Amanuensis Monday is a genealogy blogging theme. It was started by John Newmark who writes the TransylvanianDutch blog.
His definition of Amanuensis is:
Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.
Today’s subject is the Will of Zachariah Dickson acknowledging the Mother of his son Eugene LaFayette as Rebecca Purvis.
Will of Zachariah Dickson
In the Name of God, Amen. I Zachariah Dickson of the County of Hinds and State of Mississippi being of sound and disposing mind and memory, but knowing that in the midst of life we are in death and being desirous of making a proper disposition of the worldly goods with which a bountiful Savior has blessed me after I shall have passed away from the cares and pleasures incident to their enjoyment, do now make and publish this as my last will and testament to be solemnly observed and carried into effect after my decease by my executors herein after appointed, that is to say
ITEM 1. I desire that all of my just debts be paid as promptly and speedily as possible after Letters Testamentary shall have been issued to my executors.
ITEM 2. It is my will and desire that all my property except as herein after provided be kept together for the benefit and support of my children. That the plantation upon which I now reside with the negroes shacks tools provisions to be kept up and crops be made upon it from year to year under the supervision and direction of my executors until my youngest child shall have arrived at the age of twenty one years when the land shall be disposed of in the manner and for the purposes herein after provided for.
ITEM 3. It is my desire that my children may be well educated instructed in those useful and solid branches of learning that will fit them for any avocation in life which they may desire to follow. That the expenses of their education be paid out of my estate and that the manner of doing the same be left to the judgment and discretion of my executors having a due regard to my wishes, the best interests of my children and the means at their disposal to carry out the same. But by all means let them be instructed in the principles of religion and learn to be sober, industrious and moral in their appointment.
ITEM 4. I give and bequeath to my natural son Eugene LaFayette Dickson four likely young negroes two men and two women to be purchased by my executors by the proceeds of my crops or any other means in their possession and to be delivered over to him when he attains the age of twenty one years and until that time he shall be supported out of the estate and should he manifest a disposition to study and desire to go to school I desire that my executors shall send him to someone or some good schools for two or three years and the bequest contained in this item shall constitute his entire interest in my estate being considered by me as sufficient to give him a fair start in life. Should the said Eugene LaFayette die before reaching the age of twenty one years the bequest of the negroes to be void and of no effect.
ITEM 5. I give and bequeath to Rebecca Purvis of Scott County who is the mother of my son Eugene LaFayette a likely young negro woman to hold during her life and at her death the said negro woman and her increase to be divided amongst the children which said Rebecca may leave or their legal representatives provided said Rebecca shall here after marry and have children but in the event that said Rebecca shall not marry and have children then said woman and her increase shall belong to the said Eugene LaFayette and his heirs.
It is my wish that as soon as practicable after my decease that said negro be purchased by my executors out of any available means in their hands and be conveyed by and to the said Rebecca embracing the executions and limit being herein expressed and that the same duly recorded in the County where said Rebecca shall at that time reside. It is to be understood, however, that if during my lifetime I shall make a suitable provision for the support of said Rebecca then this item to be void.
ITEM 6. I give and bequeath to my children Martha Louisa, William Harrington, Frances Virginia, and Reuben Alexander Dickson all the residue of my estate of every kind and description real, personal and mixed to be divided amongst them in equal proportions and to be taken and held by them in manner and form and under the executions and limitations herein pointed out, that is to say when either one of my children shall arrive at the age of twenty one years, or marry, then an equal division shall be made of all the personal property in the manner pointed out by law under the direction of the Probate Court and one fourth be delivered over to such child the other three fourths remaining on the place. When the second child shall arrive at full age or marry then a second division shall take place in the manner before pointed out and one third of the personal property remaining in the hands of my executors shall be given over to such child the other two thirds remaining on the place for the use of my other two children and when one of the remaining children shall arrive at full age or marry another division shall take place in the manner above stated and one half of said personal property shall be given over to such child, the residue remaining on the place until the youngest or last child shall arrive at full age or marry when the residue of the personal property shall be given over to such child, and after which as soon as practicable the tract of land embracing the plantation shall be sold upon such terms as the Probate Court shall prescribe and the proceeds of such sale shall be equally divided amongst my four children herein named. But it is distinctly understood that my daughters are to receive their proportion of my estate with the following limitation, to wit: that if they or either of them should die without leaving a child then the proportion of property which shall be received by them shall return to and be equally divided amongst my other children or their legal representatives and it shall be the duty of my executors to have this will recorded as notice of that fact in any county that they may reside.
