State of North Carolina}
Currituck County }
I, Jos. B. MORGAN of the County & State aforesaid being of sound &
disposing mind & memory and being admonished that my earthly existence is near
its end, do make & publish this my last will & testament in manner & form as
follows, that is [to] say:
Item - I give & bequeath unto my son P.H. MORGAN the one half of the
house farm on which he now resides valued at two thousand ($2000) dollars,
which with advancements heretofore made to him of one thousand nine hundred &
sixty ($1960) dollars, which includes an interest I owned in the store of Bell
& Morgan of four hundred ($400) dollars - makes the sum of three thousand nine
hundred & sixty ($3960) dollars - I give & devise unto him, his heirs,
executors, administrators & assigns in fee simple forever.
Item - I leave to my beloved wife, A.L. MORGAN, the use of all the
residue of my estate real & personal, or so much thereof as may be necessary
for her comfortable maintenance & support during the term of her natural life
- and I hereby constitute & appoint my son, P.H. MORGAN, Trustee for my
said beloved wife - to have the sole management & control of my entire estate
during the life of his mother - to see that she wants for nothing & that she
is properly cared for in old age - any my will & desire is that if there be
any surplus profits of my real estate remaining after the maintenance &
support of my dear wife, that it be annually, equally divided between my
daughter Ida N. SANDERSON, J.W. MORGAN and the children of my
son F.M. MORGAN, my son P.H. MORGAN being already in possession
of the real estate assigned to him & enjoying the profits of the same.
At the death of my dear wife my will and desire is that all my remaining
estate be divided as follows.
Item - To my son J.W. MORGAN I give and bequeath the one half of my
home farm where I have resided the most of my life and which I value at two
thousand five hundred ($2500) dollars (& it is proper to state here that the
reason of the difference in the valuation of the half given to him & the half
given to P.H. MORGAN is that the buildings on P.H. MORGANs were
put there mainly at his own expense). I have also advanced him four
hundred & thirty nine ($439) dollars which added to the real estate granted to
him makes the sum of two thousand nine hundred & thirty nine ($2939) dollars.
I give to him my watch & chairs - and for reasons satisfactory to myself I
hereby constitute & appoint his brother P.H. MORGAN Trustee for him
with full power & authority to put said J.W. MORGAN in possession of
his share of my estate whensoever he may think best for said J.W. MORGAN.
Item - To my daughter Ida N. SANDERSON I give and bequeath one
hundred forty (140) acres of my DOZIER farm, to be taken off the
eastern end of said farm, the line to run from the North River road straight
across said farm to the back line containing that portion lying on "Hog
Bridge" canal, valued at four thousand two hundred ($4200) dollars. I
also give her one pianna, one small stove, one lounge & one ladies sewing
stand - the articles of furniture I value to her at two hundred ($200) dollars
making in all four thousand four hundred ($4400) dollars.
Item - To my son F.M. MORGAN I have advanced the sum of two thousand
nine hundred & thirty six ($2936) dollars. I give unto him also one note
which I hold against him for one hundred dollars payable to P.H. MORGAN
dated 21st Augt 1882. Also a draft given by him on
Bell & Morgan in favor of B.F. WHITEHALL & Son for twenty five dollars
dated Wilmington, N.C. Oct 27th 1882, making in all three thousand
& sixty one ($3061) dollars. To the children of my said son F.M.
MORGAN, I give & bequeath the western end of my DOZIER farm,
containing about eighty four (84) acres & separated from the lands of M.R.
GREGORY by the Juniper Ridge road & canal - valued at two thousand ($2000)
dollars, making in the whole given to F.M. MORGAN & his children which
constitutes one share, five thousand & sixty one ($5061) dollars and I hereby
constitute & appoint my son P.H. MORGAN Trustee & guardian for F.M.
MORGANs children - and whereas F.M. MORGAN is indebted to P.H.
MORGAN for money loaned & groceries used by said F.M. MORGAN, I do
hereby authorize and empower said P.H. MORGAN Trustee as aforesaid to
retain out of the first money that may come into his hands belonging to the
said children, an amount sufficient to pay said indebtedness.
Item - My swamp land containing seventy five acres I give to my children
P.H. MORGAN, J.W. MORGAN & Ida N. SANDERSON valued at three
hundred ($300) dollars - to dispose of as they think proper, sell, divide or
use in common.
Item - All of my personal property I leave to be so divided as to make all
the four shares of equal value, advancements being considered a part of my
personal property, and F.M. MORGAN & his children constituting one
share.
Lastly - I have some few articles of household furniture not mentioned
which I leave my dear wife to dispose of as she may please. I have
conscientiously endeavoured to do equal right & justice to all my children &
if I have failed it is an error of the head & not of the heart.
