Return to Hyde County

NORTH CAROLINA
    HYDE COUNTY

I, H.C. Carter of the County of Hyde, State of North Carolina, do hereby make, publish and declare this as my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all other heretofore by me made.

Item:  I give and bequeath to the Methodist Church at Fairfield the sum of One Thousand Dollars to be invested by the Trustees of the church and the interest on the same to be spent each year for the benefit of the church.

Item:  I give and bequeath to my wife, Carrie V. Carter, for and during the term of her natural life, the following described property, to wit:  The "cut" or "square" of land upon which the dwelling house is situated, lying to the North of the public road known as the Lake road and to the South of the first cross ditch, which square of land is included in the devise hereinafter made to H.C. Carter, Jr. and is lot #5 on the map hereto attached. [There was no map attached to this typewritten version, however, at the end of this will it said the map could be found in this same will book on page 705.]  The second "cuts" or "squares" in the tracts hereinafter described in the devises to Lida C. Studdert, Bettie C. Grant, H.W. Carter and Jennie C. Midyette which said squares contain approximately 25 acres each and lie to the North of the first cross ditch and to the South of the second cross ditch on my far, which said squares are numbered 18, 14, 10, and 2 on the map hereto attached.  I also give and devise to my wife Carrie V. Carter, the privilege of cutting such wood and timber as she may use or require for the proper sustenance of herself and the land heretofore devised, which said privilege shall embrace all of the woods land I now own.

I also give and devise to my wife for and during her natural life the tenant house and lot situated on the lake side and on the Western side of the tract of land devised to Jennie C. Midyette, which is lot #1 on the map hereto attached, and also the house and lot located on the Lake side and on the East side of the land devised to H.W. Carter, which lot is #9 on the map hereto attached.

I also give and bequeath to my wife for and during the term of her natural life to be used by her in such manner as she desires all the household and kitchen furniture in the house; one horse and buggy; ten head of hogs; two cows, ten sheep and all the poultry on the place.

In addition to the above I direct that my said wife shall be given five hundred dollars worth of such of the crop, stock and provisions on hand at the time of my death as she may select, and that together with the other devises hereinbefore made, is intended to be in lieu of her dower rights in the land her right in the distribution of the personal property of my estate and also in lieu of her year's provision.  The land hereinbefore devised to my wife for her life shall, after her death, go to that one of my children to which the same is hereinafter devised as hereinafter appears in this Will.

Item:  I give and devise to my daughter Lida C. Studdert, for and during her natural life subject to the devise hereinbefore made to my wife Carrie V. Carter, that part of the farm on which I now live which is described and defined as follows, to wit: Beginning at the S.W. corner of the said farm at the line of the New Holland Farms property at the South east corner of the land of the heirs of Jos. Williams and running Northwardly with the Eastern line of said Williams land to the back road, thence Eastwardly with the said back road to a ditch leading from same to Mattamuskeet Lake, and thence Southwardly along the center of said ditch to the line of the New Holland Farms property in Mattamuskeet Lake, and thence Westwardly to the beginning.  The same being lots #17, 18,19, and 20 upon the map thereto attached.

And after the death of my daughter Lida C. Studdert, if her husband Geo. J. Studdert shall be living, then I devise and bequeath to him, for and during the term of his natural life, fifty acres of the tract of land hereinbefore devised to my said daughter which said fifty acres shall be located nearest Mattamuskeet Lake, upon which the dwelling house is situated and after the death of my said daughter, I devise and bequeath all of the property hereinbefore described to the children of my said daughter in fee simple, except the fifth acres devised to Geo. J. Studdert, and after the death of said Geo. J. Studdert, I give and devise said fifty acres to my daughter Lida's children in fee simple.

Item:  I give and bequeath to my daughter Bettie C. Grant that part of my farm on which I now live which is described and defined as follows, to wit:  Beginning at the S.E. Corner of the land hereinbefore devised to my daughter Lida C. Studdert and children at the line of the New Holland Farms Company and running North with the Eastern line of the tract hereinbefore devised to Lida C. Studdert, to the back road, thence eastwardly with the back road to Carter's Canal, thence southwardly with the center of said canal to the line of the proeprty of the New Holland Farms Company, and thence Westwardly along said line to the beginning, being lots #13, 14, and 14, and 16 as shown upon the map hereto attached.

