"Where There's a Will" - Transcription of Levin Woollen's Last Will and Testament

How I descend from Levin Woollen. My father and I follow after Betty
Henderson Wood in the lineage shown above.

Levin (a.k.a., Leven, Leavin, and Leaven) Woollen was born in 1744 in Dorchester County, Maryland.  Various records show him living in Maryland up until the time of the 1800 United States Census for Dorchester County, Maryland.  By the time of the enumeration of the 1810 United States Census, Levin had moved about 400 miles southwest of Dorchester County and was residing in Rockingham County, North Carolina.  On 07 August 1820, the United States Census recorded him as living in Guilford County, North Carolina.  Then, on 14 February 1832, Mr. Woollen filed his last will and testament, as follows, with the Guilford County, North Carolina, Clerk of Court.

Last Will and Testament of Leven (sic) Woollen.

Transcription of Levin Woollen's Last Will and Testament

File # 0673

467.

In the Name of God Amen.  I Leven Woollen of the County of Guilford & State of North Carolina, Considering the uncertainty of life being of sound mind & (illegible) Memory.  Do Ordain & disclose this to be my last Will & Testament revoking all others.

Item 1.  I give & bequeath to my beloved wife Rebecca Woollen Our bed & furniture her natural lifetime.

Item 2.  I give & bequeath to my son William B. Woollen all my land which I may disposed & pop??ed of by his paying Five Dollars to each of the rest of the legates that is to say my son Levin Woollen, to my daughter Nancy Woollen, & To. my son Edward Woollen, to my son Benjamin Ellis Woollen, & to my son Charles W. Woollen.

Item 3.  I give and bequeath to my son Benjamin Ellis Woollen, one bed and its common furniture.

Item 4.  My Will is the remaining part of my property not otherwise disposed of to be sold and Equally divided Betwixt my son Leven Woollen, Nancy Woollen, Edward, William, Barns (sic), Benjamin Ellis, of Charles Wesley Woollen.

Item 5.  I do hereby Constitute Ordain, and appoint John A. Smith my executor to this my last Will & Testament.  Duly Executed, I do hereby Confirm the same in the presence of God, and here unto set my hand & Seal After Minute deliberation,

Signed Sealed & delivered in presence of us

this (illegible) 14th day of February in the year of} Leven Woollen {Seal}

our Lord 1832

Martin Weatherby}

Green (his X mark) Gordon} durant?

State of North Carolina

Guilford County} November Term 1832

The Execution of the the within Will was duly proven

in Open Court by the Oathes of Marin Weatherby & Green Gordon

Laboring(?) Witnesses Hereto.

Ordered to be Recorded

Then carrier(?) into Open Court.  John A. Smith Esquire Executor

appointed in said Will of qualified as such Accordingly.

Test(?)

A. E. Hanner(?) c/c


©Amy Wood Kelly, 2018 - I am happy to share my genealogical research and writing with others, as well as to help others with their research efforts.  However, please do not reprint or repost this in full or in part or use excerpts from it without giving full credit to me, Amy Wood Kelly, as the researcher and author as well as providing the permalink to this post.  Thank you, in advance, for showing respect for my request and the work I put creating this.

"Heirloom" - The Wood Family Watch

When my dad turned 21 in the mid-1960s, he inherited an heirloom watch from his father.

Dad wrote to his father asking about the watch's history; and my grandfather, John "Johnny" Egbert Wood (02 November 1919 - 29 December 1996), responded with the letter shown below.  The people mentioned in Johnny's letter are:

• My father, the addressee, "Son"
• My paternal grandfather, John "Johnny" Egbert Wood (1919-1996), letter writer
• My paternal great-grandmother, Susan "Susie" Bowers Wood (1860-1933), referred to as "Mother."
• My paternal great-grandfather, Albert Houston Wood, Sr. (1880-1967), referred to as "Daddy."
• My paternal great-great-grandmother, Susan Elizabeth Ford Bowers (1825-1901), mother of Susie Bowers who is shown above.
• Catherine Montye Foster Wood (1883-1965), wife of Albert Houston Wood, Sr. and my grandfather's mother.
• David Trousdale Foster (1880-1949), brother of Montye Foster Wood and Johnny's maternal uncle.

To further aid in understanding the context of the letter, here is a visual representation of the direct line lineage discussed in the letter:

Shown above the line of descent from my paternal great-grandmother to
my paternal grandfather. My father and I follow below Johnny in this lineage.

Page 1 of Johnny's original letter.

Page 2 of Johnny's original letter.

Transcription of the two-page letter shown in the above two photos.

In addition to the information in this letter, my dad shared with me that he had ascertained that the watch was made about 1903, as my grandfather had guessed.  Dad had to replace the casing of the watch, due to beyond-repair breakage, in the mid- to late-1980s.  The original watch case was circular, and he said it showed off the watch face much better than the current casing.  Also, the watch used to have a gold expansion band.  Dad replaced the expansion band with the leather one pictured after the gold band wore out in the 1980s.  The watch's crown (i.e., winder) has a stone set in it.

