From the Probate Files: Hugh Kennedy - Allegheny County, Pennsylvania - 1814

Last week we looked at the will of William Kenedy who is believed to be the father of my ancestor Hugh Kennedy and I promised to examine Hugh's will. Somehow the day got away from me and I just realized that it's my turn to post. Fortunately Hugh Kennedy's 1814 will is relatively short and the clerk who copied it into the records had legible handwriting.

[Will Books, 1789-1917; Author: Allegheny County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills; Probate Place: Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data: Pennsylvania County, District and Probate Courts.]

In the Name of God Amen. I Hugh Kennedy of the County of
Allegheny and the Township of Mifflin being weak in body but of sound &
perfect mind and memory Blessed be Almighty God for the same do make
and publish this my last will and Testament in manner and form foll-
owing that (is to say) first I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife Eli-
zabeth Kennedy a good deacent mentenence together with all the bedd-
ing and household furniture endurring her life or widowhood. I do also
-------
give and bequeath unto my Eldest Son William one dollar. Also I give and
bequeath unto my Daughter Rebecca one dollar. I also give and bequeath un
to my Daughter Mary one dollar. I also give and bequeath unto my son Martin
one Dollar. I also give and bequeath unto my daughter Jennet one dollar.
I also give and bequeath unto my son Henry one dollar. I also give and
bequeath unto my daughter Catherine one dollar. I also give and bequeath
unto my son James one Dollar. I also give and bequeath unto my daughter
Isabella one Dollar. I also and bequeath unto my two sons Hugh & D-
avid their heirs and assigns all that my messuage or Tenement situated
lying and being in the Township and County aforesaid. Together with all my
other free hold Estate whatsoever to hold to them the said Hugh and David
their heirs and assigns forever. And lastly I give and bequeath unto my
beloved wife all the rest and residue and remainder of my personal prop-
erty estate goods and chattels of what kind and nature soever enduring 
her widow hood, and at her death to be divided betwixt my two sons Hugh
& David each the one half together with each paying the half of my Lawfull
debts, and I do hereby appoint my sons David and my trusty friend William
Canel my whole sole Executors of this my Last will and Testament hereby re-
voking all former wills by me made. In Witness whereof I have heretofo-
re set my hand and seal this second day of February in the year of our Lo-
rd one thousand eight hundred & fourteen. Signed Sealed published a-
nd declared by the above named Hugh Kennedy to be his last will and
Testament in the presence of us who have hereunto subscribed our names
as Witnesses in the presence of the Testator.                    his
Geo. McMillen. Adam Boyd. Jeremiah Ferree.       Hugh X Kennedy {Seal}
                                                                                          mark.

Allegheny County Ss. On the 9th day of March A.D. 1814. Personally came Ge-
orge McMillen, Adam Boyd and Jeremiah Ferree, the Subscribing witnesses
to the within will before Saml Jones Register for the probate of wills & for said
County. and being duly Sworn they did depose and say that they were pres-
ent and did see Hugh Kennedy make his mark to this instrument of wri-
ting and published pronounced & declared the same to be his last will an-
d Testament, and that he was of sound mind and memory at the ti-
me of so doing to the best of their Knowledge. Given under my hand the
day & year aforesaid
                                    Recorded 9th March 1814           Saml Jones Register.


Hugh names eleven children in his will, leaving only token bequests to all but two of his sons, Hugh and David. He had two wives, Catherine Hughes and Elizabeth Scullion but it's not clear to me which one was the mother of which children including my direct ancestor Jennet (Jane) who married Isaac Webb.







© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

From the Probate Files: Feriby/Pheraby Sowell - Bertie County, North Carolina, 1814

Last week we looked at the administrator's bond and inventory of Feraby's estate but I postponed examination of the final settlement because the document is large and isn't available online as a single image.*

Affixed to the top of the page is this order from the court:

State of North Carolina}

Bertie County Court   } May Term 1814

                                   Ordered that Hardy

Freeman, Timothy Walton, William Jones and

Mills Jornagan or any three of them

audit & Settle the Accounts of James Ward

admn of Fereby Ward dec'd and that

they make return to next Court

           Test. Jas[?] Blunt[?]

[Ancestry.com. North Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: North Carolina County, District and Probate Courts.]

The Estate of Pheriby Ward dec'd in account with James Ward administrator
======================================================================
1814                                                                                    1814
Feb.          To cash paid Clerk fees           £     18     0         Mar       By account Sale   £181 19   2½

                 To cash paid for keeping old}                                         By bal. due adm.      62 [damage]
                      Negro                               }     4    0    0         _________________________________
                 To my account against said  }
                 dec'd estate rendered            }   135   4    7
                 Comm allowed admn                 4                                                                                         
                                                                  £144  9    7                                                          £144  9    7


                 To bal. due admin.                £ 62   10   4½
                
State of North Carolina}
       Bertie County     } In Pursuant to the annexed order from the Worshipful the County Court of Bertie to us directed We the undersigned have audited and Stated the accounts of James Ward admn. of Pheraby Ward dec'd and find a balance due the administrator of Sixty two pounds ten shillings and four pence half penny as above stated which is respectfully Submitted to your Worships approbation Given under our honor
                                                                                  Hardy Freeman
                                                                                  Timo. Walton
                                                                                  Wm. Jones
                                                                                   Mills Jernigan

You may be wondering why the amounts are mentioned denoted in pounds/shillings/pence but apparently the reference isn't to the British pound sterling but a carryover of the North Carolina pound. Here's the best explanation I've found.



