Orange County NcArchives Wills.....Moore, George J March 30, 1857 ************************************************ 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: Ben Franklin ben.franklin.ffru@gmail.com May 2024 Source: Loose Will, NC Archives CR 073.801, Will Book H, page 204-208 Written: March 30, 1857 Recorded: Jul 1879 Testator: George J Moore I George J Moore of the County of Orange & State of North Carolina, being of sound Mind and Memory Do make and declare this my last will and testament, in manner and form following, That is to Say First, My Executor (hereinafter named) shall provide for my Body a decent burial & pay all funeral expences 2d, My said Executor is to pay all my just & lawfull debts to whosoever owing, out of Moneys that may first come into his hands 3d I Give and devise to my beloved wife, all the residue of my property of whatsoever Kind and description, the same to be held by her, and sub- ject to her entire Control and disposal, and Lastly, I do hereby constitu[t]e and appoint my Dear Son George J Moore my lawfull Executor, to execute this my last Will and Testament In witness whereof I the said George J Moore do hereunto set my hand and seal this 30th March 1857 Signed sealed & declared by the } said George J Moore to be his } Signed last will & Testament in the } Geo J Moore (Seal) presence of us, who at his } request & in his presence, do } subscribe our names as } witnesses } Witnesses } (Signed) J B Jones A Mickle [Will Book H, page 204] In the Probate Court July 14th 1879 Orange County } In the Probate Court } Before George Laws Judge of Probate, In the matter of the will of George J. Moore Mrs. Mary E. Moore, widow of the late George J. Moore respectfully show that he said husband died in Orange County in the year 1857, leaving him surviving your petitioner and several children. some of whom have since died, so that the following now constitute his only heirs at law and next of kin. -to wit- A.D. Moore, William H. Moore and John S. Moore, his sons and all of full age; Carrie Moore an infant and daughter of a deceased son George Moore, Mary V. Moore, wife of Eleck Dawson, Lousia Emorey, Georgeina Emorey, Joseph H. Emory, R. S. Emorey and Lilly Emorey, children of a deceased daughter, Mrs. Julia R. Emorey. That the property of her said husband consists of a track[sic] of land near Chapel Hill surposed[sic] to be worth one thousand dollars. That her said husband just before his death made & published ["his" x-out] a last will ["and" x-out] & testament duly executed to pass both real & personal estate & codicil attached thereto, both dated the 30th day of March 1857 & both witnessed by Mr. Andrew Mickle & Dr. J. B. Jones, that the said Mickle wrote said will & codicil & the said testator left he same with him to preserve, who did keep the same until after the death of her said husband & continued to keep the same for some time after his death, when he gave the same to the executor therein named (to wit) George J. Moore his son, now dead aforesaid, that while keeping the said will in his possession & after the death of this testator who died without ever revoking the same; the said Mickle copyed the said will & a paper hereunto attach is the copy so made by him & is a true & perfect copy & every part thereof, that the original will is lost & after diligent se[a]rch cannot be found & as the said executor is unable to account for its lost[sic]. she therefore prays this honerable Court to admit to Probate the said last will of her said husband, taking proof thereof by the copy hereunto attached and she will ever pray &c Graham & Ruffin Attos for Petitioner [Will Book H, page 205] State of North Carolina } In Probate Court Orange County } This being a proceeding to prove the last will of George J. Moore deceased, before me the undersigned George Laws Judge of Probate of said County on the motion of Graham & Ruffin Attorneys for Mrs. Mary E. Moore the widow of the said deceased, by the oath & examination of Andrew Mickle Esqr. & Dr. Johnson B. Jones the subscribing witnesses thereto, when the said Mickle being by me duly sworn says that he was called on by the late George J. Moore then being at Chapel Hill in said County & just before his death to write his last will; that he did write the same when the said Moore executed it & published it as his last will in presence of affiant & Dr. Johnson B. Jones the other subscribing witness that affiant & the said Jones then witnessed the same in the presance[sic] of said deceased & at his request, that on the same day at the request of said deceased affiant wrote a codicel[sic] to said will which was signed by said deceased & declaired[sic] to be a part of his will & which was duly witnessed by the same parties & at the