Tonia's Roots » Butler

Last Will and Testament of Thomas Bratcher Hemphill

Tonia Kendrick — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:29:14 +0000

Transcription

North Carolina

McDowell County

	I Thomas Bratcher Hemphill of the aforesaid county and state, being of sound mind, but considering the uncertainty of my earthly existence, do make and declare this my last will and testament.
First	My Executor hereinafter named shall give my body a decent burial, suitable to the wishes of my friends and relatives. And for all funeral expenses together with all any just debts out of the money which may come into his hands belonging to my estate.
Second	I give and devise to my beloved sister Mary Ann McEntire’s legal heirs and Thos. A. Porter and Wm. Y. Porter equally my entire landed property and all [?] chattel [sic] property & in said state.
second [sic]	I give and devise to my two nieces [sic] Mary Jane Stroud and Josephine Butler of Georgia my land in Murry [sic] County Ga.
Third	I give and bequeath to my beloved nephew J. C. McEntire my rifle gun.
Fourth	I give and bequeath to my beloved nephew John Bratcher Porter son of Thomas Porter my double barrel shot gun.
Fifth	I give and bequeath to my beloved neice [sic] Rosanna Barrett my horses mules and wagon, buggy etc. hogs and three choice milk cows provided she stays here if she does not then they must be sold and the proceed divided between the McEntire heirs and Thomas & Wm Porter (equal).
sixth	I give and bequeath to my beloved neice [sic] Rosanna Barrett my household and kitchen furniture.
seventh	I give and bequeath to my nephew Geo. Lytle three or four hundred dollars in cash provided theres money enough to do it. If not have what may be left of the Amt.
Eighth	I give and bequeath to my beloved nephew Thos. Hemphill son of Jas. Y. Hemphill one hundred dollars provided theres money to pay it.
Ninth	I give and bequeath to my beloved neice [sic] Rosanna Barrett my farming tools Crop of corn & wheat &c.
Tenth	I hereby constitute and appoint my trusted friends Thomas A. Porter and Rosanna Barrett my lawfull executor to all interests and purposes to execute this my last will and testament. According to the true intents and meaning of the same and every part and clause thereof hereby revoking and declaring utterly void all other wills and testaments by me heretofore made. In witness whereof I the said Thomas Bratcher Hemphill do hereunto set my hand and seal. This the 22nd day of Oct. 1903. Thomas Bratcher Hemphill {seal} Signed and published and declared by the said Thomas Bratcher Hemphill to be his last will and testament in the presence of us, who at his request and in his presence do subscribe our names as witnesses thereto. J. O. Simmons {seal} T. E. Sallerwhite {seal}
	North Carolina McDowell County } In the Superior Court It is therefore considered And adjudged by the Court that the said paper-writing and every part thereof is the last will and testament of Thomas Bratcher Hemphill deceased. Let the said will together with the probate be recorded and filed This the 26th day of October 1903. Thomas Morris Clerk of the Superior Court

Source: McDowell County, North Carolina, “North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970″, will book entry for Thomas Bratcher Hemphill pp. 554-555, digital images no. 308-309; “Wills 1869-1903,” digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org: accessed 30 June 2011).

Wordless Wednesday: Josephine Hemphill Butler

Tonia Kendrick — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:56:43 +0000

Malinda Josephine (Hemphill) Butler – my 2nd great-grandmother.

North Carolina Probate Records on FamilySearch

Tonia Kendrick — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:42:51 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, a tweet passed through my Twitter stream from @FSHistRecords announcing that North Carolina Probate Records had been added to FamilySearch. Since I have many, many ancestors who lived in North Carolina, I immediately clicked on the link. This is one of those non-indexed databases that FamilySearch is doing now, in order to get the images out there as quickly as possible. I must say, I’m thrilled that they are doing this. I can browse through images online just like I can microfilm. I clicked on browse images to see if any of my known counties were represented and was pleased to see so many county names.

I wasn’t doing any research at the time, just watching TV and catching up on my RSS feeds, so I decided to go on a little fishing expedition.

