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David Tate’s Last Will & Testament
Will of David Tate, Monroe, Alabama
Hired Browns negroes to Frasie for 8 mo. paid to me minuted on 'Book' hire of my own boys unsettled bring Littell to settlement Capt Austin present 4 years no settlement books will show all my groceries? lately from him. If he does anything fair he will leave me but very little as to Browns children let every cent be obtained Gen. Parsons will do the best he can for my estate. I wish it divided as soon as possible before next crop except stock do the best it is possible for my daughter Louisa You know how I wish my property arranged: do it if you can four or five for Elizabeth in the will David & Mr. Vaughn can settle by my book's notes held by Mr. Booth against Mr. Vaughn are to be taken uup by Mr Tate to take up the first note to John Weatherford my Brother. I will a negro boy and my gun I wish the provision made yesterday for my wife and youngest daughter to remain so and the properly brought to me by my wife to be given to her own children wherein I do think proper old auntie and a little boy Wallace and Tod and Mary who is with Capt Shomo & Jack Seal and Handy at Mr Tate death those under age to receive their freedom at 21 years Wallace Tod & Mary and Auntie to be free as soon as possible Take Flora home Mrs Tate when all is over Mrs. Shomo to keep Mary as long as she wants to David Moniac one of my Executors I wish him to be mighty cautious always to go Mr. McLoskey I want my debts paid go with the crop to Mobile and receive the money be wide awake for every body my wife knows I have talked enough with her I wish the bill of sales which I hold to certain negroes belonging to my Brother John Weatherford to be destroyed I want to do nothing dishonest. I wish my patent gold watch to hang up in the house as a time piece for my wife always maybe Tarvin may contend it is not a fair division of my property I contend that it is I want the rest to be equally divided. The Dyer claim goes to Mrs. Tate and her children now cultivated by Capt Shomo. Mrs. Tate will keep sufficent horses and mules to hunt the stock and tend her plantation it is not my wish that any of them should be advertised for sale. Mr Hollinger is to sign a bond on demand for the land on the other side of the river thirty five Hundred dollars to be paid for it 2000 dollars already paid Mr Hollinger to wait for the balc. the land on the other side to be left to Mrs Tate and her youngest daughter To Lynn McGee I wish to will him 400 head of cattle, if he gets off to himself but I hope he will always live with Mrs. Tate and she will not let him suffer a moment To David Moniac I give three or four negroes and fifty cows and calves & 25 steers. I wish him always to be with his aunt and she will give him something again old Will and Rose I wish to be free at the same time with Handy the land on this side the river to be disposed of to the best advantage among them Elisha Tarvin to retain the family of negroes now in his possession Mr. Tarvin & my wife to run the mill until sold I was to give William Mills 350 Dolls. to build the mill I told him as he was unfortunate I would allow something more. I want my Executor Gen. Parsons to pay what Mechanics my say. I think 100 dolls. enough. Above all things my Executor Gen Parsons to get rid of Innerearity suit as soon as possible. Borrowed of Davy Lucas 95 dollars gave an order to Mills for 30 dolls on Davy. Indian John always has a home he has some Heifers I gave him he will keep with the cattle till the stock is sold two fillies for my daughter Josephine
17th day of Nov. 1829
Sophia Durant Macombs (McCombs)
SOPHIA DURANT [LINDER, Dr. JOHN McCOMBS]
Sophia Durant
From Woodrow Wallace:
Deed Record Book “A” Tallapoosa County, AL Page #5:
Yargee, son of Big Warrior, deeded the estates of his father and mother to Sophia McCombs on August 7, 1835.
