom I have already given all my estate real & personal in the state of Alabama & Mississippi & now I lend to him during his life my negro man Daniel the carpenter & and Daniels wife Sarah, sons Jim & Rocksanna and infant Melvina with their increase born or to be borned after the twentieth Nov 1850 and after the death of my said brother I give the said slaves and their increase to my brother John's children, share and share alike equally to be divided between themselves he should see fit by his will to distribute said slaves otherwise. I give my gold watch to my brother John. Item 2 I have two plantations lying below Smithfield on Neuse River known by the name of the Islands containing in the whole two thousand acres or more in two separate plantations these are in each of said plantations as number of slaves known as belonging to said plantations and all necessary tools stock etc, etc. Now I do hereby give divide & bequeath all that part of said estate which I purchased of Daniel Boone & John Farmers heirs to wit mostly lying north of Pole Cat creek called Austins Plantation and all the salves thereon with their increase born or to be born after 20th November 1850 (being somewhere between forty and fifty in number) and all the improvements, stock, farming tools & everything belonging to it except the provisions and crops unto my nephews George W. Watson son of John B. Watson to have and to hold to him from the end of the year of my death for and during his natural life and at his death to same shall belong to in fee simple to his child or children if he had any alive at his death or the issue of any child of said George W. Watson who may predecease the said George W. Watson, but if the said G. W. Watson should die without such issue living at his death then the whole estate & property shall be equally divided amongst the brothers and sisters of the said George W. Watson living at his death. The other plantation it being that of said estate which lies on the south side of Pole Cat Creek and all the slaves thereon called Jordans Plantation supposed somewhere between forty & fifty with their increase born or to be born after the 20th of November 1850 and all the improvements, stock, farming tools and everything belonging to it except the provisions, crops on hand & growing crops. I devise and bequeath to William H. Watson & Henry B. Watson to have and to hold to them as tenants in common from the end of the year of my death for and during their natural lives and at the said William B. Watson his moriety shall belong to his children or child in fee simple living at his death or the issue of any child of his who may predecease him and at the death of Henry B. Watson his moiety shall belong in fee simple to his child or children living at his death or the issue of any child who may predecease him if either the said William H. Watson or Henry B. Watson should die without such issue living at his death then & that case his share or moiety shall go along with the other share as a part of it & if they should both die without such issue living at their death all the said estate and property shall belong to George W. Watson and his heirs. Item 3 I own lands in Johnston County on the west side of Neuse River called the Brooks & Lockart lands about 2000 acres or more on which these are about fifty slaves or more belonging to said plantation & said slaves and lands are in the occupancy of my half nephew Owen Lowry Dodd the said lands and slaves together with the stock, working tools, improvements, crop, provisions on hand & also a lot of land adjoining the City of Raleigh called the wool factory lot west of a line beginning at a deep ditch below the wool factory gate thence a straight line with said ditch to a point just below the gate on the Holliman Road containing 6 or 8 acres more or less. I do hereby devise & bequeath unto my said half nephew Owen Lowry Dodd to have and to hold to him during his life and at his death the same shall belong in fee simple to his child or children if he has any alive at his death or the issue of any child of the said Owen L. Dodd who may predecease him but if the said Owen L. Dodd should die without such issue living at his death then the whole of the said estate or property shall belong to and be equally divided amongst the children of his brother Dr. Warren Dodd, who are or may be living without issue as aforesaid. I also devise in the same manner in every respect as the foregoing one undivided moriety of my mill on Nuese River mill seat & improvements belonging to the said mills including mill race or canal and water privileges at the place my mill is erected in Johnston County and along with said moriety of the said mill I devise the privilege of getting timber for the saw mill from all my lands adjoining but I don't devise the lands themselves and I do further bequeath Owen L. Dodd forty shares of the stock in the North Carolina Rail Road Company which was subscribed for in my name provided he will pay such installments as remain unpaid on said 40 shares at my death the stock he is to own absolutely & unless he pays the balance owing at my death on said 40 shares he shall not have them but the property given to him shall be changed with the balance provided that this notice of said subscription for said stock is not to be taken as any acknowledgments by me that I owe said company as probably I shall resist their right to demand payments of me at all. Item 4 I give devise and bequeath unto Thomas Ruffin son of Col T. J. G. Ruffin and to his heirs and assigns the following estate and property to wit old Phillis, Big Charles, Cullin and Rilles his wife, Moses and his wife Eliza & all of Eliza's children Richard, Emily, Susan & Ellen, Aron & his wife Caroline son George Hilliard, Pheseby, three daughters Jenny, Cynthia & Manervia, old York and his wife Venus and all their children, Tillman, Nathan Syphronia, Jonas, Sirena meaning all the children that has or will be born in the above family also all the slaves living at the Gully place called Scotts on the Gully Plantation now residing there being about 25 in number with all the crop, stock tools, provisions and every thing else belonging to said plantation also if those negros named & set apart should not make fifty in number then I wish my executors to make up the deficiency by adding to them. Also one half of all my household & kitchen furniture and other property except slaves which are at my Sharon residence not intending however to include state bonds choses in action nor money. Also the one half in value of my lands in Wake county on which I live when I am in Wake County to be laid off on the west side and so as to include the said half of my