This heirloom turns 115 years old this year, and it's still worn almost daily and keeps on ticking.  What a wonderful treasure to have in the family!

Bibliography

• “Old Gold.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Feb. 2018.
• “Elgin National Watch Company.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Feb. 2018.

This blog post is part of +Amy Johnson Crow's 2018 #52Ancestors Challenge, as well as a #TreasureChestThursday post.

©Amy Wood Kelly, 2018 - I am happy to share my genealogical research and writing with others, as well as to help others with their research efforts.  However, please do not reprint or repost this in full or in part or use excerpts from it without giving full credit to me, Amy Wood Kelly, as the researcher and author as well as providing the permalink to this post.  Thank you, in advance, for showing respect for my request and the work I put creating this.

"Valentine" - Transcription of Valentine (Val) Winecoff's Last Will and Testament

Valentine Winecoff, Sr. (13 November 1816 - 16 July 1887) is my maternal 5th great-uncle.  His brother, Mathias (1807-1876), is my maternal 4th great-grandfather.

Transcription of Valentine Winecoff's Last Will and Testament

State of North Carolina

Cabarrus County

I Valentine Winecoff, of the county and state aforesaid being of sound and disposing mind and memory, do make and declare this my last Will and Testament, in the manner and form following, that is to say –

Item 1st. I give and devise to my beloved wife Eliza Winecoff the Plantation on which I now live and with it – the Sheep Pasture which I now use said sheep pasture being in the bounds of the plantation on which my son Ross Davis Winecoff now lives.  (being 184 acres know as the A. C. McRee Home place and the sheep pasture not yet surveyed, joining it.)  I also will and devise to her the Rogers tract of 120 acres.  And with these said lands I will and devise to my said wife Eliza Winecoff all of my personal property to have and to hold the same both Real Estate and Personal Property during her natural life or widowhood.

Item 2nd. I will and devise to my daughter Karen Keziah Walter the plantation on which she now lives containing 103 acres more or less to her and her bodily heirs forever.

Item 3rd. I will and devise to my son Ross Davis Winecoff the remainder of the plantation on which he now lives after the sheep pasture is surveyed off (paid pasture not to exceed 12 acres) to him and his bodily heirs forever.

(There is not an Item 4 in the document.)

Item 5.  I will and devise to my son John Eugene Lee Winecoff as his portion of my estate ($1500) one thousand & five hundred dollars in cash to be paid to him as he needs it.

Item 6.  I will and devise that the Plantation which I have given my son Caleb Mathias Winecoff shall be his entire portion of my estate.  said Plantation joins Wilson Winecoff’s lands and contains (79) seventy nine acres more or less.

Item 7.  I will and devise that the children of Mary Julianna Overcash (being my grandchildren) shall each be paid ($25) twenty five dollars in cash provided they are satisfied with that amount, otherwise they are to receive nothing.

Item 8th.  Upon the death of my wife Eliza Winecoff I will devise and bequeath to my son Warner Jamison Winecoff The Plantation and Sheep Pasture mentioned in Item 1st of this will and (10) Ten acres of Bottom land off the upper end of the Rogers Place making in all about (206) Two hundred & six acres.  I also will and devise that my daughter Lunett (sic) Isabella Winecoff shall have the remainder of the Rogers place being (110) one hundred & ten acres more or less to them and their bodily heirs forever.

Item 9th.  I will and devise to my son Warner Jamison Winecoff the wagons yearing and all the tools in use on the Plantation provided he complys (sic)with the foregoing Items of this will said Plantation being the one on which I know live and two horses or mules his choice.

Item 10.  I also will and devise that after the foregoing clauses are complyed (sic) with that all the live stock and any property not mentioned in this will shall be sold at Public sale and the money be equally divided amongst the children of my said wife Eliza Winecoff and that all surplus monies, if any be divided in the same way.  And lastly I do here by constitute and appoint my son John Eugene Lee Winecoff my lawful executor to all intents and purposes to execute this my last will and Testament according to the true meaning and intent of the same and every part and clause thereof hereby revoking and declaring uterly (sic) void all other Wills and Testaments by me here to fore made.  In witness where of I the said Valentine Winecoff do here unto set my hand and seal this 25th day of March 1885

signed sealed Published  his

Valentine   X Winecoff     Seal

Mark

and declared in the presence of us

by the said V. W. to be his last will and Testament

and we at his request do

subscribe our names as witnesses there to

Harvey (illegible) Rogers

T(?) 6xR(?) C. M. Petree(?)

This post is part of +Amy Johnson Crow's 2018 #52Ancestors challenge.

