It’s Family Time~William James Rivers

William James Rivers was born 6 October 1849 in Chesterfield South Carolina, a son of Mark Rivers and his  wife Annie Parker. William James joined an older sister Mary Ann born two years earlier in May 1847. 

In January 1864, William James, age 14, and his six sibling lost their Mother. Their Father, Mark Rivers was a soldier in Co. B 26th Regiment, SC Volunteers.
In early 1880’s Mark and his new wife Caroline moved from Chesterfield County across the Pee Dee Rivers to Marlboro County. It was there that William James Rivers met Sarah Ella Spears daughter of  Harris N. Spears and Mary Ann Frazier.
On 20 Dec 1883 William James Rivers and Sarah Ella Spears were united in Holy Matrimony in Bennettsville, Marlboro County, South Carolina. 

William James Rivers and Sarah Ella Spears had the following children:

I. Willie Harris Rivers was born on 2 May 1890 in Bennettsville, Marlboro, South Carolina. He died on 19 Apr 1913 at the age of 22 in Bennettsville, Marlboro, South Carolina. Unmarried
ii. Porter Rivers, born 25 Aug 1895, Bennettsville, Marlboro, South Carolina; married Ruth Helen Allen, 4 Apr 1923, Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina; died 2 Nov 1973, Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina.
iii. Edgar Spears Rivers, born 6 May 1899, Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina; married Pearl Davis, 9 Oct 1931, Summerton, South Carolina; died 11 Sep 1993, Florence, Florence, South Carolina.
iv. Fred Mark Rivers was born on 17 Jun 1902 in Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina. He died on 16 Jun 1968 at the age of 65 in Wahiawa, Honolulu, Hawaii. FindAGrave Memorial# 94940116
v. Ruby Annie Rivers, born 7 Aug 1905, Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina; married Johnny C. Johnson, 14 Feb 1931, Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina; died 21 Feb 1988, Alcolu, Clarendon, South Carolina.
vi. Beulah Alice Rivers, born 31 May 1908, Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina; married John Nathaniel Calhoun, 7 Sep 1941; died 1 Jun 2007, Sumter County, South Carolina.
vii. Essie Mabel Rivers was born on 16 Mar 1912 in Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina. She died on 8 Oct 2010 at the age of 98 in Sumter County, South Carolina. Find A Grave Memorial# 132225275

 
 
William James Rivers is my 1st Cousin 4 times removed.









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SOURCES:
1. Mark Rivers & Caroline Dean Rivers Family Bible Holy Bible, (New York, New York: n.p., n.d.); Obtained from Betty Lee Hefty, 8 Xeroxed page from Original Bible. BIRTH - 6 Oct 1849, William James Rivers.
2. 1850 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, page 179B, Line 25, Dwelling 1243, Family 1243, Household of Mark Rivers; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 22 June 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
3. 1900 U. S. Census, Marlboro County, South Carolina, population schedule, Red Hill, Marlboro County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) #97, Page 252A, Line 01, Dwelling 161, Family 164, Household of William J. RIVERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 8 October 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm  T623_1536.
4. 1910 U. S. Census,  Sumter County, South Carolina, population schedule, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) #0119, Page 136A, Line 13, Dwelling 5, Family 5, Household of William J. RIVERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 8 October 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm  T624_1465.
5. 1920 U. S. Census,  Sumter County, South Carolina, population schedule, Providence, Sumter County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) #139, Page 177B, Line 61, Dwelling 164, Family 165, Household of William J. RIVERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 8 October 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm  T625_1712.
6. Mark Rivers & Caroline Dean Rivers Family Bible, DEATH - 5 Sept 1928, William James Rivers.
7. Elizabeth C. Drake, Marlboro County Cemetery Survey; Marlboro County Historical Society, 1984, page 133. Tombstone of William James Rivers; 6 October 1848–5 September 1928, Spears & Edens Graveyard, Bennettsville, Marlboro County, South Carolina.
8. Elizabeth C. Drake, Marlboro County Cemetery Survey, Marlboro County Historical Society, 1984. Tombstone of Sarah Ella Spears Rivers.
9. Sallie S Rivers, death certificate 012063 (15 September 1949), Vital Records, Department of Health, Austin, Travis County, Texas.
10. Elizabeth C. Drake, Marlboro County Cemetery Survey, Marlboro County Historical Society, 1984. Tombstone of Sarah Ella Spears Rivers.
 