*Here's a scan of the reverse of the entire document.

From the Probate Files: Thomas Mathews - Northampton, North Carolina, 1770

In an earlier post we saw that Martha Stapp's husband Thomas Matthews received one shilling in her father's Joshua's 1759 will and noted that her only other mention in surviving records is in Thomas's will which presented in the Northampton County court in March of 1770.

I haven't found a birth date for this maternal sixth great grandfather, but since their first child was born about 1739 it's likely to have been in or before 1720, so he must have been in his 40s when he put his mark on his will on April 20, 1761. At that time his three sons (James, Claiborne* and Lawrence) were under age so he left everything to Martha as long as she didn't remarry. If she died or took a second husband all his property was to go to his oldest son, if he died then to my ancestor, and finally in case both his older sons were dead, to his youngest son Lawrence.

["North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:2:77T2-JR3V?cc=1867501&wc=32L6-3T5%3A169791301%2C170254301 : 21 May 2014), Northampton > image 103 of 273;

county courthouses, North Carolina.]

                                      Thomas Matthews Will
In the name of God amen, I Thomas Matthews of the County of North
ampton, being in a low State of Health, but of sound & perfect sense
& memory, Do hereby this my last Will & Testament, revoking 
all former wills by me heretofore made.
Impremis I give my Soul to almighty God, its Creator, hoping thru the mediation
                of my Saviour Jesus Christ to Receive full & ardent Redemption 
                all my sins, my body I Desire to be decently interred at the Discre
                tion of my Execr hereafter appointed.
Item         I give & bequeath unto my loving wife Martha Mathews,
                while she Continues sole & my widow, all my Estate but in Case
                my wife shall die or marry, I give my land unto my son James
                Matthews ^his heirs & assigns. In case my son James Mathews^
                should die under age, I give my Land to my son Chil
                borne Mathews, & his heirs forever. In case my Son Chilborne
               should die under age, I give my land to my son Lawrence Mat
               thews & his heirs forever.
I Constitute & appoint my wife Martha Matthews ^to be^ , Exer of this my last
                will & testament, & I desire all my just debts to be paid by my Exer, In
                witness thereof I have set my hand & seal this 20th day of April 1761.
                Signed Sealed & Delivered           Thomas [his | mark] Matthews & seal
                as his last will & testament in presence of
                Teste Thos Short,  George Raglund.                 

Even though Thomas lived another nine years after drawing up this will, he apparently saw no need to make another and this was the one recorded in 1770.

["North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:2:77T2-JR3K?cc=1867501&wc=32L6-3T5%3A169791301%2C170254301 : 21 May 2014), Northampton > image 104 of 273;

county courthouses, North Carolina.]

Northampton County ?? March Ct 1770.

This will of Thomas Matthews deceased was proved by the 

Oath of Thomas Short Esq. and ordered to be Certified &

Recorded.

                                                Teste Willis Jones Cct.

Northampton County has extensive probate records but somehow Thomas Matthews' original will doesn't seem to have survived nor is there any further probate records that I could find.



*Claiborne is my direct ancestor. His great great granddaughter is Sarah M. Matthews, the wife of George W. Slater.



© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Porter Worden (1811 - 1891) Cooper & Farmer

If we had to rely only on the census records to follow this 3X great grandfather and his family we wouldn't know about several of the places he and his wife Hannah lived after they left their home state of New York. Fortunately his 1891 obituary in the Anamosa Eureka has come to light.

[Detail of a joint portrait of Porter and Hannah Leonard, c1860, Anamosa, Iowa.

Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[Iowa  Anamosa  The Anamosa Eureka   Thursday , February 26th , 1891.

Source: Digital Archives of the Jones County Genealogical Society.]

                  PORTER WORDEN
   Died, at the residence of Thurston Joslin, his
son-in-law, Feb 15, 1891 Porter Worden. He was
born in Oswego county New York, May 12, 1811,
was married to Hannah M. Leonard in the year
1838, ten children being the fruit of this union.
He came to Iowa in 1853. In the course of time he
moved to Missouri, lived in Nebraska for a time
and later returned to Iowa. In early life he
united with the Methodist church but in after
years united with the Baptist church at Fairview,
of which he was a consistent member at the time
of his death. The companion of his youth died in
Nebraska in January, 1887, at the age of 74 years.
They leave a family of eight children living. Six
of them were present to assist in caring for him.
He was a great sufferer in the last days but mur
mured not. He looked forward to the time when
he would soon be free from trouble. He fell asleep
in Jesus. His remains were followed to the church
by many relatives and friends, where services were
held, and then they bore him to Wilcox ceme-
tery where he now rests to aait the summons to arise.
  Mr. and Mrs.Joslin wish to tender their thanks
to the friends for their kind assistance in this
time of trouble.
                                      D. GIVEN, Pastor.

