Orange County NcArchives Wills.....Ray, David July 31, 1821
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Source: Loose Will, NC Archives CR 073.801, Will Book Volume D, pages 607-610
Written: July 31, 1821
Recorded: Nov 1821
Testator: David Ray

I David Ray of Orange County do make & ordain this paper
writing as my last Will & Testament. ~~

I direct all my just debts to be paid out of my personal estate.

I give & devise to my wife Jane during the term of her natural
life Five hundred and twenty four acres of land where
I live, which is composed of the whole of the lands which I
got from the Estate of my father & grand-father & also of a
small tract adjoining the other two & containing seventy four
acres which I purchased from William McBroom - I also
give to my Wife, in absolute right, all my house hold & kitch
en furniture & utensils, my carriage & harness & a pair of
horses out of my stock, all the stock of family provisions on
hand & a sufficient quantity of Corn, wheat & flour, in the
discretion of my Executor, for the support of herself & her
family for one year. ~~ I also devise to my brother Robert
Ray the tract of land which I purchased from John McCal
-lock in the piney woods containing Two hundred acres
during the Term of his Natural life; but he is not to be at
liberty to clear more land than he & his own hands cultivate
nor to sell timber from the land:~~ Having already con
-veyed to my son Peter the land which I purchased from Per
-kins, I consider him fully advanced out of my real Estate.

To my sons Griffin, George, & Tyree, I give & devise all the
balance of my lands, including the lands given to my wife &
my brother during life, to have & hold the same, wheresoever
situate, to them & their heirs forever & to be divided when Griffith
shall come of age - excepting nevertheless, the land which
I purchased from Mr. Cameron & which I shall otherwise
dispose of in this will. -- And I further will & devise, that if
either or any of my said three sons Griffin, George & Tyree
should die before he or they shall arrive at full age &
without leaving issue living at the time or times or his
or their death, the share or shares of him of them so dying, of
& in the said lands, as well the survived[sic] as the original shares
shall remain & belong to the survivors or survivor of ["those" x-out]
those three sons. ~~ And after the payment of my debts &
exclusive of what I have already given to her in this will, I give
to my wife one ninth part of my whole personal property,
money & debts due to me & as a part of her share. I give her my
servants Yellow Nancy & Sally, at the valuation of my
Executors. -- And after the said Share of my wife shall have
been allotted to her, I direct that my Daughters shall each
                                                    (receive

[page 2]
receive, ["each of them" x-out] the sum of one thousand dollars out of my personal estate, tow-
-ards a satisfaction for the real estate which I have given to my
sons. ~~ And as to the residue of the pers[on]al estate, after the pay
-ment of my debts & the legacies to my wife & daughters. I will & di
-rect that the same be divided into Eight equal parts, where
-of I give one equal share or eighth part of each of my chil
-dren here named viz. Peter, Ellen, Griffin, George, Petronilla,
Peggy Jane, & Tyree: and as I have put into the possession of my
Son Peter & William B Jamison, the husband of my daughter
Ellen, certain slaves & have never conveyed or intended to con
-vey them, but have retained the title in myself. My will
in relation thereto furthermore is that all the said slaves
& their increase to the time of my death be reckoned parts
of my personal estate & that they be kept by my said Son
& my said daughter Peter & Ellen as part of their share of my
said Estate, at the valuation of my Executors; And it is also
my will, that in making the division of my land among my
sons & of my personal Estate among my wife & children.
that no resort to be had to any Court of Justice, but that my
Trustees & Executors hereafter named shall make the
said division themselves, as they may think right & pro
-per, having regard, in their discretion, to keeping the slaves
in families & the convenience of my wife & the equality
of division, in point of value according to the judgment of
My Executors. ~~~ Further my will is & I hereby give
devise & bequeath to my friends Duncan Cameron, James
Webb & Thomas Ruffin the Tract of land whereon my Son
William lives & which I purchased from Mr Cameron, situate
on Little River & containing three hundred & ninety three
acres more or less. To have & to hold to them & their heirs for
-ever; & also the remaining Eighth part of my personal
Estate, to them & their Executors forever: In Trust never
=theless & to the intent & meaning that they shall receive
annually the rents hires & profits of the said land & per
-sonal Estate including said Slaves & their increase & ap
-ply the same to the use & benefit of my said Son William
as an annual support during his natural life; but
the same, that is to say, within the said land & personal Es=
-tate, nor the hires, rents & profits shall be subject to the pay
ment of the debts of said Son nor liable to be sold or assigned
by him; And also, if owing to the habits of any said Son, it
shall seem right & proper in the opinion of my said Trustees
that all the said rents & profits should not be applied to the