The document reads: “State of Alabama: Know all men by these presents, that in Tallapoosa County, Yargi an Indian of the Creek .. of Creek.. in the State of Alabama and County of Tallapoosa and this day.. and in consideration o the sum of five thousand dollars to me in hand paid the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, grants delivered and sold, afirmed and conveyed , and by these presents for and in consideration of the sum aforesaid, do grant bargain and ..convey unto Sophia McComb of the County and State aforesaid all my rights, title, interest and claims in said County and to all and every part of my Father’s, The Big Warrior’s estate, both real and personal, and of the said Yarge‘s, an Indian, as aforesaid for the consideration, for the consideration the sum aforesaid , do grant, bargain and sell, ..and convey unto the said Sophia McComb all my rights, titles, interests and claims in and to all ..every part of my mother’s YE? for her..estate both real and personal, to have and to hold unto her, the said Sophia McComb and unto her heirs & assigns forever, the above granted, bargained and sold interests in the above named estates together, with the tenements and aforementioned thereto belonging of in any way ..to the said estates whether in real or paperform and I the ?? Yargi, the above-mentioned estates together with all and everything thereunto belonging whether in real or paper form unto her, the said Sophia McComb and unto her heirs and assigns.. and will truly warrant and ..defend by these presents against the claim or claims of all and every person or persons whatever.
In testimony whereof and of all and .. for the premises aforesaid. I, the
said Yargi‘s that hereunto subscribed my name and afixed my seal this the seventh day of August a.d. 1835.
YarXgi
Signed and sealed and witnessed
before us
Thos M. Coker
William Bardin
Hubert (his mark) Proctor
State of Alabama | Personally appeared before me E. Garby and Peter Haus, justices of the peace in and for the County of Tallapoosa the said Yargi, the within signed who says that he signed and sealed (faded out)
~~~~YarXgi
Vramid Garby JP
Peter Haus JP
Recorded 15 Oct 1835
Samuel T Nawin – clerk (Transcribed to the best of my ability W W Wallace Sr)
Born: about 1797, now Upper Creek Nation; Married 2nd:
about 1805 now Upper Creek Nation; Died: after 1860 Tallapoosa
Co., AL
Parents: Sophie McGillivray and Benjamin
Durant
Dr. John McCombs
LifeNotes: Sold land in Tallapoosa Co., AL to Henry S. Spencer on 14 Dec 1841; Sophia signed the document
Born, Married: about 1805 now Upper Creek Nation;
Died,
Parents:
Their children were:
- Malinda McCombes, born about 1813, now Upper Creek Nation. Married on 6 June 1836 , Tallapoosa Co., AL, to William Jasper Mastin (b. 1811 Greenville Co., SC; was an engineer; d. Feb 1899, Wetumpka, AL). Malinda died July 1838, Tallapoosa Co., AL.
- Mary Sophia McCombes, born about 1815. Married on 21 July 1838 to William Jasper Mastin (same as married her sister). Their children were: Texana Mastin (b. 1841 Coosa Co. now Elmore Co., AL; listed in 1850 cenusus in AL), John B Mastin (b. 1844, Wetumka, Elmore Co. AL; captured at the Battle of Gettysburg, d. of pneumonia Feb 13, 1865, Fort Delaware, DE as PW in Civil War, buried at Finns Point National Cemetery, Salem, NJ), Oregon McCombe Mastin (b. August 14, 1845, Wetumka, Elmore Co., AL; served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, enlisting 8 Sept 1863, Tallassee, AL, serving in Company G, 53d, Alabama Cavalry Partisan Rangers, which was commanded by his cousin, Captain Peter Blackwell Mastin; m. Josephine S. Norris on 18 Dec 1879, Wetumpka, Elmore Co., AL; removed to Oklahoma Indian Territory about 1890; died of pneumonia on January 22, 1902, Wetumpka, Hughes Co., OK, IT, buried in the “Old” Wetumka Cemetery— this information from William LaPorte), James Mastin (b. 1852, Wetumpka, Elmore Co., AL), Mary “Mollie” C. Mastin ( b. Aug 1845 in Wetumka Alabama; m. Edmond Daniel Stockton; d. 1923 in Little Rock AR; .this is Mecklyn O. Stockton‘s line), Catherine “Kate Mastin (b. 16 Sept 1853, Wetumpka, Elmore Co., AL; m. William L. Reeder about 1874; d. 8 Oct 1884, Atlanta GA), Jennie Mastin (b. 12 July 1855, Wetumpka, Elmore Co., AL; m. 1st-Thomas W. Marston on 10 Oct 1885, Wetumpka, Elmore Co., AL; m. 2nd. John Cobane Laport about 1895, Hughes Co., OK IT; d. 21 Dec 1885), B. Mastin (b. 1856 Coosa, now Elmore Co., AL), Thomas Mastin (b. 1859, Wetumpka, Elmore Co., AL; went with brother Oregon to TX in 1876 and stayed there, whereas Oregon returned to AL)
- Cornelia McCombes, born about 1817.
