Captain Thomas Blount, 1701, North Carolina

Contributed by Kyle S. VanLandingham

Thomas Blount's will, from J. Bryan Grimes' North Carolina Wills and Inventories, 1912, pp. 63-65.

In ye name of God, Amen. I, Thomas Blount, being in perfect health and sound Memory, Do make this my last will & testiment, thereby Revoke all former Wills & testements wtever in manr. & form following, viz:

Impr. I Do give and Bequeath my soul to God yt gave it, Hopeing throw yr mercy & Merett of our Ld. & Saviour Jesus Christ, to receive a full & Genl. pardon of all my Sins; and my body to ye earth, there to be Desently Intered, acording to ye rits of ye Church of Engl., by my Execr. hereafter Named.

Item. Whereas, by a former Will I have given Half my moveable Estate, & two plantations, known by ye names of Midle plantation, and yt whereon I now live at ye mouth of Hendricks [transcriber probably misread "Kendricks"] Creek, to my ever loving wife, Mary Blount, & her issue (provided it be to ye children Begotten of her body by me Thomas Blount), after her Death, I Do confirm and make good ye same unto her, by this will, in man'r. as is above expresst.

Item. As to ye part of my Estate, both real and personal, I give and bequeath as following: unto my son, James Blount, his Chare of two negroes out of ye other half of my sd Estate, and my shoope of smith tooles, with ye anvell, belows, & all other tooles thereunto belonging, wt. the Iron & Steel & filles, and half ye tract of land Called Cobbin Necke, yet is to say, ye Northerly part of ye plantation, to be included in ye part belonging to him and ye boye Bonner.

Item. I do give & bequeath all my whole stocke of Cattle, to be equally Devided between my children begotting of sd. Mary Blount, my daughter Billah, who has maryed to kellum Tyler, to be excepted out of this gift, she having received her portion allready.

Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter, Billah, aforesd. one silver spoon.

Item. As to ye rest of my Estate, tis my will & Desire yt it should be brought to an apprismt & out of it pay unto my three daughters, Sarah Peirce, Christian Ludford, & Ann Wilson, these sums hereafter named, yt is to say, unto my Sarah tenne pound Sterl. to be paid in Country Commodity; to my daughter, Christian, twenty Pounds Sterl. to be pd. as aforesd. & to my daughter Ann, twenty Pounds Sterl. to be paid in like manner: and in case of the death of any of my aforesd daughters, ye same to be pd to either of their heirs: & to each of them one silver spoon: & further I Do give unto either of my daughters last named, being, Christian, & Ann, too yews and a Ram, to each of them, and in case my sd Estate so appraised, after the things before giving away, do not amounted to ye sd sumes of money, by me giveing them, my said daughters, to be paid proportionable out of w't it is apraised to: but if it shall amount to more then it my further will & Desire yt my two sones, John and Thomas, shall have each of them a negro, & for want of negroes to have each of them five & twenty Pounds Sterl. apeace, to be pd in Country Comodity.

Item. I do give and bequeath ye other half or Moitye of ye tract of land, called Cobbin Necke, unto my son, John, and his heirs; & for want of heirs, it to come to my sone, James, & his heir; and if my son, James shall dye wi'tout heirs, his part to com to my son John & his heirs.

Item. As to ye rest of my Estate, after my wife's half paid and Delivered her, and my Above Legacys being paid as herein expressed, I Doe give and bequeath unto my son, James Blount, & his heirs forever, whom I make my full and sole Executer of this my last will and Testiment, Declaring & Publishing this to be soe: as,

Witness my hand & seal, this third Day of September, in ye year of our Lord, Seventeen hundred & one, & in ye 13th. year of ye reign of our Soveraign L'd. William ye 3rd, King of England, &c.

Thomas Blount (Seal)

A Codicil to my Will: This is my further will & pleasure, yt ye legacys within my said Will giving & exprest, shall be pd. w'thin eighteen months after my decease. as, witness my hand & seal ye year and day abovesd.

Thomas Blount (Seal)

Signed & seald in presence of

Wm Wilkison.

John Blount.

Thomas Green.

March 28th 1706.

The within will was proved before me the Honble: Thos. Cary, Esqr., D: Gov:, by ye oathes of Tho: Green & John BLOUNT, who upon their oathes Say that they did see ye within Tho: BLOUNT, Sign, Seal, & acknowledge ye within written, to be his last Will & Testamt.

Thomas Cary.