[page 3]
use of my said Son, but that a part thereof should be disposed of for the
sapport[sic] & education of his family & Children, then & in that case
my said Trustees are fully authorized & impowered to expend
such part of the said hires, profits & rents to the sapport of my
wife & the Education & maintenance of the Children of my
said Son as my said Trustees, in their unlimited discretion
& private judgment, may think best: And upon the further
Trust, upon the death of my said Son William to convey
& assure the whole of the said last mentioned Tract of land &
the said Eighth part of my personal Estate & the profits
thereof them unexpended to the child or children which
my said Son shall leave then living: ~~ I also ap-
-point my said friends Duncan Cameron, James Webb
& Thomas Ruffin the guardians of all my Infant Chil
-dren, hereby giving to them authority, if they shall think
it best, to dispose of any of the Slaves belonging to them
whose conduct may render it proper to sell them & to
purchase slaves also for the Children ~~~   ~~~   It is fur
-ther my will that ["in case of" x-out] upon the Death of one or more of
my said Trustees, the survivors of survivor shall have
& hold all the said Estates devised to all of them & shall &
may have full power & authority to execute & perform
all the Trusts of this will in as full a manner as all of
them could, if they were all living: ~~~

And further, I appoint my said three friends Duncan
Cameron, James Webb & Thomas Ruffin the Execu
-tors of this will, with a particular request that they all will
prove & act under it. ~~~~

    In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my
hand this 31st day of July 1821. ---

The words "to"-"given" out of my personal   }    David Ray
estate -"that"- -"upon"-"will"- interlines -}
Signed & published by the Testator as       }
his will in the presence of us who          }
subscribed the same as witnesses            }
in the presence of his & Each other         }
                                            }
Wil Kirkland  Jurat                         }
                                            }
David Wood                                  }

[Will Book Volume D, page 607]
I David Ray of Orange County do make & ordain this paper writing
as my last Will & Testament ~~ I direct all my just debts to be paid
out of my personal Estate. I give & devise to my wife Jane during
the term of her natural life Five hundred & twenty four acres of Land
where I now live, which is composed of the whole of the lands which
I got from the Estate of my father & grandfather & also of a small
tract adjoining the other two & containing seventy four acres
which I purchased from William McBroom: I also give to
my Wife, in absolute right all my house hold & kitchen furni-
=ture & utensils, my carriage & harness & a pair of horses out of my
stock all the stock of family provisions on hand & a sufficient quantity of
Corn, wheat & flour in the discretion of my Executor, for the support of her
self & [her] family for one year - I also devise to my brother Robert Ray
the tract of Land which I purchased from John McCullock in the
pin[e]y woods containing two hundred acres during the Term of
his natural life; but he is not to be at liberty to clear more land
than he & his own hands cultivate nor to sell timber from the Land
Having already conveyed to my son Peter the Land which I
purchased from Perkins I consider him fully advanced out of
my personal[real] Estate - To my sons Griffin, George, & Tyree, I give &
devise all the balance of my lands, including the lands

[Will Book Volume D, page 608]
given to my Wife & my brother during life to have & to hold the
same wheresoever situate to them & their heirs forever & to be divided
when Griffith shall come of age - excepting nevertheless, the land which
I purchased from Mr. Cameron & which I shall otherwise dispose
of - in this will - and I further will & devise, that if either or any of
my said three sons Griffin, George & Tyree should die before he or they shall arrive
at full age & without leaving issue leaving[living] at the same time
or times or his or their death the share or shares of him of them
so dying, of & in the said lands, as well the survived as the
original shares shall remain & belong to the survivors or sur=
vivor of those three sons - And after the payment of my debts
& exclusive of what I have already given to her in this will, I
give to my wife one ninth part of my whole personal property
money & debts due to me & as a part of her share I give her my
servants Yellow Nancy & Sally at the valuation of my Executors
- And after the said Share of my wife shall have been all=
otted to her, I direct that my daughters shall each receive
the sum of one thousand dollars out of my personal Estate -
towards a satisfaction for the real Estate which I have giv=
=en to my sons - And as to the residue of the personal estate after
the payment of my Debts & the Legacies to my wife & daughters
I will & direct that the same be divided into Eight equal parts
whereof I give one equal share or Eighth [part] of each of my children here
named (Viz.) Peter, Ellen, Griffin, George Petronilla, Peggy Jane
& Tyree and as I have put into the possession of my Son Peter &
William B Jamison, the husband of my daughter Ellen, certain
negro slaves & have never conveyed or intended to convey them,
but have retained the title in myself, my wish[will] in relation there
to furthermore is that all the said slaves & their increase to
the time of my death be reckoned parts of my personal Estate
& that they be kept by my said Son & my said daughter Peter & Ellen as part of their
share of my said Estate, at the valuation of my Executors; And it is also my will
that in making the division of my land among my sons & of my personal
Estate among my wife & Children that no resort to be had to any Court of
Justice, but that my Trustees & Executors hereafter named shall make
the said division themselves, as they may think right & proper having
regard in their discretion to keeping the slaves in families and
the convenience of my wife & the equality of division in point of
value according to the Judgment of my Executors. ~~~ Further
my will is & I hereby give [devise & bequeath] to my friend Duncan Cameron, James
Webb & Thomas Ruffin the Tract of Land whereon my Son William
lives & which I purchased from Mr Cameron situate on Little
River & containing three hundred & ninety three acres more or
less to have & to hold to them & their heirs forever & also the
remaining Eighth part of my personal Estate to them and