- Angeline McCombes, born about 1812.
Elizabeth “Betsy” Durant, born about 1765. Twin of Rachel. Married Peter McQueen. . Their children were: James McQueen (b. about 1790), Millie McQueen (b. about 1792; m. Checartha Yargee, son of “Big Warrior; their daughter was: Muscogee Yargee (m. Joshua Ross; went to OK; their children – Louise Ross and Josua Ross), Nancy McQueen (b. about 1794; m. Checartha Yargee, son of Big Warrior; went to OK), Tallassee McQueen (m. Checartha Yargee, son of Big Warrior; went to OK). Married 2nd-Willy McQueen. Their children were: Sophia McQueen, Muscogee McQueen (b. about 1842).
taken from: Some Creek Families & Friends
Sophie [McGillivray] Sophie and Benjamin remained at Durant’s Bend until the Creek War of 1814. Then they fled to safety among the Seminoles and Spanish in Pensacola, FL. Nonsense
excerpted from David Tate : Origins, page 87:
3, Wealthy William Hollinger, held a bond against land deeded for $3500, of $2000 had been paid, the balance owed from Mrs. Tate. His half sister Mary [Maria Juzan] Hollinger, another metis, was the consort or second wife of Adam Hollinger. William Hollinger lived with David Tate and Margaret Powell after his mother’s death. His mother, unnamed (probably a “Grey”)
was a Margaret Tate relative. When David Tate referred to Hollinger as his wife’s nephew, he was accurate. Therefore, Margaret Tate was likely George Stiggins’ cousin.
And, indeed, a HOLLINGER/JUZAN.
Digital Library on American Slavery
https://library.uncg.edu/slavery/petitions/details.aspx?pid=9207Genealogists
https://library.uncg.edu/slavery/petitions/details.aspx?pid=9207The genealogical information provided by the Race and Slavery Petitions Project is based on information found in court documents and legislative petitions pertaining to civil cases filed by slave owners, slaves, and free people of color in the fifteen states of the slaveholding South between the end of the American Revolution and the end of the Civil War. The types of documents thus used are varied; they range from plaintiffs’ complaints to local and regional courts, defendants’ answers to the complaints, witnesses’ depositions, judges’ rulings, and documents, such as wills, inventories, and property assessments, among others, that were offered by each side to support its case. The accuracy of the information found on this website is therefore directly related to the accuracy of the information found in the documents thus utilized. The documents were prepared by attorneys and court personnel, who wrote down what the plaintiffs, the defendants, the witnesses, and the local authorities told them. Similarly scribes were used to take down the last wishes of a person on his or her deathbed, or to document on-site inventory taking or estate valuation proceedings by court-appointed commissioners. As is sometimes the case, the person telling the story or dictating it may have had imperfect knowledge of family relations; his or her recollection may have been distorted by the many re-tellings through family or local lore, the passing of time, the incorrect interpretation of what was told, or even a personal “agenda” in the case at hand. In addition, scribes may have taken down the information incorrectly, corrected it at a later date to fit contradictory statements, or omitted critical pieces of the story through inattention. The information found in these court and legislative documents are uniquely valuable in that they fill in the gaps created by the limitations or, in the case of slaves, the absence of civil records; at the same time it is vulnerable to the distortion that can be introduced any time someone tells his or her story, or the story of relatives and neighbors, friends or foes. We therefore caution the user to view the information provided by this website as another piece in the family history puzzle, or perhaps, when the user has not yet found any piece at all, its starting point; in some cases it will corroborate already known information, in others it will point to new directions, and yet in others it will suggest the need to untangle conflicting information.
