- Captain Thomas Hemphill’s Will – page 1
- Captain Thomas Hemphill’s Will – page 2
- Captain Thomas Hemphill’s Will – page 3
- Captain Thomas Hemphill’s Will – page 4
- Captain Thomas Hemphill’s Will – page 5
- Captain Thomas Hemphill’s Will – page 6
- Captain Thomas Hemphill’s Will – page 7
- Captain Thomas Hemphill’s Will – page 8
- Captain Thomas Hemphill’s Will – The Last Page
This is the fifth installment in a series of nine posts in which I transcribe the will of my Revolutionary War ancestor, Captain Thomas Hemphill. In the first post, we learned that Captain Thomas’ will was contested by two of his children and a son-in-law, and that the date usually seen for his death may be wrong. The copy of the contested will as it was transcribed into the court records began on page 2. Pages three and four continued the will copy and began to explain the reasons that the will was contested. Page 5 continues the court testimony 1 .
Transcript
Subscribing witness proved Testators hand writing and also the
hand writing of Robert Logan the other witness, but Said neither
of them Signed their names, Logans and the Testators
being Subscribed when he was called up in the porch
where they were. He Said he though the old man was in
his Senses, as much so as he had commonly seen him.
It was in proof by Several witnesses that the old man was very
weak in body and mind he was eighty one years old and would
frequently before making his will, and after when called upon
by his acquaintances aske questions and when answered, would
aske after a short interval the Same questions again & particularly
the usual questions inquiries after the health of his absent chil-
dren, and when told how they were, would after a little while
make the Same enquiries again. It was also in proof that the
old man Said to Sevral persons he was so blind that he could
not tell who his neighbors were. To one witness he said that
he had lost the Sight of one eye, and the other was so far
gone that he could not tell one bank note from another.
It was also in proof that he had been within two weeks before
The date of the will sitting in the porch with his bible on his
knee and at other times, but whether he had been reading
or not, was not proven in any other way, it was also proven
that he discovered the cracks through the roof of a newly
covered house, and complained it was not well covered.
It was in proof that old Logan was a man who had lived
a great many years with the Burgan family. That, when
he took up an opinion in favour of any one he would
have Strong feelings toward them. That Thomas Hemphill, the
younger and principle devisee was married to the grand
daughter of his old friend Burgen with whom he lived
So many years. That Logan had been Subject to violent
fits of the hypocondria and committed Suicide Shortly after
the will was made or within two or three months after.
It was also in evidence that he wrote the will at the house
of Mr. Burgen, the grandfather where he lived. The whole
of the will was in Logans handwriting. It was further
What I Learned From This Page
This page is light on genealogical data, but it does have one valuable sentence:
“That Thomas Hemphill, the younger and principle devisee was married to the grand daughter of [Logan’s] old friend Burgin. . .”
The Thomas Hemphill referred to here is Thomas McEntire Hemphill whose first wife was Malinda Burgin, granddaughter of Pioneer Ben Burgin. So we have some implied evidence regarding the marriage of Thomas and Malinda and also regarding Malinda’s lineage.
Other than that, this page hones in on the plaintiffs’ argument for contesting the will and the defendants’ counter-arguments. I really love the statement describing Robert Logan as being prone to violent fits of hypochondria.
Check back next Monday for page 6 of Captain Thomas Hemphill’s will.
- Burke County Original Wills, Thomas Hemphill (c1824); box no. C.R. 016.801.1, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, Thomas Hemphill, 1824. ↩