Will of
JOHN HECKLEFEILD
1721
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. I, John Hecklefeild, of the Precinct of Pequimmons, in the County of Albemarle, in the Province of North Carolina, Gent., being sick & weak of Body, but of sound mind & memory (Blessed be God for the Same) & Knowing ye Certainty of Death, to hereby make, Ordain, Constitute & Appoint this to be my last Will & Testament, hereby revoking & making void all former Wills by me made, & this only to stand & be of force in Law. First & principally I recommend my Soul to God that gave it, hoping and Assuredly trusting in & thro’ the Meritts of my Blessed Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ, to obtain full & free pardon of all my Sins; My Body I committ to the Ground to be decently interr’d at the discretion of my Executors hereafter mentioned, according to the manner I buried my last Wife. As for w’t worldly Goods it hath pleas’d God to bestow on me in this Life, I give, devise & bequeath the Same in manner & forme following:
Imprim. I give to the Hon’ble Charles Eden, Esqr., Governor, my Mourning Ring w’th a Death’s Head & y’e Christall
Item. I give to Mr. Edm’d Gale, ye Diamond Rign I formerly us’d to wear, being all Diamonds.
Item. I give to Mr. George Durant one Mourning Ring, value thirty Shillings.
Item. I sett at perfect freedom from all Slavery to be claimed by my Heirs, Executors, &c., my Negro Woman Jane, for her diligent care had of me in my Sickness.
All the Rest, Residue & Remainder of my Estate W’tsoever & wheresoever to be found I give & bequeath to my Son, Hecklefeild, & I further Nominate, make, constitute & appoint Mr. Edmond Gale & Mr. George Durant, Executors of this my last Will & Testam’t, & Guardians to my sd. Son, John Hecklefeild, that they my afors’d Executors shall have the Tuition & Education of my sd. Son until he arrive at the age of Twenty & one years after the best thought manner this Country will admitt.
What Negroes he hath Capable of it, I desire they may be hired yearly to Good paymasters for the better Support of my Sd. Son. And I further desire, that watsoever of his Estate will not be thought Serviceable to him when he shall come of Age, may be disposed of for good pay & converted into Young Negro Women for his use.
But if my sd. Son do die before he be of the Age of Twenty & one years w’ch (by Gods blessing) will be in the year one thousand, Seven Hundred & Thirty seven, then w’t Estate I have by this Will given to him, I give & bequeath as follows, viz: the one half p’t thereof to my Sister in Law, Mrs. Mary Cox, or her heirs, living near Essex Bridge, in Dublin, in Ireland; the other half p’t to Mr. Edm’d. Gale.
In Witness whereof, I hereto set my hand & seal this thirtieth day of May, in ye year of our Lord, 1721.
JOHN HECKLEFEILD (Seal)
Sign’d, Seal’d, publish’d & Declar’d by the Testat’r to be his last Will & Testam’t in Presence of:
WILLIAM BURCLIFT.
his
DARBY 0 O’BRYAN.
marke
ENOCH FLOWER.
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NORTH CAROLINA SS. CHARLES EDEN, Esqr., Govern’r &c. Darby O’bryan this day came before me & made Oath that he saw Collo. John Hecklefield, Seal & declare the within Will to be his last Will & Testam’t & y’t Wm. Berclift & Enoch Flower, the other two Evidences thereto were then Present; that ye Sd. Hecklefeild was then of Sound Memory & sign’d the same without any Constraint or compulsion.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto sett my hand at Chowan, Aug’st ye 8th, 1721. CHARLES EDEN.
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Recorded in Will Book 2, page 305, Office of the Secretary of State.
Contributed by Nola Duffy
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