Amanuensis Monday~Last Will and Testament of Jesse Freeman, 1881.

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 Last Will and Testament of Jesse Freeman, 1881.¹

Exhibit A Copy of Will (Bill of Complaint)
                                    In the name of God Amen.
I, Jesse Freeman of the State of South Carolina in the County of Chesterfield being of sound mind and memory and considering the uncertainty of this frail and transitory life do therefore make ordain publish and declare this to be my last will and testament. That is to say
First after all my lawful debts are paid and discharged the residue of my estate real and personal I give bequeath and dispose of as follows to wit:
(To my beloved wife one certain bed stead one Bead [Bed] one Pine Table and all the bed clothing she has made since we were married and to have an equal share of all my estate with the rest of my heirs at law. I also give and bequeath unto Sarah Odom the wife of John D. Odom an equal Share of all my Estate both real and personal with the rest of my children. I bequeath and devise that after my decease that all my Estate Real and personal to be sold and the proceeds to be equally divided between my children now living or to their heirs who may be living at the time of my decease to be divided equally between them share and share alike).
This my last Will and Testament hereby revoking all former Will by my [me] made. In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my seal the this <sic> tenth day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred and Eighty one [1881].
Attest                                                        Jesse X his mark Freeman
Rolin Kite     


The above-written instrument was subscribed by said Jesse Freeman in our presence and acknowledged by him to each of us and he at the same time Published and declared the above instrument so subscribed to be his last Will and testament, and we at the testators request and in his presence have signed our names as witnesses hereto and written opposite our names our respective places of residence,
                                                            Rolin Kite C. Co., S. C.
                                                            William D. Quick C. Co. S. C.
                                                            Phillip T. Hurst C. Co. S.C.


Jesse Freeman Last Will and Testament marked Exhibit A. (pages 87-88) in a Bill of Complaint, Equity Court,




State of South Carolina}
Chesterfield County}
                                 We do solemnly swear that this writing contains the true last will of the within named Jepse Freeman, Deceased so far as we know or Believe and that we will will <sic> and truly execute the same By paying first the debts and then the legacies contained in the said will so far as his goods and chattels will thereunto extend and the law charges and that we will make a true and perfect inventory of all such goods and chattels so help us God.                                                           {L. H. Wadsworth
Sworn to before me this                             {S. D. Purvis
4th Aug. 1881                                                                                                    
Rolen Kite
Judge of Probate

Heirs-at-Law listed within the Bill of Complaint are:

Mary Ann Wadsworth and her husband, Louis H. Wadsworth, Effie Purvis and her husband, Stephen D. Purvis. (Plaintiffs)

Against

William Freeman
Louis Freeman
Mary Freeman (2nd Wife of Jessie Freeman, Sr.)[Second Wife, maiden name unknown]
Sarah Ann Odom
Christine F. Tumage
Ann Hall
Temple [Brock] Par/Parr daughter of Jane Freeman)
Elizabeth Poston

Jesse Freeman's first wife, Sarah Jane Davis, was my 3rd Great Grand Aunt. 


_____________________
[1] The Chesterfield District Chronicle, Vol. 5, No. 1, Winter 2002, Pages 21-23.  Compiled by Charles Freeman.
[2] "South Carolina Probate Records, Files and Loose Papers, 1732-1964," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-19383-36309-17?cc=1911928&wc=MPP5-JWL:190567401,190561002,190567402,190840701 : accessed 02 Jun 2014), Chesterfield > Probate Court, Estate records > 1865-1927 > Cases 0282-0330 > image 1195 of 1448.

James Purvis, Sr. Died in 1818~How was he Related to Brothers Gilbert and James Purvis?

On 17 July 1818, Gilbert Purvis, John Johnston, Felix Powell, and Moses Harrelson signed an Administrative Bond in Horry County, South Carolina to administer the Estate of one James Purvis, Deceased.  I wrote about this Administrative Bond here:

https://carolinafamilyroots.blogspot.com/2012/04/horry-district-administration-bond.html