©Amy Wood Kelly, 2018 - I am happy to share my genealogical research and writing with others, as well as to help others with their research efforts.  However, please do not reprint or repost this in full or in part or use excerpts from it without giving full credit to me, Amy Wood Kelly, as the researcher and author as well as providing the permalink to this post.  Thank you, in advance, for showing respect for my request and the work I put creating this.

"Favorite Name" - Marie Rosalie Seraphina Toups

I have found so many names in my family tree that I could call "favorites" for a variety of reasons.  For this post, I decided to choose a name that I like based solely on the name itself - Marie Rosalie Seraphina Toups.  She is my maternal third great-grandmother.  I particularly like the Seraphina part of her name, as well as that her given and middle names reflect her maternal French heritage.

My mother and I follow after Andrew Pampas
in the above lineage.

Name Information

• Marie is a common French variant of the ancient names Mary and Maria. Its meaning is not clearly defined.
• Rosalie is a French form of Italian and Late Roman name Rosalia.  As one would expect, it means "rose."
• Seraphina is the feminine form of the Late Latin name Seraphinus and is typically spelled as "Séraphina" in French.  The name is derived from the Hebrew word "שרפים" "(anglicized as "seraphim"), which means "burning ones" and is used to identify the angels surrounding the throne of God in the Bible.
• Toups was derived from the surname Dubs and came into its current form in the late 1600s to early 1700s.  Rosalie's paternal ancestors who had this surname lived in Switzerland, except for her third great-grandfather who lived in Germany, before emigrating to Louisiana circa 1724.  The Toups were some of Louisiana's earliest settlers, starting with Casper Dubs/Toups originally of Zurich, Switzerland.(1)

Timeline

• 22 January 1841 - Rosalie, which is the name by which she was called, was born in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana(2), to Drauzin (a.k.a., Drausin) Joseph Toups (Abt. 1812 - Aft. 22 Jun 1880) and Marie Eulalie Stevens (a.k.a., Istiben, Estiben, Estiven, Estievenne, and other variations) Toups (1818 - Aft. 22 Jun 1880).
• 1 August 1850 - She lived with her parents, two older siblings, and two younger siblings in Grand Couteau, Lafource, Louisiana.(3)
• 23 July 1859 - Rosalie married Marcelin (a.k.a., Marcellin) Stevens (a.k.a., Stephens, Estievens, and other variations) in Lafourche Parish.(4)
• 27 July 1860 - The new Mrs. Stevens and her husband lived in Ward 1, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana (Post Office: Thibodaux).(5)
• 01 June 1870 - Rosalie resided with her husband and their four children in Thibodaux, Lafourche, Louisiana.(6)
• 22 June 1880 - The U.S. Census shows Rosalie as widowed and living with her six children at Ellician Toups Plantation(7)(8)(9), now known as Ariel Plantation(10), located about "nine miles below Thibodaux," in the 5th Ward of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana.

This post is part of +Amy Johnson Crow's 2018 #52Ancestors challenge.

Bibliography

1. Deiler, John Hanno. The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana and the Creoles of German Descent. vol. 8, American Germanica Press, 1909. pp. 31, 77, 82, 83, 95, 103, 124.
2. Toups, Neil J. The Toups Clan and How It All Began. Neilson, 1969. p. 98.
3. "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCJW-1MC : 12 April 2016), Rosala Toups in household of Dransin Toups, Grand Coteau, Lafourche, Louisiana, United States; citing family 37, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
4. Toups, Neil J. The Toups Clan and How It All Began. Neilson, 1969. p. 98.
5. "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFPD-WLW : 12 December 2017), Rosela Stevens in entry for Marcellin Stevens, 1860.
6. "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M87Q-Z2V : 12 April 2016), Rolelia Stephens in household of Marcelin Stephens, Louisiana, United States; citing p. 7, family 47, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,015.
7. Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association, Lousiana Sugar Chemists' Association, American Cane Growers' Association. The Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer. vol. 1, Lousiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer Company, 1888. p. 198.
8. "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD6T-1R9 : 15 August 2017), Rosalie Eliza Esteven, 5th Ward, Lafourche, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district ED 131, sheet 641C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0455; FHL microfilm 1,254,455.
9. Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association, Lousiana Sugar Chemists' Association, American Cane Growers' Association. The Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer. vol. 15, Lousiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer Company, 1895. p. 198.
10. French, Benjamin Franklin, and Joh Gilmary Shea. Biographical and Historical Memories of Louisiana. Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1892. pp. 424-425.

©Amy Wood Kelly, 2018 - I am happy to share my genealogical research and writing with others, as well as to help others with their research efforts.  However, please do not reprint or repost this in full or in part or use excerpts from it without giving full credit to me, Amy Wood Kelly, as the researcher and author as well as providing the permalink to this post.  Thank you, in advance, for showing respect for my request and the work I put creating this.