Last
Will and Testament of John Morris (Father
of Zachariah)
In
the name of God, Amen, I John Morris of the State of Georgia and Jackson County
being sick and weak of body but of sound and perfect and disposing mind and
memory blessed be God, do this twenty-seventh day of June in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and ten, make and ordain this my last will and
testament in the manner and form following.
____ I give and commend my soul to almighty God who gave it, and my body
I wish to be buried in the earth, at the discretion of my executor, hereafter to
be named and my worldly goods I give and desire and dispose of in the following
manner.
Item, my will and desire is
that all my just debts be paid by my executors out of my estate.
Item, I give and desire to
my son Zachariah one certain bay horse known by the name of Jolly, also our cow
and calf known as Pride.
Item, My will and desire is
that my daughter Sally Morris and Susannah Morris shall have each of them a cow
and calf when they come of age.
Item, I give to my daughter
Polley Duke one certain heifer known by the name of Brindy.
Item, I give and desire to
my son Jesse one heifer known by the name of Libby.
Item, I give and desire to
my beloved wife Elizabeth Morris my land and tenaments and plantation tools and
household furniture. Also our sorrel
mare known by the name of Irish (?) also the whole stock of cattle and hogs all
for the use of the widow and orphans during her life or widowhood.
Item, I will and desire for
the wagon to be sold upon a credit with as much other property as will defray
all my debts and I do hereby nominate, constitute, and appoint Frederick
Thompson, Eli Whaley, and the a foresaid Elizabeth Morris, Joint Executors and
execute to this my last will and testament ratifying this and this only to be my
last will and nullifying all other wills and testaments by me heretofore made
witness my hand and on the date above signed sealed and acknowledged in the
presence of
Joseph Camp
William Nichols
His
John X
Morris
Mark
Georgia
Jackson County
Personally came into open
court Joseph Camp and William Nichols and being duly deposith and sworn saith
that they did see the within named John Morris sign seal and acknowledge the
within to be his last Will and Testament and that they were witnesses to the
same. Sworn to in open court this 4th
day of March 1811.
Edward Adams – clerk
Joseph Camp
William Nichols
[This last will and
testament was typed from a copy of the original, (photocopied in the county
courthouse of Jackson Co., Georgia) by Michael James Morris, son of Carroll Don
Morris whose father was Millard James Morris whose father was Frank Morris,
whose father was William Morris, whose father was John Morris, whose father was
Zachariah Morris. I believe we were all eldest sons of the eldest sons. (An
interesting fact but not really relevant.) Please
forgive any misspellings or punctuation errors.
I tried to leave most errors intact from the original but every so often
I could not resist putting a comma in or correcting an error.
There were also several places where the words could not be clearly read
since this was a handwritten document. I
believe I guessed correctly in most cases.]