Submitted by Barbara Celotto
Jefferson County Ms.
Number 54
Dated this 5th Day of
November 1855
A. K. Ford Clerk
Recorded Book F
Pages
413 and 414
The Last Will and Testament of Martha Truly of
Jefferson County in the State of Mississippi.
I, Martha Truly
Considering the Uncertainty of Human Life and Being Now of Sound
Mind and Disposing Memory, Do Make, Publish Ordain and Declare this
My Last Will and Testament, Hereby Revoking and Annulling All Other
Wills by Me Hereto Before Made.
Item First; it Is My Will and
Desire That My Executors Herein after Named, Shall Keep My Slaves,
Stock, Furniture, Farming Utensils on My Plantation in Said County
of Jefferson to Be Employed and Used to the Best Advantage in
Raising Crops and That the Sum of Two Thousand Dollars Now at
Interest in the Hands of Dr. B. F. Fox Daniel Smith and Mrs. Adeline
Dangerfield, Remain at Interest until All My Debts Are Paid and That
the Interest Be Collected When Due and Applied with the Proceeds of
the Crop on Said Plantation, to the Payment of My Debts.
Item
Second; I Will and Direct That after the Payment of My Debts, the
Said Sum of Two Thousand Dollars at Interest in the Hands of Dr. B.
F. Fox, Daniel Smith and Mrs. Adeline Daingerfield, Be Collected,
and Equally Divided among My Children, Henkle I. Truly, D. Bradford
Truly, Philip H. Truly, Sarah A. Fox, and John H. Collier
Item Third; after the Payment of All My Debts as Aforesaid, I Will
and Direct That All the Horses, Mules, Oxen, Stock of Cattle, Sheep,
Hogs, , Corn , Fodder, Wagons, Ploughs, and All the Farming
Utensils, Household, Kitchen Furniture, Except the Bedding and Bed
Clothes Be Sold on Such Terms and Credits as My Executers May Deem
Best and the Proceeds of Thereof to Be Equally Divided Among, Henkle
I. Truly, D. Bradford Truly, Philip H. Truly, Sarah A. Fox, and
Richard H. Truly.
Item Fourth; I Will and Direct unto My Two
Sons, Henkle I. Truly and Philip H. Truly My Plantation in Said
County of Jefferson , Known as and Called "Wantmore", Containing
Three Hundred and Twenty Acres More or Less, to Them as Tenants in
Common with the Privileges and Appintinancet Hereunto Belong .
Item Fifth; I Give and Devise to My Son Henkle I. Trulymy Negro
Slaves, Samson and Lilly.
Item Sixth; I Give and Devise to My
Son H. Bradford Truly My Negro Man Slave Rodman.
Item
Seventh; I Give and Devise to My Son Philip H. Truly My Negro Woman
Slave Cynthia and Her Child Emma.
Item Eight; I Give and
Devise to My Daughter Sarah A. Fox My Negro Girl Slave Hannah.
Item Ninth; I Give and Devise to My Son Richard H. Truly My
Negro Woman Slave Cinda and Her Four Children, Levi, Wesley, Daniel
and Caleb.
Item Tenth; I Give and Devise to My Granddaughter
Sarah H. Collier, My Negro Girl Slave Bet and Her Increase.
Item Eleventh; to My Daughter Cora Collier, I Give and Bequeath the
Sum of Twenty Dollars, to Be Paid Whenever She Applies for the Same
to My Executors.
Item Twelfth; I Give and Bequeath to My Son
Richard H. Truly the Sum of Fifteen Hundred Dollars out of the Sum
of Two Thousand Dollars Which I Loaned Him, the Remaining Five
Hundred Dollars Appropriated by Him to the Creation of a Tombstone
or Monument over My Grave, and an Enclosment Around the Same.
Item Thirteenth; I Give to My Son Henkel I. Truly My Spectacles.
Item Fourteenth; to My Daughter Sarah A. Fox I Give My Own
Portrait, and the Picture of My Little Son.
Item Fifteenth;
to My Son D. Bradford Truly I Give the Portrait of His Father.
Item Sixteenth; to My Granddaughter Sarah H. Collier I Give a
Small Gold Locket Containing a Miniature Likeness of My Deceased Son
Hardin Truly. Also a Set of Table Silver Spoons, with the Letters
"M.t." Engraved on Them and Also All My Little Articles.
Item
Seventeenth; to My Daughter Sarah A. Fox I Give One Set of Table
Silver Spoons, and a Set of Silver Tea Spoons with the Letters "M.
T." Engraved on Them.
Item Eighteenth; in the Vent of the
Death of Either of My Children Without Issue, I Will and Direct That
the Share or Portion Devised to Such Deceased Child, Shall Revert to
My Estate and Be Equally Divided among the Remaining Except Cora
Collier. And I Further Will and Desire That If Any Children or
Others Interested in My Estate Have Any Regard for My Emory, and Any
Respect for My Last Wishes, They Will Not Attempt to Set Aside this
Will, but Be Satisfied with the Disposition I Have Made of My Little
Property.
Item nineteenth; I Hereby Constitute and Appoint My
Sons Henkle I Truly and Richard H. Truly Executors of this My Last
Will and Testament and Desire That the Court Will Not Require Them
to Give Security for the Performance of Their Duties as Such.
In Witness Whereof I the Said Martha Truly Have Hereunto
Subscribed My Name, and Affixed My Seal, in Fayette in Said County
of Jefferson this the 12th Day of October A. D. 1855
Her
Signature
Signed Sealed Published and Declared by the above
Named Martha Truly to Be Her Last Will and Testament on this 12th
October 1855 in the Presence of Us Who Have Hereunto Subscribed Our
Names as Witnesses in the Presence and at the Request of the
Testator and in the Presence of Each Other.
Signed Jas. B.
Wigginton
G. a Guilmont