Like the following:
Amy Webster Matriarch of Baldwin County, Alabama
CEK ©2021
Will of Margaret Tate
In the name of God, Amen.
I, Margaret Tate, of the county of Baldwin and State of
Alabama
being sound in mind but not in body and feeling the uncertainty of life do hereby revoking all others make this my last will and
testament.
. . .
6th
To my beloved daughter JOSEPHINE B. DREISBACK and her
heirs. I give and bequeath one negro man named Dick, one negro woman Bella, and her four children named Pheobe, Hardy, Dick
and Mary, one negro girl named Rose, one negro woman
named Amy and her three children named Tina, Milly, and Fanny, one negro woman named Flora, one old negro man named
Jonah, it is my wish the old man named Jonah shall do no hard work. I wish my daughter Josephine to have my watch and all
of my household furniture, my Carriage and old Horse to her
and her heirs forever.
. . .
Amy Webster first appeared on the same census page as my second great grandmother, Delia Bailey Grant. This was the paramount piece of the puzzle. So, let’s begin.
Samuel Grant m. Delia Webster [Bailey] after the Civil War in Baldwin County, Alabama, on 31 Jul 1869.1
TO BE CONTINUED
1“Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTWT-LTT : 19 February 2021), Sam Grant and Delia Webster, 31 Jul 1869; citing Baldwin, Alabama, United States, County Probate Courts, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,839,621.
George Stiggins
George Stiggins, born 1788, in the Upper Creek Nation, was a contemporary of David Tate, born 1778, in Creek Territory. Stiggins was the son of Joseph Stiggins, born 1755, and Nancy (Haw) Grey, a Natchez Indian (Upper Creek). Joseph Stiggins petitioned, in 1811, to have the legitimacy of his mixed marriage, and issue recognized fully by the government.
To the Honorable Legislature of Mississippi Teritory, Governor and Council:
The Humble Petition of Joseph Stiggins Showeth that having formerly resided in the Creek Nation amongst the Indians and marrying an Indian woman by whom I had Children, that I moved to the Country and Edicated and brought up to the Cristian Religion, and finding it Disagreeable that by the law of our Teritory that they can’t have their oath though borne of a free woman. Your petitioner prayeth that they may be Released from that Disability the same that their oldest brother, George Stiggins, was by his own petition. Viz: Mary Stiggins, Susannah Stiggins, Nancy Stiggins and Robert G. Stiggins their poserity this Indulgence your petitioner thinks he justly Intitled to whilst he is forever Bound to pray.
/s/ Joh Stiggins
August 1, 1811
Source: Record Group 5 (Legislative Records, Territorial Archives), Volume 26, Petitions of the general Assembly, 1810-1816, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, Mississippi.
George Stiggins was the surviving “Chief,” or Head Man of the Natchez, at the cessation of hostilities in 1814. Stiggins authored “Creek Indian History: A Historical Narrative of the Genealogy, Traditions and Downfall of the Ispocoga Or Creek Indian Tribe of Indians by One of the Tribe.” He died in 1845.
Chief Chinnabee (Natchez) Blood brother to the Creeks, Haw’s father:
Joseph Stiggins = Nancy Haw Grey
George Stiggins = Elizabeth Adcock
Mary Stiggins = William Weatherford (Red Eagle)
et al.
African American descendants may be Tates, Conway (Conaways), Baileys, Dales, and their numerous cousins; all of Baldwin County, Alabama. I haven’t encountered any Stiggins or Miltons, though.
Also, George Stiggins referred to Margaret Dyer Powell – Tate, as his Aunt, prompting the conclusion that she was related to his mother, Nancy Haw, daughter of Chinnabee.
I did not quote him in my work, as I found he wrote with a jaundiced eye.