request of said deceased that at the time the said deceased signed both the said wills & codicel & at the time this affiant & the said Jones subscribed the same as attesting witnesses as aforesaid the said George J. Moore was of sound mind & memory of full age to execute said will & codicel & was under no restraint to the knowledge of affiant.. affiant further says that at the request of said Moore, affiant kept said will until the death of said Moore & for some time thereafter when he gave the same to George J. Moore a son of testator, who was named as the executor thereof & affiant is informed that the same was lost by him the said executor & since his death cannot be found, affiant fu[r]ther says that while the said will & codicel were in his custody he made the copy attached to the petition of the widow Mrs. Mary E. Moore & verily believes the same to be a full true & perfect copy of the said will & codicel of the said George J Moore the testator, that the said will & codicel were written by ["the" x-out] affiant & signed by said testator & attested as aforesaid on the 30th March 1857 as affiant believes Subscribed & sworn to } before me this 14th day } A. Mickle (seal) of July 1879 } Geo Laws Probate Judge [Will Book H, page 206] Johnson B. Jones being duly sworn say that the late George J. Moore did in his presence & just prior to his death in 1857 executed a paper & declaired the same to be his last will & on the same day another paper which he declaired to be a codicel thereto, that he execute ["the" x-out] said will & codicel in the presence of affiant & Andrew Mickle who both at his request in his presence subscribed the same as the attesting witnesses thereto, that at the time the said deceased signed the said will & codicel & published the same as his will & at the time the same was attested as aforesaid he the said deceased was of sound mind & memory of full age to make a will & was not under any restraint to the knowledge to affiant or to his believe & affiant verily believes that the copy attached to the petition of Mrs. Mary E. Moore is a true & perfect copy of said last Will & codicel of the said George J. Moore deceased. Subscribed & sworn to } before me this the 14th } J. B. Jones M. D. (seal) July 1879 } Geo Laws Probate Judge North Carolina } In Probate Court Orange County } In the matter of the will of George J. Moore deceased this case coming on to be heard upon the petition of Mrs. Mary E. Moore & the affidavits of Andrew Mickle Esqr & Dr. Johnson B. Jones it is declaired that George J. Moore who died in said County in 1857 just prior to his death did execute a paper writing as a last will & testament & a codicel thereto & published the same on the 30th day of March 1857 as such will & codicel in the presence of said Mickle & Jones who in his presence & at his request subscribed the same as the attesting witnesses thereto, that the said will & codicel are now lost but the copy thereof attached to the foregoing petition of Mary E. Moore is a true & perfect copy of said will & codicel & that at the time of Executing the same & at the time the same was attested as aforesaid the said Moore deceased was of sound mind & memory. It is therefore considered by the Court that the said paper [Will Book H, page 207] writing & every part thereof is the last will of said George J. Moore deceased & the same is ordered to be recorded & file this 14th Jul 1879. Geo Laws Clerk Superior Court & Ex officio Probate Judge And the said paper writing is in words and figure following (To wit) [Will repeated here] Whereas I George J. Moore having made my last will and testament the same being annexed I do by this which I declair to be a codicel to my said will as a part thereof do will and direct that a negro girl Kate be given to my grandson Thomas Loyd Moore son of William H. Moore Over [Will Book H, page 208] In testamony[sic] whereof I set my hand and seal this 30th day of March A.D. 1857 } Signed sealed and declaired } by the said George J. Moore } Signed to a codicel or part of his } George J. Moore (seal) last will & testament in } presence of us who at his } request & in the presence } of each other do subscribe } our names as witnesses } Signed J. B. Jones A. Mickle Additional Comments: Will Book H, page 204-208 Recorded Jul 1879 The loose will transcribed above is a copy. All of the signatures are in the same handwriting as the body of the will. Full names of signatories: "A Mickle" is Andrew Mickle and "J B Jones" is Dr. Johnson B. Jones Will Book copy includes a petition by Mary E. Moore, the testator's widow, with the originals in the same folder as the loose will. The will book version also includes a codicil, transcribed above, but not found with the loose will. No estate papers found.