And I do hereby constitute and appoint my son, P.H. MORGAN, my
lawful executor to all intents and purposes to execute this my last will &
testament according to the true intent and meaning of the same & every part
and clause thereof hereby revoking all the wills and testaments by me
heretofore made, and I do hereby authorize and empower him to retain his
commission as Executor, Trustee & Guardian without application to any bond
whatever.
In witness whereof I, Jos. B. MORGAN, do hereunto set my hand & seal
this the 21st day of May A.D. 1885.
/s/ Jos. B. MORGAN
Signed sealed published & declared by the said Jos. B. MORGAN to be
his last will & testament
[no witnesses signed]
State of North Carolina}
Currituck County }
W.H. COWELL, M.H. SNOWDEN and Wm. H. BRAY three creditable &
competent witnesses being duly sworn deposeth and sayeth, each for himself,
that they knew the late Jos. B. MORGAN in his lifetime that they frequently
saw him write and sign his name, that they were well acquainted with his
handwriting, that they have examined the paper writing filed in Court for
probate purporting to be the last will and testament of the said Jos. B.
MORGAN, decd., dated the 21st day of May 1885, and they they verily believe
that the said paper writing and every part thereof including the signature of
the said Jos. B. MORGAN to be in the own proper hand writing of the said
Jos.
B. MORGAN, and further these deponents sayeth not.
Sworn and subscribed to before me this the 19th day of October
1885.
/s/ W.H. COWELL
M.H. SNOWDEN
Wm. H. BRAY
State of North Carolina}
Currituck County }
T.C. SANDERSON and P.H. MORGAN being duly sworn deposeth &
sayeth that on the 15th day of September 1885 they made an
examination of the papers and other effects of the late Jos. B. MORGAN
deceased and that in said examination in a small truck where said Jos. B.
MORGAN kept valuable papers, they found a paper writing purporting to be
his last will and testament deposited therein dated the 21st day of
May 1885, with the signature of the said Jos. B. MORGAN signed at the
end thereof. Said paper writing as aforesaid was found in said trunk
with accounts and other valuable papers belonging to said deceased. Said
trunk was securely locked.
Sworn & subscribed to before me this the 19th day of October
1885.
/s/ P.H. MORGAN
T.C.
SANDERSON
State of North Carolina}
Currituck County }
A paper writing without subscribing witnesses purporting to be the last will
and testament of Jos. B. MORGAN, deceased, is exhibited for probate in
open Court by P.H. MORGAN, the executor therein named; and it is
thereupon proved by the oath and examination of P.H. MORGAN and T.C.
SANDERSON, that the said will was found among the valuable papers and
effects of the said Jos. B. MORGAN, after his death; and it is further
proved by the oath and examination of three competent and credible witnesses,
to wit, Dr. W.H. COWELL, M.H. SNOWDEN and Wm. H. BRAY,
that they are acquainted with the handwriting of the said Jos. B. MORGAN,
having often seen him write, and verily believe that the name of the said
Jos. B. MORGAN subscribed to said will, and the said will itself and every
part thereof are in the handwriting of the said Jos. B. MORGAN.
Therefore it is considered by the Court, that the said paper
writing and every part thereof is the last will and testament of the said Jos.
B. MORGAN, and the same is ordered recorded and filed. October 19th
1885.
/s/ H.B. ANSELL, C.S.C.
Clerk Superior Court
EXECUTOR'S OATH
North Carolina } SS. In
the Superior Court
Currituck County }
I, P.H. MORGAN, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I believe
this paper writing to be and contain the last will and testament of Jos. B.
MORGAN deceased; and that I will well and truly execute the same by first
paying his debts and then his legacies, so far as the said estate shall
extend, or the law will charge me, and that I will well and faithfully execute
the office of an executrix agreeable to the trust and confidence reposed in
me, and according to law, so help me God.
/s/ P.H. MORGAN
Sworn and subscribed before me, this 2nd day of
Novr. 1885.
/s/ H.B. ANSELL
C.S.C.
[NOTE:
Cemetery records reveal that Joseph B. Morgan was born Sept.
24, 1812 & died Sept. 24, 1885. If this is really his death date then
the locked box with Mr. Morgan's valuable papers was opened BEFORE his death
on Sept. 15, 1885. I suspect the tombstone date of Sept. 24, 1885 is in
error. Joseph B. Morgan's wife, Anne Lamb (Dozier) Morgan was born Feb.
1, 1819 and died Feb. 9, 1892. Both are buried on the J.P. Morgan farm
in Shawboro, N.C.]
[Source: Microfilm G.030.1548672 - Currituck Co., NC Wills (original)
1841-1924; Vol. Ansell-Woodhouse]
This will was contributed by Kay
Midgett Sheppard. No part of this document may be used for any commercial
purposes. However, please feel free to copy any of this material for your own
personal use and family research. If you find anything in these records that
pertains to your families, it is strongly suggested that you look at the
original record on your own to check for errors or possibly other additional
and helpful information. Thank you!
© 2006
Kay Midgett Sheppard
