Onslow County NcArchives Wills.....Morton, Peter November 1, 1795 ************************************************ 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: Bill Gibson bgibson@uncfsu.edu February 8, 2006, 5:24 pm Source: North Carolina State Archives Written: November 1, 1795 Recorded: April 1796 In the name of God Amen I Peter Morton of Onslow County being Weak in body but of sound mind and memory do make and Ordain This my Last will and Testament in manner & form following First I recommend my soul to god Who gave it #hoping# through the Merrits of my blessed Saviour to receive free pardon of all my sins & as to such worldly Estate as it hath pleased god to bless me with I dispose of in the following maner First I give & bequeath to my son Micajah Morton fifty five acres Of Land whereon he now lives to Him and his heirs for ever also I give to my son Micajah a negro Boy named Fryday to him and His heirs & assigns for ever Secondly I lend to my beloved Wife Anna Morton the plantation Whereon I now live also a negro girl Named Sal and a negro boy named Luke during her Life or Widehood [end of page] Thirdly I give and bequeath to my son Richard Morton a negro boy named Will to him and his heirs and assigns Forever. Fourthly. I give and bequeath to my Daughter Anna Morton a negro Girl named Nisa to her and heir Heirs lawfully begotten of her body Fifthly I give to my daughter Easter Morton A negro girl named Sefi to her and Heir hirrs lawfully begotten of her body. My Will is that the plantation whereon I now live at the death of my wife I give and bequeath to my son Benjam in Morton to him and his heirs for ever also I give to my said Son Benjamin Morton at my Wifes deceas a negro boy named Luke to him and his heirs forever I give to my son Peter Morton a piece Of land lying between the little swamp And the land I bought of John Starkey Then along the first line of said #pating# To the second Corner No 12o W 73 poles also a negro boy named George to him and his heirs forever [end of page] I give to my son Asa Morton a piece of Land lying on long branch which I bought of John Starkey also a Tract Of Land lying #Frderick# Woods Plantation also a negro boy named Sutton to him and his heirs forever I give to my daughter Susanna Morris At the death of my wife a negro Woman named Sal to her and her Hirs lawfully begotten of her body I give and bequeath to my daughter Elean Ball a negro women named Cate to her and herr heirs lawfully Begotten of her body My will is that all the rest of my estate Which is not mentioned in the above Will I leave to be equally divided amongst my Five Children at the death or marriage Of my wife #X# Peter Morton Asa Morton Easter Morton Anna Morton & Benjamin Morton Lastly I nominate and appoint My two sons Micajah & Peter Morton & James Ball executors to this my Will revoking all Other Will or Wills by me made ratifying and Conferring this to be my last [end of page] Will and Testament in witness Whereoff I have hereunto set my Hand and seal this first day of November 1795 Signed in the his Presence of us Peter -X- Morton Mark William W Taylor x his Tommas -X- Littleton Mark her Anna -X- Biddle mark Peter Morton #qualifxxxx# Onslow County In Court April term 1796 This will of Peter Morton was proved by Wm. W. Taylor & Peter Morton one of the Ex. Qualified thereto R W Snead [end of document] Additional Comments: The above transcription of the handwritten Will of Peter Morton, was taken from the original document found in the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh, NC. I tried to be true as to the spelling, words per line and punctuated as nearly as I could determine. I have placed questionable words and characters between # signs and offered explanations below. Explanations of indecipherable or questionable words and symbols: #hoping# I could not discern what word this might be. However after "Googling" the phrase, without the word in question, I found the phrase, "Almighty God who gave it me hopeing through the Merrits of my Saviour..." online in a Will of William Howard (1730) St. Mary's Co., MD [http://files.usgwarchives.net/md/stmary/wills/howard-w.txt]. So, I believe the correct word to be "hoping". #pating# may be the word, "platting" regarding "drawing" methods. Explantion regarding the survey measurements in the document. It appears that 1 pole was equal to about 16.5 feet, so 73 poles would equal about 1,204.5 feet. #Frderick# Woods Plantation There is a large space before the name, but I could not tell if anything had been erased or washed out. The name starts with an ornate "F" which is also found in the slave's name, Fryday. I'm not sure of the next couple of characters, but the name ends in "erick". I presume this is a man's name. #X# There is an ornate character which starts the list of 5 children's names. I don't think it's a word or an ampersand, but a special symbol of the day. #qualifxxxx# The end of the word is partially washed out. I would suppose that it is "qualified". Several words in the will use the "double S" character of the day, such as "bleS" for "bless". [Note: The signature of ‘R W Snead’ is ornately formed. I believe this would be the Robert W Snead that shot and killed Colonel George Warren Mitchell on August 12, 1791 and was convicted of the murder, but later was pardoned by the Governor. John Starkey, was the father of Phoebe Ogden Starkey who married George Warren Mitchell, the son of Colonel Warren Mitchell.] List of Persons Named in the Document (in order of their first being named): Peter Morton (testator) Micajah Morton (son, executor) Fryday (slave, negro boy) Anna Morton (wife) [Anna Newton] Sal (slave, negro girl) Luke (slave, negro boy) Richard Morton (son) Will (slave, negro boy) Anna Morton (daughter) Nisa (slave, negro girl) Easter Morton (daughter) Sefi (slave, negro girl) Benjamin Morton (son) Peter Morton (son, executor) John Starkey (seller of land) George (slave, negro boy) Asa Morton (son) Sutton (slave, negro boy) Susanna Morris (daughter, married) Elean Ball (daughter, married) Cate (slave, negro woman) James Ball (executor, husband of Elean) William W. Taylor (witness) Tommas Littleton (witness) Anna Biddle (witness) R. W. Snead (probate judge) List of Children Named in the Will: Micajah Morton Richard Morton Anna Morton Easter Morton Benjamin Morton Peter Morton Asa Morton Susanna Morton (Morris) Elean Morton (Ball) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/onslow/wills/morton53gwl.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ncfiles/ File size: 7.1 Kb