The Will of
MATTHEW CLUFF
1845
In the name of God, amen.
I Matthew Cluff do make and ordain this my last will and testament. I give to George Musgrave snr the house wherein same lives and the lot on which it is situated to George Musgrave junr to him and his heirs. I give all the rest and remainder of my estate of every kind to Thomas Allen and appoint him my executor to this my last will and testament.
Matthew (X) Cluff
his mark
In presence of
C.R. Kinney
W.B. Allen
Wm Messenger
The codicil of the Will of Matthew Cluff made to the forgoing will Item I give to William Allen all the profits that have been made in the store during the time he has been my agent or clerk
Matthew (X) Cluff
his mark
C.R. Kinney
Wm Messenger
To George Musgrave Sr
George Musgrave Jr
James C. Scott and wife Margaret
You are hereby notified that at the next term of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions to be holden for the County of Pasquotank on the 1st Monday of June next the Will of Matthew Cluff will be offered for probate.
May 27th 1845
Thos Allen
for C.R. Kinney Sol.
It appearing to the court that notice was given by Thomas Allen Executor of the Will if Matthew Cluff to George Musgrave Sen, George Musgrave Jun and James C. Scott and wife Margaret to appear at this term of the court and approve the probate of said will of Matthew Cluff and they having declined to approve the probate of said will the same was duly proved by the oath of C.R. Kinney and William Messenger in due form and ordered to be executed.
Note by Emily Randall:
Her sister observed in a letter that Annie Mae Cluff Scott Vaughan did not care for “her Cluff cousins or use the Cluff name.” This will, which practically cut her grandfather’s family off from the considerable fortune of one of Elizabeth City’s leading merchants, probably explains why. There is also the fact that Matthew Cluff was a slaveholder. I have not been able to prove the exact relationship between Matthew Cluff and George Musgrave. Cluffs are as common as Musgraves around Trillick, the town from which George Musgrave emigrated in 1818. Matthew Cluff himself arrived in Norfolk, Va. in 1807. The Kilskeery, County Tyrone, Church of Ireland parish marriage record, unfortunately does not extend to marriages before 1778 and there is no record of a Cluff/Musgrave marriage after that date.
Contributed by Emily Randall