The information in the obituary would have been supplied by his children including Polly Ann Joslin and it mostly agrees with the records we have except that Porter was actually born in Cayuga County, New York--his family moved to Oswego when he was about five years old.

Hannah's family lived in Jefferson County, New York, and that's where she and Porter were living at the time of the 1840 and 1850 federal censuses. They moved to Iowa* within a year of her father Isaac Leonard's second marriage to a much younger woman.

His occupation was listed as "Cooper" in the 1850 U.S. Census, but in all later enumerations he was a farmer.

*First to Linn County before moving on to Fairview in Jones County by 1870. Neither their move to Missouri, possibly in connection with their daughter Elizabeth Anna and her husband Steven Peregoy who moved their family to Missouri around 1870, nor their sojourn in Nebraska (and Hannah's death there) would be known except for the obituary. Since their granddaughter (and my great grandmother) Elnora Worden Webb and her family had moved to Know County in 1885 it's likely that influenced Porter and Hannah's move there.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Memento Mori: Memorial Day

My original intent for today was to re-post last year's Memorial Day tribute; next I thought I might highlight those individuals (most, but not all of them, my direct ancestors) whom I've posted about under my Gone for Soldiers label.

Then I recalled this photo of the air crew with my maternal uncle Jack Slater's notes written on the back. I don't know where it was taken, but assume that it must have been during his training as a B-17 pilot in the Army Air Corps. Not only does Jack list himself as the pilot here--and he was co-pilot on his three missions in Europe*--but close inspection of the lettering on the object to the left of the group reveals it to be a practice bomb.

[All courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

Here's my transcription of Jack's notes above:

Here we are, Crew 21 of the Bartholmess** Provisional Group. We are a typical combat crew - typical in that we represent all sections and elements of the country, in that we consider ourselves the best of the lot. We are the All American team of this or any other war year. We shall carry the war to the enemy, and hit him hard. Pardon me, if I sound like the proud parent, telling of his very ordinary children. We are, starting with the front row, reading left to right:
1. Pilot - You know me; I shan't describe myself.
2. Co-Pilot - Lt. Charles M. Guyler is at present newly-married. His wife, also from Pennsylvania, calls him "Chub". He is a level-headed, likeable young man of 25, an excellent pilot. I'd be lost without him.
3. Navigator - Lt. William R. Jones is the senior member at 33. A native Texan, he washed out as a pilot, and is the best Navigator in the group. Also married.
4. Bombardier - Lt. Jack L. Kipnis is at 26 still rather boyish. A Jewish boy from Brooklyn, he is a typical devil-may-care, efficient bombardier. Outwardly he seems to know only bombing and women.
5. Engineer - St Sgt Jackson G. Osborne has a mechanic's tasks. The boys call him "Bulldog", because of his noisy, husky egotism. He'd run the plane (and crew) if we'd let him. West Virginia (20).
6. Assistant Engineer - Sgt. Vito W. DiSabato is a native-born Italian with Latin good looks and personality. Lately from New York, he is also a waist gunner. He is 21.
7. Radio Operator - Sgt. Lowell T. Birdwell at 23 has been in the Army for 3 years. He has served in his native Texas and the Caribean [sic]. He is the "character" of the crew, very droll.8. Asst. Radio Operator - Allan V. Kangas is the baby at 19. Typically Scandinavian and a native born Finn. Very quiet. The Boys call him "Smiley" as he has no front teeth.
9. Cpl. Robert L. Lane is the Armorer - Ball turret gunner. He is 21, typically New England, the best gunner on the crew. Why the boys call him "Rabbit" I can't say. They also call him Jr. because he looks so young.
10. The tail gunner is Sgt. Ralph E. Martinez of Texas. Another quiet boy, well liked by us all. "Rocky" is also 21. Another excellent gunner.

Based on the information Jack has put in his notes, I was able to trace all of his fellow crew members except William R. Jones. Only Jack and Vito DiSabato didn't survive the war.

• Charles Miller Guyler (1918-1991)
• Jack L. Kipnis (1917-1978)
• Jackson G. Osborne (1923-1981)
• Vito W. DiSabato (1921-1944)
• Lowell T. Birdwell (1919-1995)
• Allan V. Kangas (1924-1994)
• Robert L. Lane (1922-2111)
• Ralph E.Martinez (1922-1981)

Thanks to the internet and YouTube I was able to locate several of the training films that Jack would have seen during his training.

[How to fly the B-17: Ground Operations

1943 US Army Air Forces Training Film World War II]

[How To Fly The B-17: Flight Operations

1943 US Army Air Forces Training Film World War II]

*Missions flown according to database at the American Air Museum in England.
29 Nov 1843 Bremen link here   plane name unknown 42-31171
30 Nov 1943 Solengin link here  Mayfly 42-3356
5 Dec 1943 Bordeaux/Merignac link here  Fighting Cock 42-3397
**I believe this refers to Lt. Col. Karl T. Barthelmess.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.