Family Friday: Ethel Imogene Nash & John Washington Hill

I've found two portraits of Ethel, one of my distant Moore/Matthews cousins)* and her husband John posted by a grandson of the couple who were married in the mid-1930s. As far as I can tell, they always lived in Christian County, Illinois.

["Grandpa Johnny and Grandma Ethel" posted to his Ancestry.com family tree by Kent_Hutchings]

["Grandpa Johnny and Grandma Ethel" posted to his Ancestry.com family tree by Kent_Hutchings]

Here's how we're related:

[Ancestry.com]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

From the Probate Files: John Moore - North Hampton, Province of North Carolina, 1753

As promised, here's the 1753 will of my 5X great grandmother Tabitha Pace's husband John Moore (beginning at the bottom of the first page):

In the Name of God Amen
I John Moore of the Province of North Carolina
And County of N Hampton Being Weake and in
a Declining Condition do Make and Ordain this
to be my Last Will and Testament

in Mannor and Form Following (Vis) first I
Recommend my Soul to Almighty God who Gives and
my Body to be Decently Buried at the Discretion
of my Exe'rs. hereafter Named and as Touching my
Worldly Estate I Give and Bequeath as Followeth
Item I give and Bequeath unto my Son Mark Moore fifty
Pounds Current money of Virginia and Likewise one
Negro man named Jack - Item I give and Bequeath unto
my Son John Moore Fifty Pounds Current money
of Virginia, and Likewise one Negro man named Cofar
Item I give and Bequeath unto my Son Isham Moore
fifty Pounds Current Money of Virginia and Likewise
One Negro Man Named James. Item I give and
Bequeath unto my Son William Moore two Hundred
And Seventy Five Acres of Land lying near Pohill Creek
Commonly Called and Known by the name of the Spring
Lands and One Negro Boy named Cobb and ten Pounds
Current money of Virginia to him and his heirs and assigns
for Ever. Item I give and Bequeath unto my Son
Nathaniel Moore Three hundred Acres of Land joyning
my Son Williams it being the Land Whereon Abraham
Johnson now Lives with all the Stock Belonging to it and
Likewise Two Negro Boys ^named^ Matt and David to him his
heirs and assigns for Ever. Item I give and Bequeath 
unto my Son Richard Moore Ap 8[?] acre[s] of Land Whearon
George Harper and Samuel Carlile formerly Lived on
After my Wifes Decease and One Negro Boy named Daniel
And one negro Girl named Lotte to him his heirs and Assigns
for Ever. Item I give and Bequeath unto my Daughter 
Sarah Moore one Girl named Lucy and all her Increase
And One fether Bed And Furniture.

[North Carolina Wills and Court Records, 1679-1775; Author: North Carolina Secretary of State; 

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.]

Item I give and Bequeath unto my Loving Wife
Tabitha Moor One Negro Man named Peter and two
Negro Women named Moll and Hanner With all the
Remainder of my Estate not before Mentioned and
her Living on the Plantation That I Gave to my
Son Richard During her Natural Life and
I do hereby Appoint my Loving Wife & Richard Moore
and Thomas Pace my Exers. to This my Last Will
And Testament and I Do Heareby Revoke all others
made Heartofore Either by Word or Wrighting in
Witness Whereof I have heareunto Set my hand and
Seal This first Day of September, in the Year of
Our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred and fifty
Three
     Tests.                                      John Moore {Seal}
George Harper   }
John Melldesley } Jurat

No. Hampton }
     County      } ses     November Court 1753
The Within Written Will of Capt'n. John Moore
Deceased was Exhibited Into Court & Proved by
the Oath of Both the Subscribing Witnesses thereto
at the Same Time Tabitha Moore Richard Moore 
And Thomas Pace were Qualify'd Executors thereof
Which on Motion Was Ordered to be Certified.
                    Test  J Edwards tter?ur

It's clear from his will that John Moore owned a considerable amount of land which he divided between three of his six sons, including my direct ancestor William. The other sons had to be content with 50 Pounds of Virginia money and a slave. In all, John mentions twelve enslaved persons which he distributed among his children while reserving three to his "Loving Wife."* His daughter Sarah, apparently unmarried at the time, was to receive a feather bed and "one Negro Girl named Lucy".

Since it's the "Plantation" that Tabitha was given a life tenancy I wish I could decipher the clerk's handwriting describing the land left to Richard Moore. Maybe you can do better?

[Detail of above]

The Thomas Pace named as one of the executors along with Tabitha and son Richard is almost certainly her brother who can be found in later North Carolina census records.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any further probate documents online--I was hoping for an inventory which would enable us to have a better idea of the material circumstances of John and Tabitha.



*There were five men--Jack, Cofar, James, Cobb and Peter; two women--Mall and Hanner; three boys--Matt, David and Daniel; and two girls--Lotte and Lucy.





© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

From the Probate Files: Richard Pace - Bertie County, North Carolina, 1738

When I wrote about Richard Pace's daughter Tabitha on Monday I included a published extract of his will which was presented to the Bertie County Court in February, 1738. Here's the original document with my own transcription.

In The Name of God Amen; The Thirteenth 
day of March; I Richard Pace of Bertie Prect in 
the Province of North Carolina being of sound & perfect
mind & memory Thanks be Given to God, Do make & ordain
this my Last Will & Testament. Principally & first of all I
recommend my Soule into the hands of God that gave it,
hoping through the merits death & passion of my Saviour,
Jesus Christ to have free pardon & forgiveness of all my
sins, and my body I commit to the earth to be decently interred;
and as touching my Worldly Estate I dispose of the same
in the following manner & form; That is to Say.

First   I Will that all those Debts & duties that I do owe in rights
or conscience to any person or persons shall be truly _______
& paid by my Executors hereinafter named.

Item   I Give & Bequeath unto my Son William Pace that
Plantation with one hundred & Ninety Acres of Land thereto
belonging, where he now Lives, to him & his heirs for ever.

Item   I Give & Bequeath unto my Son Thomas Pace & his heirs
for ever my Plantation where I now Live with three hundred
& twenty Acres thereto belonging, reserving unto my
Dearly Beloved wife Rebecka Pace the sole use & benefit thereof
during her naturale life.

Item   I give unto my Son Richard Pace five shillings silver money

Item   I give unto my Daughters, Ann Howard, Rebecka Bradford,
Amy Green, Francis Green, Tabitha Moore, Mary Johnson &
Sarah House, each of them, five shillings Silver money.

Item   I give & bequeath unto my Son Thomas Pace my Plantation
on Roanoak river with Two hundred & ninety acres of Land
thereto belonging, also Ten head of Cattle, one feather bed &
furniture, four pewter dishes, six pewter plates, two pewter
basons, two iron pots, one skellet. one frying pan, to him & his
heirs for ever.

Item   I give & bequeath unto my Loving wife Rebecka Pace all the remain-der
of my Estate of whatsoever kind to be by her quietly possessed
during Life, and after her decease to be equally Divided between
my two Sons William Pace and Thomas Pace for the
use and advantage of them & their heirs for ever;

[Wills, 1663-1789; Author: North Carolina. Division of Archives and History; Probate Place: North Carolina.

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.]

Item   I do hereby Nominate & appoint my Loving Sons, William
Pace & Thomas Pace my only Executors of this my Will
Ratifying & confirming this & no other to be my Last
Will & Testament. In Testimony whereof I have
hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this
day & year above written.

Signed, sealed, published, pronounced  }
& Declared by the said Richard Pace,    }
to be his Last Will and Testament:         }
In the presence of us the Subscribers     }                    Richard Pace {Seal}

     J. Edwards           }
     William Boon      }  Jurats
     Benjamin Dukes  }

Bertie     }
Precinct  }  the Febry Court 1738 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The aforewritten Will of Richard Pace was duly produced
in open Court by the Oaths of John Edwards Esq William
Boone and Benjamin Dukes Only Subscribing Witnesses
thereto And William Pace and Thomas Pace Exectrs
therein Named took the Exctrs. Oath by Law
Required

                                       Test. Jno Wynne Clerk[??]

I wasn't able to locate any other probate documents for Richard Pace. An inventory of his estate would have helped us paint a picture of the kind of household Tabitha grew up in, but we can tell that her father owned hundreds of acres of land in Bertie County. Also from his mention of pewter tableware in his bequest to his son Thomas we can infer that the Paces could afford expensive (and probably imported) items.* (There's no mention of any slaves--does that mean he didn't own any?)

Once again we see the pattern of the bulk of Richard's property going to (in this case) two of his sons while the other boy and his daughters were left five silver shillings. When judging the value of their bequest** one thing to keep in mind is that hard money was never plentiful in the American colonies--and most currency in circulation was paper money, printed by each colony (and often  counterfeited). It's impossible to know exactly what each recipient got (was it really silver?) and so we don't know what they might have been able to buy with their inheritance.***

*Here's a piece on early pewter in the colonies.
**For a longer discussion of colonial money, this piece from North Carolina Digital History is helpful.
***His daughters were already married and it's likely each (or her husband) received some portable property at the time of their wedding.



© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Tabitha Pace (About 1714 - After 1753)

With this particular maternal sixth great grandmother, we're still way up in the North Carolina branch of  the Matthews' family tree and once again we have to rely on the probate records of the men in her life: her father Richard Pace (about 1665-1738) and husband John Moore (?-1753).

Here's an abstract of Richard Pace's will, dated 1736:

[Abstract of North Carolina Wills, 1663-1760 [database on-line]. Ancestry.com]

And from the same source, John Moore's 1753 will:

[Abstract of North Carolina Wills, 1663-1760 [database on-line]. Ancestry.com]

Digital scans of both of their wills are available from Ancestry.com so I'll be sharing them in later posts

Here's my connection to Tabitha..

[Ancestry.com]

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.