Will of James Graham, 1813

In the name of God Amen

December the twenty Eighth one Thousand Eight hun­dred and twelve. –

I James Graham of Monroe County and State of Virginia being far advanced in years and the decays of nature fast approach­ing but of a Sound and dis­pos­ing mem­ory do con­sider it my duty to reg­u­late my worldly affairs with my Family which is in man­ner fol­low­ing, that is to say, I rec­om­mend and give my Soul to Almighty God from whom I received it, and my body to the Earth from which it was taken noth­ing doubt­ing but that I shall receive them again at the gen­eral Resurrection of the Dead. –

First it is my desire that all my debts be first paid out of my Estate.

I give and Bequeath to my beloved wife Florence Graham her liv­ing on the land on which I now live dur­ing her nat­ural life, with as much of Cattle as she shall think proper to keep, her choice of the horses for her use, and to work the land, with the man­tion [sic] house and all oth­ers within the her­itage thereof not to be inter­rupted by any per­son. Also my Negroe wench named Rose for­ever, with any of the other Negroes that she may want in time of need, while in the hands of her Children, also one half of my barn with all the house­hold fur­ni­ture to be at her dis­posal at her death with fifty pounds in cash.

I also give unto her my Negro Girl named cleary jr. dur­ing her nat­ural life and then to be sold and the price divided equally among all my Children

I give unto my son William Graham one half of my black smith tools, all my wear­ing apparel and my doclan [?] Book hav­ing made pro­vi­sion for him before he is the less noticed here.

I give unto my Son David Graham my Geography and thirty pounds in cash, his plan­ta­tion not being equal to those of his Brothers.

I give unto my Son James Graham one half of my Black smith tools with the History of the United States hav­ing pro­vided for him hereto­fore there is no far­ther notice taken of him here.

I give unto my Son Samuel Graham and his Children my Negro boy Ceasor so that he is never to be sold nor ever taken from his fam­ily dur­ing his life. –

I give unto my son Lanty Graham the plan­ta­tion on which I now live to him and to his heirs for­ever, but if he should not have legal heirs of his own body, the said land to go to his Brother James pro­vided James Shall give up the plan­ta­tion on which he now lives to be sold, and the price in such case is to be equally divided among him and his Brothers or their heirs. I give unto him also my Negro man Benjamin to be in com­mon between him and his mother at her dis­posal she using a proper dis­cre­tion to do equal jus­tice between them, and after the death of his mother the Said Negro to be Lanties and his heirs for ever and not to be dis­posed of –

I give unto my Daughter Elizabeth Stodghill my Negro woman named Cleary Senr. with the Book Willison on the Sacrament. –

I give unto my Daughter Jane Garrad a suit of clothes from head to foot, of her own choice, to be paid out of the remain­der of my Estate after the lega­tees are set­tled and my Book the power of Religion. –

I give unto my Daughter Rebeckah Graham and her chil­dren, that plan­ta­tion where she now lives known by the name of Stephensons Cabbin [?] also I give unto her and her chil­dren my Negro girl named Dinah, the Land and Negro never to be dis­posed of out of the Family nor the increase of the Negro if any she has.

I give unto my Daughter Florence Taylor and her chil­dren, that tract of Land whereon she now lives, join­ing William Wood on Hungets creek to her and her Children for ever. Also I give unto her and her Children my Negro girl named Hannah which [Negro is never to be dis­posed of] nor her increase (if any) out of the Family.

All the before men­tioned legasies [sic] thus Bequeathed to my Children I give unto them and their heirs for ever accord­ing to the way they are stated.

It is my Will and desire that my land in Kentucky in the name of my Son David and my two Lotts [sic] in point Pleasant with that sur­vey at the mouth of the three Mile Creek on [?] be sold by my Executors in the most advan­ta­geous way that they may think proper and the money aris­ing from the same to be equally divided among my Children or their heirs (as the case may be) but that moi­ety which would fall to my Daughter Jane Garred out of the above lands is to go to her the said Jane and her Children equally, her son James excepted.

Also it is my Will that my part of the Lotts and land or money now in the hands of Charles Friend be divided in the fol­low­ing man­ner to Wit.

