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Contents |
Will of Mechum Fearn
Source
The primary source [1] includes:
- the original will, executed on 7 December 1832 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.
- a codicil, added on 7 March 1833
- recap of a Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery session on 7 May 1833 in which a challenge was denied
The second source [2] contains:
- an extensive inventory of the estate, including slaves, conducted on 9-10 May 1833
- a final probate meeting on 1 July 1833.
Individual names are transcribed exactly as spelled in each document.
Transcribed Text
Will
In the name of god amen I Mechum Fearn of the county of Isle of Wight and state of Virginia do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form following.
1st I appoint my nephew John B Young my whole and sole executor and it is my will and desire the honorable court of Isle of Wight county will not demand accounting of him when he qualifies? to this my last will.
2nd I give and bequeath unto my said executor John B Young the plantation I now live on, my mill, store house and all the land on the side of the mill the store is on. I also give the said John B Young all my chattel estate on the plantation including every thing in the house and out of the house to him and his heirs forever.
3 I also give to the said John B Young the following slaves to wit, Sam, Simon, old Randol, young Randall, Everitt, Richard, Ned, Christian, Lizza, Julia, Albert, Thaodeus, Otwaw, Amandy, Fanny, Rachel and three children, Mariah and one child and old Sally provided he pays my just debts and what money I shall give away in another part of this will to him and his heirs forever.
4 I do give to the said John B Young my stock and interest in the Chuckatuck manufacturing company to him and his heirs forever.
5 It is my will and desire that my two servants Oscar and Joe be emancipated and that they be suffered to remain on the plantation as long as the law will allow them. I give to my two servants Oscar and Joe one hundred dollars each, to be paid to them when they leave this state.
6 I give unto my niece Sally N Cobb one hundred dollars annually for five years, to her and her heirs forever.
7 I give to James Ellis my plantation known by the name of Tyne so long as he lives, or if he has a lawful heir at his death then I give the said plantation to him and his heir forever, but should he die without a lawful heir then I give it to John B Young and his heirs forever. I also leave James Ellis one cart and wheels, a young yoke of oxen, one cow and calf, one sow and pigs, two sheep, one bed and furniture, the one he now sleeps on. The above articles I wish my executor to give to the said James Ellis out of my chattle estate I have given him mentioned on the first page of this will to him and his heirs forever. I give to Mary Louisa Thomas daughter of John P Thomas my black water plantation and everything belonging on the said plantation to her and her heirs forever. I also give to the said Mary Louisa Thomas one negro man named Prince to her and her heirs forever.
It is my will and desire if I have left out any property either real or personal or should there be any more in my possession at my death than I have given away, then the said property not mentioned I leave to my said executor John B Young to him and his heirs forever.
In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand and seal this the 7th day of December 1832. M. Fearn, In the presence of Levi Mcohny?, John Vandyke?, Davison (illegible)
Codicil
A codicil to the foregoing will. I give to John B Young the following slaves which I have willed away in the foregoing will only his life, to wit, Simon, Christian, Albert, Eliza, July, Thadeus, Otavy, Amandy, and at his death it is my desire they be freed. In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this 7th day of March eighteen hundred and thirty three. M. Fearn, In the presence of John Herring, Wilmott Atkinson, Dawson Flake
Court of Chancery
At a Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery held for the county of Isle of Wight the 7th day of May 1833. The foregoing will and codicil was presented in court by John B Young the executor named in the said will in order to be proved, and John P Thomas appeared and opposed the proof of the said will. Whereupon divers witnesses were sworn and examined and the parties aforesaid by their counsel fully heard. On consideration whereof it is the opinion of the court that the said Mechum Fearn at the time of executing the writing aforesaid dated the 7th day of December one thousand eight hundred and thirty three was of sound mind and disposing memory, and that he was under no undue influence, and that the said will was duly executed in all respects according to law and published by him. It is ordered that the said writing be recorded as the last will and testament of the said Mechum Fearn deceased whereupon on motion of John B Young the executor named in the said last will and testament who made oath thereto according to law, and together with Robert M Boykin and John Y Mason his securities who justified on oath to their sufficiency, signed sealed and delivered a bond in the penalty of twenty thousand dollars conditioned as the law denotes, certificate was granted him for obtaining probate thereof in due form. Nathaniel Young
Inventory - pertinent section listing slaves
Page 316 – image 170 – lines 16 - 20:
Slaves, Old Sam $10 - Old Simon $10 - Old Sall $10 - Christion $30 totaling $60
Randall Senr $200 - Randall Junr $300 - Everitt $350 - Dick $300 totaling $1150
Ned Parker $350 - Liza $320 - Julia $320 - Albert $400 - Thadeus $300 - Otway $300 totaling $2090
Amanda $250 - Fanny $200 - Rachal and child child $300 - Everet, alias Docter $250 totaling $1000
Mary $200 - Sam $150 - Mariah $200 - Bob $200 - Joe $600 - Oscar $600 totaling $1950
Line 30: One negro man Prince ….. $450
In obedience to the annexed order of the circuit superior Court of law and Chancery to us directed, we the undersigned have appraised the estate presented to view belonging to the late Mechum Fearn. Given under our hands this 10th day of May 1833. Elijah Cook, Jordan Parr, Nathaniel Young
Concluding Probate
At a court held for the county of Isle of Wight the 1st day of July 1833, the foregoing appraisement was returned to the court, and together with the appraisement thereon evidenced were order to be recorded. Nathaniel Young
transcribed by Richard Fryrear
Note: It appears that the Fearns engaged for a number of years, through the Chuckatuck company, in the business of turning cotton into yarn. The village of Chuckatuck, dating back to the 1630s, was one of the earliest setttled places in Isle of Wight County.
USBH Project Resource Pages
Sources
- ↑
Common Law Will Book, Isle of Wight County, Virginia:
Film number: 007645169 > image 514-515 of 573
FamilySearch Image: 3QS7-89P6-RDN2 (accessed 25 November 2023) . Mixed probate records, 1833-1902. Circuit Court, Isle of Wight County. Database online. FamilySearch.org. Salt Lake City, Utah. Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1949; - ↑
Mixed probate records, 1643-1866 ; indexes to wills, 1850-1985:
"Mixed probate records, 1643-1866 ; indexes to wills, 1850-1985"
Catalog: Mixed probate records, 1643-1866 ; indexes to wills, 1850-1985 Mixed records, Vols. 19-21 1831-1841
Film number: 007676153 > image 169 of 675
FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-C9TC-F6R1 (accessed 27 November 2023)
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