ITEM 7. It is my will and desire that my executors shall sell my small tract of eighty acres of land lying near the City of Jackson in such manner and upon such terms as they may deem best and hold the proceeds thereof as part of my personal estate.
ITEM 8. Should my eldest daughter marry during the minority of any of my younger children I request that she do reside in my house and keep the other children and act in the place of a mother to them until the land shall be sold as prescribed in the 6th item of this will, and when any of my children shall arrive at full age or marry and receive their dividend of my estate they shall be entitled to live upon the land should they find it convenient to do so and cultivate a just proportion of it free of charge until it shall be sold, my intention being to provide for them all.
ITEM 9. I do hereby nominate and appoint my trusty and well beloved friends James Henderson and John Cook as the executors of this my last will and testament and testamentary guardians of my children and to their kindness, integrity and sense of justice as well as to the keeping of a merciful Providence I consign my beloved children. It is my particular desire that if either of my said executors should die, refuse to act or resign that the Probate Court would appoint some one to act in his place that may be selected by the joint request of both said executors.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this the third day of December one thousand eight hundred and fifty two.
Signed, sealed and published in presence of
C. S. Tarpley /s/ Z. Dixon
G. W. Langley 3 Dec 1852
J. R. Mayson
Codicil
The following codicil to my will attached. I constitute and ordain as part and parcel of the said will to have the same force and affect as the said will, to wit: Whereas since the execution of said will to wit the 7th day of January 1853 I purchased from Charles McLaran a certain track of land in Hinds County known as the NW 1/4 of Section 25 the SE 1/4 of Section 26 all in Township 5 Range 1 West containing three hundred and twenty more or less. Now I do hereby give the said land to my children as is provided in the 6th item of my said will, the same to be disposed of in the manner therein provided and to constitute a portion of my estate to be added to the other property specified in said item and be distributed in the manner as though I had owned said lands at the time of making said will.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal on the 11th day of February 1854. This codicil to the last will and testament of Z. Dickson. Signed sealed and published in the presence
of
C. S. Tarpley /s/ Z. Dixon
G. W. Langley
J. R. Mayson
Comments:
Zachariah Dickson married Sarah Ann Adali Harrington on 27 December 1835 in Amite County, Mississippi.
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| Source: Ancestry.com |
Zachariah’s affair with Rebecca Purvis resulting in the birth of their son Eugene Lafayette happened before his marriage to Sarah Ann in December 1835. But, surely he must have been seeing Sarah Ann while maintaining an affair with Rebecca.
Rebecca Purvis was born about 1814 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. She was a daughter of William James Purvis and Millie Cook. They migrated to Mississippi about 1818. At the birth of her child, Eugene Lafayette in the fall of 1835, she was approximately 21 years of age.
Not much is known about Rebecca Purvis. In 1850, Rebecca is enumerated with her brother, Thomas Jefferson Purvis in Scott County, Mississippi. The brother, Thomas, died in the Civil War and is buried at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Then she is mentioned in Zachariah Dickson Will, Item #5, dated 3 December 1852. Her son, Eugene, married Catherine Jane “Kitty” Meyers, served in the Civil War and was living in Sunflower County, Mississippi in 1880. No record of Rebecca past 1850 and Eugene LaFayette past 1880 has been found. No tombstone record for either have been located.
If you have any information related to Rebecca Purvis I would like to hear from you.
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[1] Transcribed from an on-line copy of original document by Charlie Purvis, 7 December 2014 – Will available on line at: "Mississippi, Probate Records, 1781-1930," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-31017-15492-5?cc=2036959&wc=M79W-ZNP:344538201,346634901 : accessed 11 January 2015), Hinds > Wills 1832-1917 vol 1-2 > image 206 of 624; county courthouses and public libraries, Mississippi.[Will Book 1, page 340-343].
[2] 1850, Scott County, Mississippi, population schedule, Scott County, Mississippi, Page 277B, Line 36, Dwelling 318, Family 318, Household of Thomas J. Purvis; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 5 January 2012); citing NARA publication Roll: M432_381.
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