First I clicked on McDowell County, because that’s the last place that my Hemphill lines lived before coming to Georgia and I figured the chance of finding at least one Hemphill represented was pretty good.

As you can see there are a number of options, including estate records, executor records, and wills. I zeroed in on the Will Index and skipped through until I found the page with Hemphills listed.

“Thomas B.” jumped out at me; that probably would be Thomas Bratcher Hemphill, brother to my 3rd great-grandfather, Ben Hemphill, and half-brother to my 2^nd great-grandfather, J. Y. Hemphill. The index told me that Thomas B. Hemphill’s will was probated in 1903 and was recorded in Will Book 2, on page 554.

I went back to the McDowell County page and looked at the options again. It isn’t organized by Will Book name, but rather by date, so I chose the link that included 1903, which is called “Wills 1869-1903.” I quickly realized that the page number from the will book didn’t match the image numbers from the database, so I started jumping around in the images toward the end, until I narrowed in on p. 554, which turned out to be image number 308.

Sure enough, in the middle of the page, a new will started for “I, Thomas Bratcher Hemphill.” Yay!

I printed out Thomas’ will, which took up 3 pages in the will book, but is only two images online.

Thomas never married, so he left all his property to various nieces and nephews, including my 2^nd great-grandmother, Josephine (Hemphill) Butler.

This whole process only took 29 minutes. And I did it all in my pajamas from the comfort of my living room sofa. I love 21^st century genealogy!

On this date. . .the 30th of June

Tonia Kendrick — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:54:29 +0000

Births

Daniel K. Albright was born in 1874.
Mary M. Johnson was born in 1889 in Fannin County, Georgia.
Clara Josephine Butler was born in 1890 in Georgia.

Deaths

Mary Emma Hemphill died in 1877.
James M. Young died in 1899.

On this date. . .the 26th of June

Tonia Kendrick — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 11:13:50 +0000

Births

Floyd David Butler was born in 1907 in Quanah, Texas.

Deaths

Israel Leander Hemphill died in 1862 in the Civil War.
Elijah Marion Ellis died in 1865 in Spring Place, Georgia (my 3rd great-grandfather).
James Madison Ellis died in 1909 in Roundtop, Georgia.
John N. Hemphill died in 1957 in Chatsworth, Georgia.

On this date. . .the 30th of May

Tonia Kendrick — Mon, 30 May 2011 11:39:30 +0000

Deaths

Thomas Patton Hemphill was born in 1881.
Arvil Headrick was born in 1966.

Marriages

Franklin Marvin Butler and Helen Stewart were married in 1935.

Click on any link above to see more information about these individuals, including source citations.

On this date. . .the 29th of May

Tonia Kendrick — Sun, 29 May 2011 11:21:26 +0000

Deaths

Francis Marion Kendrick died in 1922 in Murray County, Georgia (son of William Jasper Kendrick and Sarah Fouts).
Rhoda Callie Butler died in 1964.

On this date. . .the 27th of May

Tonia Kendrick — Fri, 27 May 2011 11:45:46 +0000

Births

Malinda Josephine (Hemphill) Butler was born in 1860 in Murray County, Georgia (my 2nd great-grandmother).

Deaths

John Stroud died in 1898 in Murray County, Georgia.
Rachael E. (Lance) Johnson died in 1925 in Dial, Georgia.
Kate Young (Hemphill) Greenlee died in 1949.

On this date. . .the 26th of May

Tonia Kendrick — Thu, 26 May 2011 11:28:50 +0000

Births

Catren Garrett was born in 1646 in England.

Deaths

Elijah Monteville Roberts, Jr. died in 1925 in Fitzgerald, Georgia.
Lula Maude Butler died in 1980 in Murray County, Georgia.

Marriages

Catherine Elmira Lynch and Thomas Hemphill Washington Whiteside were married in 1840 in Rutherford County, North Carolina.

On this date. . .the 25th of May

Tonia Kendrick — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:35:28 +0000

Births

David Sanford Butler was born in 1855 in Adairsville, Georgia (my 2nd great-grandfather).

Deaths

Solomon S. Lawson died in 1897 in Old Fort, Tennessee.

Click on any link above to see more information about these individuals, including source citations.