Abernathy Document
William Abernathy
18 April 1846, Lincoln Co., NC
WB 2/341 (Raleigh Loose Papers, CRO60.801.1, WILLIAM ABERNATHY, 1850)
"I WILLIAM ABERNATHY of the County of Lincoln & State of North Carolina do make & publish this my last will & testament, hereby revoking a former one made on 29th of May 1843. I give & bequeath to my wife WINNIFRED ABERNATHY the following Negroes, Lucian, Minda & her four children, Minerva, Patsy, Milly & Jim & all the children she may have after the date of this will absolutely to her & her heirs forever. I also devise to my said wife the tract of land on which I now live during her life, & at her death to my son DAVID on condition that he pay the sum of six hundred dollars to be equally divided among my other children ALFRED, DRURY, JOSEPH & BALSORA, within two years from & after the death of his mother. I also give & bequeath to my wife all my household & kitchen furniture absolutely, together with a sufficient quantity of provisions for the support of herself & her family including the stock, for twelve months, to be laid off by my executors. I give unto her all my stock of every description with their increase, to use & enjoy during her life & at her death I desire the stock to be sold & the proceeds divided equally among my five children - To my son ALFRED I will all the Negroes I have heretofore given him & for which Negroes he has my bills of sale. I give him also a Negro boy Washington whom he had now in possession & for whom he has no bill of sale, likewise all other property that I have heretofore given him. - To my son DRURY I will all the Negroes I have given him for which he has my bills of sale & all other property I have given him - To my son JOSEPH I will all the Negroes I have given him, for which he has my bills of sale, also a Negro girl Lucy that he has now in his possession with all the children she has or may hereafter have and all other property I have given him - To my daughter BALSORA I will all the Negroes I have given her for which I have made deeds of gift to her & her husband A. A. OGLESBY & all other property I have given her - To my son DAVID I give the following Negroes, Jack, Aaron, Monroe?, Anne, Lucy & her two youngest children now living & all the children the said Lucy & Anne may have from & after the date of this will. I also give him a girl named Rozana & her future increase. I devise to my son DAVID the tract of land on which I now live subject to the life estate of his mother & to the charge of six hundred dollars to be paid within two years from his mother's death as herein before expressed. I give to my granddaughter MARGARET, DRURY'S daughter, a Negro girl named Caroline.
It is my further will that all the rest of the Negroes of which I may be possessed of in this testament be equally divided among my five children, ALFRED, DRURY, JOSEPH, BALSORA & DAVID or their representatives. For the purpose of making this division I desire my executors, provided the children cannot agree among themselves, to select three decent persons to apportion said Negroes in five lots as equal in value as possible & the children or their representatives to draw each their share & those drawing the more valuable to pay those drawing the less valuable the estimated differences as to make them equal. -
I nominate & appoint A. A. OGLESBY & my son DAVID ABERNATHY my executors - Witness my hand & seal this 18th of April 1846.
WILLIAM ABERNATHY
Test
B. Shipp
W. W. Shipp
North Carolina, Lincoln County} Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, October Session 1850 The execution of the within will was proved in open court by the oath of Wm. M. Shipp, a subscribing witness, and it was admitted to record. Witness, R. Williamson, Clk."
Transcribed by Elizabeth Ferguson