First- That my Executor (herein after named) shall provide for my body a decent burial suitable to the wishes of my relatives & friends, & pay all funeral expenses together with my just debts out of moneys that may first come into his hands, as part or parcel of my Estate.
Item – I give and devise unto my son Thomas A. Clayton, all my land whereon I now live, adjoining the lands of Wm. S. Pettigrew, Nathan Alexander & Amelia Swain. But I wish it particularly understood that my wife Eveline Clayton, is to have in possession & use for and during the term of her natural life, all my land on the Western side of the middle & big ditch, which runs back of the barn, so as to include my Mansion House, & all out houses, & the field west of said ditch to W.S.Pettigrew's line, and then below the main road Southerly to Scuppernong River: And further, my son Thomas is not to have the use of that part of my land lying west of the big ditch either above or below the main road, & on which the buildings ar situated, without her, my wife Eveline's consent.
Item – I lend to my wife Eveline, one servant man named Levi, during her life: And after her death, I give & bequeath said Levi to my daughter Mary E. Gibbs. I also give and bequeath to my wife Eveline, one horse, one bed, & furniture, one cow & calf.
Item – I give to my daughter Charlotte Dunbar, her life estate in the land whereon she now lives, and at her death, I give and bequeath said land, - consisting of twenty five acres, more or less, adjoining the land of Mahala Godfrey. – to her children Emma Dunbar & Robert Dunbar, I give the use of my servant Penny, to my daughter Mary E. Gibbs, during her life, and at her death, I give said woman Penny to her daughter Sarah Gibbs, and, should said Sarah Gibbs die leaving no issue, then, and in that case, Penny will go to the nearest blood relative of said Sarah on her mothers side.
Item – I give to my grandsons, David Dunbar & William Dunbar two servants boys, Joseph & Andrew, and should said David & William die leaving no lawful heirs of their own bodies, then & in that case, the said negroes Joseph & Andrew, shall go to the nearest blood relative of David William Dunbar on their mothers side.
Item – I give and bequeath to my two grandsons Zepeniah Davis & Thomas Davis, my negro boy Stephen
Item – I give to my wife Eveline, out of my provisions a sufficiency for her support during one year.
Item – The residue of my estate, whether real, personal or perishable not before devised, I give and bequeath to be equally divided among all my children.
Finally – I appoint my son, Thomas A. Clayton, Executor to this my last Will and Testament, revoking all others heretofore made by me, In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and affix my seal this first day of June, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred & fifty seven.
Signed, Sealed & Published, to be the last Will and Testament of David Clayton in the presence of
Henderson Lewis
Henry L. Hassell
David Clayton (Seal)
At July Sessions 1857.
Of Tyrrell County Court.
A paper writing (to wit, this one) purporting to be the last Will and Testament of David Clayton, bearing date the 1st June, 1857, was produced in court & proved by oath of the two subscribing witnesses thereto, to have been duly executed, according to law, as to pass the real & personal estate therein contained, also that the said David was at it execution of a sound & disposing mind & memory, and was ordered to be registered.
Test ___
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