CEK ©2020
Familysearch.org is no longer a good place to start
The inclusion of a race category and the elimination of certain records has ruined the overall experience and sullied the interpretation of certain family histories.
Maria Ellis Huston Buford McGill
Mariah ELLIS
Widow and Relic of
[John C. Huston, William H. Buford and Hiram McGill, Sr.]
My maternal second great grandfather was George Ficklin of Montrose, Baldwin County, Alabama. During my years-long search for his immediate family members, I fortunately noted his brother-in-law was Reverend Jeffrey Ellis, T[homas Jefferson] Ellison, born 1813.1
Rev. Ellis’ first wife was Louise Ann Ficklin, George’s sister. Reverend Ellis officiated at numerous weddings, including for his nieces, Millie to Frank Reed, in 18812; and Mary to Samuel Taylor, the year before he died, in 1889.3
During the search, I encountered members of the Ellis tree, namely, Elbert [Ethelbert] Ellis, Lowrey Ellis, and his wife Maria; as well as Jeffrey’s presumptive aunt, Mariah.
Illustration 1: Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950
Meriah [Mariah] Ellis, age 17, married John Huston, Esquire [sic], at Baldwin County, Alabama, in 1817.4 James Johnston officiated. John Houston was a very wealthy man, holding many land grants thoughout Florida and Alabama.
1Johnnie Andrews; William David Higgins, Creole Mobile : a compendium of the colonial families of the central Gulf Coast 1702-1813, Prichard [Ala.] : Bienville Historical Society, 1974, page 26, “T.J. Ellison.”
2“Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTWT-5QQ : 27 September 2017), Frank Reed and Millie Ficklin, 03 Mar 1881; citing Baldwin, Alabama, United States, county courthouses, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,839,621.
3“Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950,”, Samuel Taylor and Mary Ficklin, 09 Oct 1889; citing Baldwin, Alabama, United States, county courthouses, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,839,622.
4“Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950,” , John Huston and Meriah Ellis, 14 Jul 1817; citing Baldwin, Alabama, United States, county courthouses, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,839,621.
© 2014-2022
Will of Margaret Tate
| Will of Margaret Tate In the name of God, Amen. I, Margaret Tate, of the county of Baldwin and State of Alabama being sound in mind but not in body and feeling the uncertainty of life do hereby revoking all others make this my last will and testament. Imprimis. I commend my soul to God trusting in the merits of my savior for my salvation in the world to come. 2nd I commend my body to christian burial. 3rd To the heirs of my beloved daughter MARY D. SAUNDERS, I give and bequeath one negro man Sam, one negro woman Maria, one negro girl Amy, one negro boy Sam, one negro boy Daniel, one negro girl Perry, one negro boy Harry and all my swamp cattle to her heirs forever and it is hereby understood and intended that the aforesaid MARY D. SAUNDERS shall have the right and privilege of rising and enjoying all the immunities appurtenances, advantages and privileges which are and may arise from said property so long as she may live. 4th To my beloved daughter MARGARET STAPLES and her heirs, I give and bequeath one negro man named Job, one negro girl named Silva, and child, and it is hereby understood that the aforesaid Margaret Staples is to take the above named negroes at a fair value to satisfy a note that Mr. JASON STAPLES holds against me, after the note is satisfied the balance is to go as part of her share of my estate. I also give and bequeath one negro woman named Betsy and her child named Jonab, one negro boy named Sandy, one negro boy named Twine, one negro boy named Tobe, one negro girl named Malissa, and her two children, one negro man named Ned, one negro boy named Harry, one negro girl named Patience to her and her heirs forever. 