Five pounds to William Grahams Son James & Five pounds to Davids Son James, five pounds to James’s son James, Fife [sic] pounds to Samuel’s son James five pounds to Elisabeth Stodghills Son James five pounds to Jane Garrad daugh­ter Florence + five pounds to Rebeckah’s Daughter Florence, the remain­der to be equally divided among my Children or their heirs (as the case may be) with this excep­tion that the moi­ety falling to Jane Garred to be divided between her­self and her chil­dren, James Excepted.

My farm­ing tools to remain on the plan­ta­tion all that arre need­full for work­ing the farm, my cross cut and whip­saws to be kept for the use of the fam­ily in gen­eral. Whatever stock my beloved wife thinks ought to be sold is to be divided Equally as above with the same Exceptions.

Provided Lanty should die with­out law­full Issue and James should not make choice of the place keft to Lanty it is then to be sold and the pro­ceed divided in the same way as his would have been pro­vided he had made chioce of it. –

It is my will and desire that this my will be so under­stood accord­ing to the plain let­teral mean­ing thereof with­out strain­ing of any part if any [?] has taken place therein my cus­tom to the con­trary notwithstanding.

I Give unto my Sons James & Samuel that tract of Land which Joins Samls lands he got of Tritt [?] with the Exception that the Sugar Camp under Samuel Geins Mountain is to go to Lanty or who­ever gets the homeplace. –

I Give unto Williams Son James and Davids Son James that tract of Land known by the name of Gromes [?] place to be equally divided between them either in Money or in Land. –

If the Siers place is recov­ered there is forty pounds to be paid to Caperton and what­ever is right to be paid to Sawyers for his part, but if my Son David thinks proper to pay Caperton his money and Lawyers [Sawyers?] his fee the bal­ance after the deter­mi­na­tion of the said he is to have it.

It is my will that my Executors pay unto Henry Windlesleaugh five pounds out of my Estate after the Legatees are paid.

If any dis­pute Should arise between any of my chil­dren con­cern­ing this my Estate, it is my will and desire that each of them choose one man and if they can’t deter­mine it let them choose another and their Judgment shall be final. And if any should arise between them and their Mother it is to be deter­mined in the same way, and the party that refuses to stand to the award shall be cut out of their part of the thing con­tended for; and if the con­tention Should be about their whole part they are to loose their whole part, which shall be equally divided among all my chil­dren with the for­mer Exception. –

I do appoint my beloved wife Florence Graham David Graham & James Graham Executors of this my last will and Testament revok­ing all other wills by me made hereto­fore. In tes­ti­mony whereof I have here­unto Set my hand and Seal this day & year first written

Signed sealed & delivered

James Graham, Seal

In pres­ence of
Jonathan Roach
Richard Davis
William Hinchman, Junr.
John Perry

At Monroe February Court 1813

This last will and Testament of James Graham Senr. decd. was pre­sented in Court and proven by the oaths of Jonathan Roach, William Hinchman, Jr and John Perry Junr. sub­scrib­ing wit­nesses thereto and is ordered to be Recorded. And on the motion of James Graham Junr. and David Graham Executors named in the said who made oath and entered into Bond with Security in the penalty of Ten thou­sand Dollars con­di­tioned as the Law directs, cer­tifi­cate is granted them for obtain­ing pro­bat thereof in due form (it appear­ing to the Satisfaction of the Court that Florence Graham Executrix named in the will afore­said refuses to take upon her­self the Execution thereof).

A Copy
Test[e]
Isaac Hutchison, Clerk

February 10th 1813

This day we Robert Given, Jonathan Roach and John Hinchman appointed by the wor­ship­full court of Monroe to appraise the per­son Estate of James Graham Decd have met at the Late dwelling house of the said Graham, and being first sworn have pro­ceeded to value the fol­low­ing prop­erty to us shown by David Graham and James Graham Jr the two act­ing Executors to said Estate, to wit,

One Cart and bulching [?] 16
One Wolf trap 3

Monroe County Will Book1 , pp. 223–229, Monroe County Courthouse, Union, WV.