[Will Book Volume D, page 609]
their Executors forever in Trust nevertheless & to the intent & mean-
=ing that they shall receive annually the rents hires & profits of the
said Lands & personal property[Estate] including said Slaves & their
increase & apply the same to the use & benefit of my said son
William as an annual support during his natural life, but
the same, that is to say, within the said Lands & personal estate
nor the hires, rents & profits shall be subject to the payment
of the debts of said Son nor liable to be sold or assigned
by him -- and also, if owing to the habits of any said Son
it shall seem right & proper in the opinion of my said Trustees
that all the said Rents & profits should not be applied to
the use of my said son, but that a part thereof should be
disposed of for the support & education of his family &
Children then & in that case my said Trustees are fully author=
=ized & impowered to expend such parts of the said hires, profits
& rents to the support of my wife & the education [& maintenance] of the Children
of my said Son, as my said Trustees, in their unlimited discretion
& private Judgment, may think best: And upon the further
Trust, upon the death of my said son William to convey and
assure the whole of the said last mentioned Tract of Land & the
said Eighth part of my person[al] Estate & the profits thereof them
unexpended to the Child or Children which my said son
shall leave then living: ~~ I also appoint my said friends
Duncan Cameron, James Webb & Thomas Ruffin the gua-
=rdians of all my infant Children hereby giving to them au=
=thority if they shall think it best to dispose of any of the
Slaves belonging to them whose conduct may render it proper
to sell them & to purchase slaves also for the Children -- It is
further my will that upon the death of one or more of my
said Trustees, the survivors of survivor shall have & hold
all the said Estates devised to all of them & shall & may
have full power & authority to execute & perform all the Trusts
of this will in as full a manner as all of them could, if
they were all living: ~~~ And further I appoint my said
three friends Duncan Cameron, James Webb & Thomas Ruffin
the Executors of this Will, with a particular request that they all
will all[sic] prove & act under it. -- In Testimony whereof I have
hereunto set my hand this 31st day of July 1821.

Signed & published by the
Testator as his will in the presence of us      David Ray
who subscribed the same as witnesses in
the presence of his & each other
Wil Kirkland Jurat
David Wood

[Will Book Volume D, page 610]
                          Orange County November Term 1821
The Executor of the last Will & testament of David Ray was
duly proved in open Court by the Oath of William Kirkland
a subscribing witness thereto & ordered to be recorded

                              Test

Additional Comments:
Will Book Volume D, pages 607-610
Recorded Nov 1821

Estate Papers comprise 27 pages and are found in the folder labeled "Ray, David (1822)".  Griffin died intestate, without issue and under the age of 21.  Petition of Feb 1829 states that Robert Ray, the testator's brother, died before the petition. Many of these pages relate to the division of lands.

[Estate Papers - Estate Sale 19 Dec 1821]

Amount of the Sales of the Estate of
David Ray Ded. Sold December 19:1821
on a Credit of 9 months

[items omitted]

in a/c with the Heirs Nov Term 1824

By 1/9 Part to Mrs Jane Ray         105.58 3/8
"  1/9 Do Wm B. Jamison             105.58 3/8
"  1/9 Do Peter J. Rayn             105.58 3/8
"  1/9 Do Alves Rigss intermarried}
   with Petronella Ray ---        } 105.58 3/8
"  1/9 W. D. Rays Trustees          105.58 3/8
"  1/9 Griffin Ray                  105.58 3/8
"  1/9 George Ray                   105.58 3/8
"  1/9 Peggy Jane Ray               105.58 3/8
"  1/9 Tyree B Ray                  105.58 3/8