The Bond reads as follow:
Gilbert Purvis - Horry District, SC - March 1818^[1]
Recorded March 1818
State of South Carolina }
Horry District } Know all men by these presents that we John Johnston, Gilbert Purvis, Moses Harrelson and Felix Powell are holden and firmly bound unto Henry Durant Esquire Ordinary for aforesaid District in the full and just sum of Ten Thousand to be paid to the said Henry Durant or to his successors of this District or their certain attorney or officers, To which payment will and truly be made, and we bind ourselves and every of us own and every of our heirs, executors, administrators, for the whole and in the whole jointly and severally firmly by these presents sealed with our seals and dated the Seventeenth Day of July one thousand eight hundred and eighteen and in the 43rd year of America Independence.The condition of the above obligation is such that if the above bound John Johnston and Gilbert Purvis administrators of the goods, chattels and credits of James Purvis deceased do make a true and perfect inventory of all and singular, the goods, chattels, credits of the said deceased, which shall come into the hands of knowledge of the said John Johnston, Gilbert Purvis, or unto the hands of any other person or persons for them…”

if you recall some of my post, 1818 is about the year that most of the Chesterfield County Purvis families decided to migrate westward. Especially so with the Gilbert, James F. and Joseph Purvis families. There may also have been a John and Alexander Purvis that left with this group. Definitely, they all were closely related and there is no doubt that a James Purvis passed away sometime around July 1818.

But who was this James Purvis?

In the above post I stated that I believed him to be a son of Gilbert Purvis and the Father of  James P. J. Purvis and William H. H. Purvis. After further research, I do not believe this James Purvis to be the father of these two men.  Their father made the trip to Mississippi and shows up in tax records to about 1833 and his name is James Johnston Purvis or Johnston James Purvis.

I do still believe that James Purvis who died about July 1818 is the son of Gilbert Purvis and father of a James Purvis, Jr. involved in this lawsuit.

June 1817
Edy Norris            }
Vs                           }
James Purvis Jun.}  On motion of Mr. BULLARD Solicitor for the Defendant James Purvis Jun. giving security satisfactory to Commissioner that he will not remove the negroes JACK and NANN mention in the case out of the limits of the state until the final decision of the right to the said negroes by this court in this ne exeat issued in this case be dissolved, that he abide the decree of this court relation to said negroes JACK and NANN. [2]


Also in recent days, I have found another document related to the death of James Purvis.

Transcription:

NOTICE

I FOREWARN all persons from trading for a note of hand given by me to James Purvis, Senr. Late of Chesterfield District, for one hundred dollars dated the first day of January 1818, and payable the first day of January 1819, with conditions thereto providing I got sufficient titles to a tract of land purchase by me from the said Purvis, and as I have failed getting sufficient titles, I am determined not to pay the same unless compelled by law.
                         Haywood Todd
                 Chesterfield C. H. Dec. 29, 1818 44-Y

This document/Notice clearly states that James Purvis, Sr. is deceased and it’s dated Dec 29, 1818 in the same year that the Administrative Bond was issued on the estate of James Purvis.


Land deed between James E Purvis and Haywood Todd
28 chs to a corner, thence S. E. 8-56 Chs to …. Thence N22-50 Chs to a Pine 38 thence NW 4 - 25 Chs to a corner thence SW 76-16 Chs to a corner thence NW 14-33 Chs to the beginning Pine containing one thousand Eighty-one [1081] acres.  Reference being had to the above Plat will more plainer Shew the shape and boundary of the Same, together and with all and singular the rights members hereditaments and appurtenances to the said premises belonging or in any wise incident or appertaining unto the Said Haywood Todd his heirs  and afsigns forever, and I do hereby bind myself my heirs executors and administrators  to warrant and forever defend against every other Person whomsoever lawfully claiming or to claim the same or any part thereof. Witnefs my hand and seal, this the 29th day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight Hundred and seventeen and in the forty-seven year of the independence of the United States of America.
Assigned, Sealed  and … in presence of }

                         



Hugh Craig
Phillip Sellers






________________________________
1. Horry County South Carolina, Horry District Administration Bonds 1803-1818 (Conway, Horry County, South Carolina: Probate Office, n.d.), Administration Bond - Gilbert Purvis, page 71.
2.Lee G. Barrow, Cheraw District, South Carolina, Court of Equity: Volume 1: Minutes,1801-1823 (Gainesville, Georgia: Bargraphica, 2012), page 41.
3. Camden Gazette, "Forewarn Notice," Camden Gazette, Camden, SC, 28 January 1819, Vol 3, Issue 146, page 2, Failure to obtain title to land.
4. South Carolina State Library Digital Collections - https://dc.statelibrary.sc.gov/discover