5th To the children of my beloved son WILLIAM T. POWELL, I give and bequeath one negro man named William one negro man named Aaron, one negro man named Cuff, one negro boy named Stephen, one negro woman Elonisa, and her four children Siky, Daphney, Chloe and Tab, one negro woman named Pop~ My plantation situated and described as follows: The South East fraction quarter of section nineteen, in Township four of range three east containing one Hundred & fifty acres and sixty five hundredths of an acre. The west half of the north- west quarter of section nineteen, in township four range three east, containing eighty acres. The east subdivision of the west fraction of the north half, west of the Alabama River of section nineteen in Township four of range three east containing one hundred and fifty two acres one wagon, one ox cart and four oxen, all of my Hogs, all the farming utensils, five of my best mules. Eighty acres of pine land situated and described as follows: Township four range three east the north east quarter of the south west quarter of section thirty four, four large steers suitable for Oxen, all of the corn & fodder now on my Plantation, and it is hereby understood and intended that the aforesaid WILLIAM T. POWELL shall have the right and privilege of using and enjoying all the immunities appurtenances, advantages and privileges which are and may arise from said property so long as he may live but he the said WILLIAM T. POWELL shall not sell, give, grant or convey or dispose of any of said property under any pretence whatever. 6th To my beloved daughter JOSEPHINE B. DREISBACK and her heirs. I give and bequeath one negro man named Dick, one negro woman Bella, and her four children named Pheobe, Hardy, Dick and Mary, one negro girl named Rose, one negro woman named Amy and her three children named Tina, Milly, and Fanny, one negro woman named Flora, one old negro man named Jonah, it is my wish the old man named Jonah shall do no hard work. I wish my daughter Josephine to have my watch and all of my household furniture, my Carriage and old Horse to her and her heirs forever. 7th To my beloved Grand daughter MARY STAPLES, I give and bequeath, one negro woman named Clander and three of her children named Alex, Philip and Dilsy to her and her heirs forever. 8th To my beloved Grand daughter JOSEPHINE STAPLES I give and bequeath one negro boy named Or to her and her heirs forever. 9th To my beloved Grand Son ROBERT POWELL, I give and bequeath one Roan Mare to him and his heirs forever. 10th It is my request that Hardy and his wife, Pheobe shall be set at liberty. I do not wish them to be slaves after my death. I wish them moved over to the place I purchased from THOMAS SAUNDERS. I do not wish that place sold under any considera- tion whatever. I wish him to have four cows and calves, and the two steers he is breaking for oxen at this time. I wish my son or Mr. Dreisback to act as his agent during life. 11th And it hereby understood and intended that my daughter MARY D. SAUNDERS, have the right and privileges of using and cultivating one hundred acres of my plantation land which I have given to my son WILLIAM T. POWELL, the land which I wish her to have to right of using and cultivating lays above the Gin House, after the death of the said MARY D. SAUNDERS, the land shall revert to the children of my son WILLIAM T. POWELL. 12th And I also give and bequeath to the said MARY D. SAUNDERS thirty head of sheep. 13th I request that my stock of cattle one wagon and what mules may be left after my son gets his number out to be sold to the highest bidder the proceeds of which I wish applied to the payments of my debts any amount that may be left from the above sale after my debts are paid I wish it to be given to Mrs. ROSAHAH SHOMO. 14th I do hereby appoint my son in law J. D. DREISBACK my executor and administrator to settle up my estate. 15th It is my wish that my old negro woman Siky shall remain with my daughter Josephine during her life. In testimony whereof I this day set my hand and seal this the twenty eighth day of Nov in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifty. Margaret Tate Witnesses J. W. SHOMO J. D. WEATHERFORD State of Alabama} Baldwin County} Personally appeared before me PATRICK BYRNE, Judge of the Probate Court of Baldwin County & State aforesaid J. D. WEATHERFORD one of the subscribing witnesses to the foregoing Instrument of writing and states on oath that he was requested to sign and was present at the signing of the Instrument of writing by J. W. SHOMO a subscribing witness and that Margaret Tate acknowledged the same to be her last Will and Testament and that the said Margaret Tate was in sound mind & memory Subscribed & sworn to before me this 27th day of March A. D. 1851 Patrick Byrne Judge Probate Admitted to Probate 27th March A. D. 1851 Patrick Byrne Judge | ||
| Person ID | I5203 | Dickinson |