THE WILL OF JOHN MARTIN
I, John Martin of Halifax County and state of Virginia do this
twenty-fourth day of September, eighteen hundred and
twenty hereby make my last will and testament in manner and form following,
that is to say-
1st I give to
my son Frederick Martin my Negro man Isham and a Negro woman Eva, his wife, and
two children named Susey and ??? and
all their future increase, to him and his heirs forever.
2ndly I give to my son Benjamin Martin two Negro boys named Robert and
Peter, to him and his heirs forever.
3rdly I give
to my daughter Lucy Wyatt two Negro girls named Faithey and Cloe, and their
future increase to her and her heirs forever.
4thly I give
to my granddaughter Nancy Thomas, formerly Nancy Ferrell, two Negro women named
Rachel and Phebe and their future increase to her and her heirs forever.
5thly I give
to my grandson David Ferguson one Negro boy named Marion to him and his heirs
forever
6thly I give to William Ferrell, Sr. of Halifax County five pounds to be
raised from the sale of my land and perishable goods.
7thly I give
to my son Warner Martin the sum of five pounds to be raised by the sale of my
land perishable property.
8thly I give
to Chesley Martin and Polly Martin, the son and daughter of my son William Martin,
one Negro woman named V?? and her future increase to
be equally divided between them when Chesley comes to lawful age, to them and
their heirs forever.
9thly I give
to my grandson William Martin, son of my son William Martin, one Negro boy
named Garland, to him and his heirs forever.
10thly My will and desire is that after my decease, as soon as my
Executors, hereafter named, may think proper that they make sale of my land
whereon I live together with all my other estate not hereto willed ?? and from the money arising from the sale thereof is to pay
all my just debts and funeral expenses and also the two specific legacies to
William Ferrell and Warner Martin as above mentioned. And in case either of my son William's three children Polly, Chesley or
William should die before they arrive to lawful age or marry, for the legacy
willed to them or either of them, to be divided equally between the survivor or
survivors of them.
11thly My will and desire is that after all my just debts are paid and
the specific legacies, as before mentioned, and the expenses and charges of
carrying this my last will into execution, that the balance of the money
arising from the sale of my estate before directed be divided into two equal
parts. One half I give to my son Luke Martin and his
heirs, and the other half to be equally divided between my daughter-in-law
Susanna Martin and her three children Polly, Chesley, and William Martin, that
is to say one fourth part of the second half of the above mentioned money.
12thly And lastly, I do hereby constitute and appoint my friends Jacob
Thomas, Beverly Barksdale, John Symes, and Samuel Carter Executors of this my
last Will and Testament, Hereby revoking all the other wills or testaments by
me heretofore made.
John Martin
X
Signed, sealed, and acknowledged in presence of-
Samuel Carter - Jacob Thomas.
Martin Daniel - Thos. Daniel
At court held for Halifax County the 26th day of February, 1827, the
within written last Will and Testament of John Martin was exhibited in court and
proved by the oath of one of the witnesses thereto subscribed. And at another
court held for said county the 26th day of March, 1827 the said Will was
exhibited in court and further proved by oath of one other witness thereto
subscribed and ordered recorded. And on the motion of Jacob Thomas, one of the
Executors therein who made oath thereto according to law, and with Elisha
Dodson, Richard Kirby, Sr. and Anderson Kirby, his Securitors entered into and
acknowledged in the bond of $15,000 conditioned as the law directs. Certificate is granted him for obtaining
probate of said will in due form.
Testor
Samuel William Carter
(My Note:
Don’t know who transcribed the above court records to give proper credit. I received this from a fellow Martin researcher,
Rebecca Webb. The original transcription
may have been done by another set of Martin researchers, the Herb Scott
family. Regardless, I will eventually
get a copy of the original court records to post here as well, so fellow
researchers can have access to the original documents.)
Larry Martin