Amanuensis Monday~Last Will and Testament of Esther Melchor Dry

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 Esther Melchor Dry. ¹ 
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-195-2626322-1-64?cc=1867501

Esther Dry Will

North Carolina }  Probate Court
Cabarrus County}
                                A paper writing purporting to be the last will and testament of Esther Dry is this day … in open Court for probate by Lawson W. Dry which is in the following means & figures
“Know all men by these presents that I Esther Dry in the county of Cabarrus and state of North Carolina being infirm tho of sound and disposing memory mind and memory do make and publish this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former wills by me at any time heretofore made and as to my worldly goods Estate and all of the property real personal or mixed of which I shall die seized and posefsed or to which I shall been titled at the time of my decease I devise, bequeath and dispose thereof in the manner following to wit.
I give devise and bequeath to my son Tobias Dry fifty cents to be paid to him by my executor herein after named Six months after my decease to have and to hold the same to him his executors administrators and afsigns forever.
I give devise and bequeath to my son P. W. Dry fifty cents for him to hold his heirs and afsigns forever to be paid to him as above mentioned.
I give devise and bequeath to my son John Dry fifty cents for him to his heirs and afsigns forever to be paid to him or his heirs as above mentioned.
I give devise and bequeath to my son H. W. Dry fifty cents for him to hold to his heirs and afsigns forever to be paid to him as above mentioned.
I give devise and bequeath to my son Lawson W. Dry  all of my land and house thereon and to his bennefits <sic> derived there from for him to hold to his heirs and afsigns forever situated and lying as follows:   Beginning a No Abraham Dry corner then N 57 W 200 poles to a BC N 62 W 23 22 poles to a stake then to 40 W 27 poles to a P. O. S 52 E 121 poles to a W. O. then South83 poles to a B. O. runs S 83 E 34 poles to w willow Oak runs N 23 E 51 poles to a stake Then S 51 E 51 poles to w pine knot in said Dry line then N 20 E 61 poles to the beginning corner containing Eighty acres lying in County and State above mentioned,
I give and bequeath to my daughter Sarah Dry fifty cents for her to hold for her heirs and afsigns forever. 
I give and bequeath to my daughter Catherine Dry fifty cents for her to hold to her heirs and afsigns forever. 
And lastly I do nominate and appoint my said son Lawson W. Dry to be the Executor of this my last will & Testament  Subscribed my name and  affixed my seal this the sixth day of June one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Esther X (her mark) Dry {Seal}
Signed Sealed & delivered
By the said Esther Dry as and for
Her last will & testament in
The presence of us who at her
Request and in her presence and in the
Presence of each other have subscribed our names
As witnefses thereto
A. E. Eury                                          Sarah X (her mark) A. Dry{Seal}
Martin M. X his mark Starns             Phillip W. Dry {Seal}
                                                           Mary X her mark Catherine Dry {seal}
                                                           Christine Bost {Seal}

The said Lawson W Dry is to keep feed and clothe me my lifetime otherwise this Will is void and of no effect.
                                                                                                                                                                                       Esther  X her mark Dry {Seal}
A. E. Eury

The Last Will & Testament of Esther Melchor Dry, deceased widow of Solomon Dry, was admitted for probate on Oct. 6, 1878 in Open Court, Cabarrus County, NC, and ordered to be recorded and filed. ²
Esther Melchor and Solomon Dry were married on 11 Dec 1821 in Cabarrus County.
Solomon Dry and Esther Melchor had the following children:
i. Tobias Augustus Dry, born 22 Sep 1822, Cabarrus County, North Carolina
ii. Philip Wiley Dry was born on 22 May 1824.
iii. Sarah Ann Dry was born about 1828. 
iv. Henry W. Dry was born about 1829. 
v. Mary Catherine Dry was born about 1833. 
vi. Christena Dry, born 5 Aug 1834.
vii. Margaret Dry was born about 1835.
viii. John Dry, born abt 1836, Cabarrus County, North Carolina.
ix. Lawrence W. Dry, born abt 1840, Cabarrus County, North Carolina.
All of the nine children, named above, are mentioned in the Will above or signed the Will in the case of Christine Bost with the exception of Margaret Dry. I have not found any mention of Margaret beyond the 1850 census and believed that she passed away before 1860. 








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"North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-195-2626322-1-64?cc=1867501 : accessed 6 May 2016), Cabarrus > Wills, 1868-1888 > image 124 of 302; county courthouses, North Carolina.
[2] Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Probate Files & Loose papers, Esther Dry; digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org: viewed 5 May 2016); Record of settlements, v. 1 1846-1858.
Note: Lawson/Lawrence, same individual.