Item:  I give and devise to my son H.C. Carter, Jr. that part of my farm upon which I live which is described and defined as follows, to wit:  Beginning at the Southeastern corner of the tract of land hereinbefore devised to my son H.W. Carter, at the line of the New Holland Farms Company and running thence Northwardly with the Eastern line of the tract devised to H.W. Carter to the back road, thence Eastwardly with said back road to a tract of land hereinafter devised to my daughter Jennie C. Midyette, thence Southwardly with said line to the line of the property of the New Holland Farms Company, and thence Westwardly with the said line to the beginning, being lots #5, 6, 7, and 8 as shown upon the map hereto attached.

Item:  I give and devise to my daughter Jennie C. Midyette, that part of my farm which is described and defined as follows, to wit: Beginning at the South-east corner of the tract of land hereinbefore devised to my son H.C. Carter, Jr. and running thence Northwardly with the Eastern line of said tract to the back road, thence Eastwardly with the back road to the public road leading from the Lake to Carmur, thence with said road to the line of the New Holland Farms Company, and thence Westwardly with said line to the beginning, being lots #1, 2, 3, and 4 upon the map hereto attached.  I also give and devise to my daughter Jennie C. Midyette, the farm whereon she now lives which I purchased from my sister, Laura E. Blackwell, containing about fifty acres and known as the Blackwell farm.

Item:  I give and devise to the children of my deceased daughter, Sallie C. Jeannette, the farm which I own in Pasquotank County, located about five miles from Elizabeth City on Pasquotank River, containing about 140 acres.

Item:  I give and devise and bequeath to each of my children hereinbefore named the right to use Carter's Canal in all such respects as shall be necessary and convenient to the proper cultivation and use of their separate properties herein devised and in particular to drain down same and use the same for the purpose of hauling freight to and from Alligator river and I hereby except from each and every of the devises hereinbefore made a right of way fifty feet from the center of Carter's Canal and on both banks of same from the back road to Alligator River said fifty feet to be used and enjoyed perpetually as a right-of-way for the purpose of hauling, loading and unloading freight and of piling or storing the same.  This devise is intended to be a perpetual right which shall run with and adhere to the land herein devised to each of my children.

Item:  I direct my Executors hereinafter named to sell at public auction or private sale, as they may deem best, all my personal property, not herein bequeathed and divide the proceeds therefrom equally among all my children.

Item:  I give and devise to my children Jennette [Jennie] C. Midyett, H.W. Carter, Lyda C. Studdert, Bettie C. Grant and H.C. Carter, Jr. each a one sixth undivided interest in all the lands I own North of the dyke line canal and to the children of my deceased daughter Sallie C. Jennette the remaining one sixth interest.

Item:  I appoint my sons, H.W. Carter and H.C. Carter, Jr. Executors of this my Last Will and testament.  This the 31^st day of May 1919.
    /s/ H.C. Carter    (Seal)

Signed, sealed, published and declared by the said H.C. Carter to be his Last Will and Testament, in the presence of use, who at his request and in his presence and in the presence of each other, do hereby affix our names as subscribing witnesses hereto.
    Witness: T.C. Mann
    Witness: C.S. O'Neal

State of North Carolina}    SS
       Hyde County          }    In the Superior Court
    A paper purporting to be the last Will and Testament of H.C. Carter, deceased, is exhibited before me, the undersigned, Clerk of Superior Court for said County, by H.W. Carter and H.C. Carter, Jr., the executors therein mentioned and the due execution thereof by the said H.C. Carter is proved by the oath and examination of T.C. Mann and C.S. O'Neal, the subscribing witnesses thereto, who being duly sworn, doth depose and say and each for himself deposeth and saith that he is a subscribing witness to the paper writing which is now shown him purporting to be the last Will and Testament of H.C. Carter.  That the said H.C. Carter in the presence of this deponent subscribed his name at the end of said paper writing, which is now shown as aforesaid, and which bears date of the 31^st day of May 1919.  And the deponent further saith that the said H.C. Carter, the testator aforesaid, did at the time of subscribing his name as aforesaid, declare the said paper writing so subscribed by him and exhibited, to be his last Will and Testament; and this deponent did thereupon subscribe his name at the end of said Will as an attesting witness thereto, and at the request and in the presence of said testator.  And this deponent further saith that at the time when the said testator subscribed his name to the said last Will as aforesaid, and at the time of the deponent's subscribing his name as an attesting witness thereto, the said H.C. Carter was of sound mind and memory, of full age to execute a Will, and was not under and restraint to the knowledge, information or belief of this deponent, and further, these deponents saith not.
    /s/ T.C. Mann
    /s/ C.S. O'Neal

[The last part of the probate page is missing from my files but Henry Clay Carter, Sr. was born Dec. 4, 1843 & died May 9, 1920 so the probate was probably soon after his death.]

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!

© 2010 Kay Midgett Sheppard