residence called Sharon to have and to hold to him the said Thomas Ruffin Esqr. & his heirs upon trust for his sister Penninah W. Ruffin shall have to her sole & separate use without the control of any husband she may hereafter marry the profits of said estate and property during her life and upon the further trust that at her death the said estate & property shall be equally divided amongst the children of said Peninah W. Ruffin if any who may survive her absolutely but if any child of hers should die before her leaving issue to survive said Penniah then and in that case such grandchild shall take the shares of its deceased parent. And upon the trust that if the said Peninah should died without leaving any such issue alive at her death then and in that case the aforesaid property & estate shall be divided equally amongst to brothers & sisters of the said Peninah who may out live her yet the shares of her sisters shall in that case be conveyed to them by the said trustees as separate property free from the control of their husbands. And that no part of my intention so secure the said estate & property to my niece Penniah W. Ruffin may be frustrated I do hereby devise & bequeath that if from any cause whatever the legal estate should fail to vest in the trustee aforesaid or if he refuses to act or dies my executor shall have said property conveyed under the advise of a court of equity or for council (learned in the law) in such a way & manner as will carry into effect my purpose viz to settle the said property and estate upon Peninah W. Ruffin for her sole & separate use and afterwards to her children & issue & next kin as aforesaid. Also devise and bequeath in the same manner in all respects for the term of ten years from this date the Gull or Scott plantation in Johnston County whereon the slave given to her reside. Item 5 I give to Col. Thomas Ruffin of Goldsboro one of my executors my negro man Green son of Nancy in addition to any legal service rendered. Item 6 I give to George W. Haywood Esq. of Raleigh one of my executors my negro man Samuel son of Dread in addition to and legal service rendered. Item 7 I give to James B. Shepard Esq. my negro man Ezekiel, son of Fanny now at my River Plantation. Item 8 I give to my old kinsman John Watson of Buckhorn Wake County my negro boy Stanley son of Edna now at the River Plantation. Item 9 I give to heirs E. E. Haywood & her sister Frances Haywood daughter of the late Treasues Haywood my slaves Sophia & Narcissus and such issue as they now have or may have after this date. Item 10 Miss Betty Haywood, eldest daughter of the Hon. William H. Haywood Jr. my negro woman Elmsley daughter of Nicey and such issue as Elsmley now have or may hereafter have. I also give her my man slave Yarick now at Pineville & and he is the husband of Nicey Barks a slave belonging to her father. Item 11 I hereby direct my executors to give to Josiah Watson Gully a collage education and the reasonable and necessary expenses thereof I charge upon my estate. This however is a benevolence to my namesake which he is not to claim or be entitled to have unless his conduct should be honorable and moral and thereafter I leave it discretionary with my executors and acting upon their determination I make young Gully right to his (profatia) provision dependant upon their discretion or that of a majority should they disagree. Item 12 I give my small carriage & harness and a pair of horses called Petersburg & Raleigh to Dr. Richard S. Mason. Item 13 The houses and lots I own in co-partnership with John Buffaloe (viz) all my interest in these I desire to be sold and the proceeds of said sale & all sent due on them I direct my executors to pay to the vestry and wardens of Christ Church Raleigh or to such persons as may be appointed trustees of the prodestant Episcopal Church or congregation at Raleigh for the purpose of building a steeple or tower to the new church ediface. Item 14 My interest namely my pews VC in the new edafice I devise as follows to J.W.B. Watson, Peninah W. Ruffin, George W. Watson, Thomas Ruffin my executor & nephew O. L. Dodd one pew each. Item 15 Hereby bequeath to my friends William H. Haywood Jr. George E. Badge Esq. five thousand dollars out of my state bonds in trust that they will invest the same in some stock and cause to interest to be so applied forever as a fund to employ a teacher of a parish school for Christ Church Raleigh with the right and privalege to pay over the same five thousand dollars into the hands of trustees to be appointed by the congregation of Christ Church Raleigh for the purposes aforesaid and I hereby request them to see this trust fund is so secured & protected as to effect the charity hereby intended they acting with the concurrant approbation of the vestry & wardens of Christ Church Raleigh on the premises. Item 16 Lastly all the rest and residue of my property, estate real and person not herein named and herein disposed of with effect I do hereby divest and bequeath as follows after paying my just debts, legacies and funeral expenses and the charges of my estate & executing this will I give the whole unto my nephew John W. B. Watson to have and to hold to him & his use for and during the term of his live and at his death the said estate both real and personal shall belong to such child or children of the said J. W. B. Watson as may be living at his death or the issue of any child who may predecease him and if the said John W. B. Watson should die without issue living at his death then the said estate both real and personal shall belong in fee simple & be equally divided amongst George W. Watson, William H. Watson, Henry B. Watson and Owen L. Dodd & their heirs forever. I nominate and appoint Geo. W. Haywood Esq. Wake Co., Col. Thomas Ruffin of Goldsboro, John Wm. B. Watson, George Washington Watson & O. L. Dodd executors of this my last will. An I do hereby revoke all other wills by me made heretofore. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal the 15th March 1852. J. O. Watson Published and declared as his last will in our presence by J. O. Watson and by him in his presence and at his request. D. Dupree George W. Mordica It is my wish and desire that the present crop now planting may be completed & no devises and legacies paid out until 1st January 1853 where I wish each plantation be allowed one full years support of provisions out of what they make. J. O. Watson Witness D. Dupree George W. Mordica Johnston County Court August term 1852 then was the execution of this will duly proven in open court by the oaths of D. Dupree & G. W. Mordica subscribing witnesses and ordered to be recorded. John H. 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