John Lee's Will of 1852

John Lee, my paternal 4th GGrandfather, was born in Harford, Maryland in 1772. He next appears in Montgomery County, Tennessee where he married Sarah Morgan in 1808. He moves once more to Stewart County, Tennessee, where he remained until his death in 1852. 

Before the 1850 Federal Census, only names of heads of household were given on census pages. But age and gender were requested of residents within each household.

The 1840 census records John and Sarah Lee's household as:

     White males aged: 10 thru 14: 3.  Aged: 15 thru 19: 1 20 thru 29: 3, 70 thru 79: 1.
     White females aged: 5 thru 9: 1, 15 thru 19: 2, 20 thru 29: 1, 50 thru 59: 1.
     Males enslaved aged 10 thru 23: 2.
     Female enslaved aged 10 thru 23: 1, 24 thru 35: 1, and 36 thru 54: 1. 


Ancestry has John's Will. In this gallery I first placed the whole page, and then cropped two more so readers can better view the fine print:


Among the property John listed be left to his daughters and sons are the names of five humans. Five people who were enslaved. One man, two young boys, and two women uprooted from their home and moved elsewhere after John's probate was settled. 

At the time John's Will was prepared in February of 1852 in Stewart County, Tennessee, their ages and names were given as:

      Frank, aged 25 years,

      Cicero, aged 8 years,

      Harry, aged 5 years,

      Nancy, aged 22 years, and 

      Jane, aged 38 years.

I have stared at those five names wondering if Jane wasn't the mother of Nancy and/or the mother of Cicero and Harry. I looked for Cicero and Nancy in the 1870 census in and around Stewart County. I found several Harrys. I had hoped to find people with these same names/ages living together or near one another. That might indicate a familial relation, stemming from their days on the Lee farm. That's a lot of "mights." 

Considerable effort is made by historians of enslaved culture to compile lists of people once owned by others. Why? Descendants seek names of ancestors. DNA test results coupled with records naming enslaved African-Americans are especially helpful to genealogists. 

        https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/slavery-trail-of-tears-180956968/ 

I hope their descendants can trace back to these five people. #TheyHadNames

Source:  Settlements and Bonds, 1812-1968; Author: Tennessee County Court (Stewart County); Probate Place: Stewart, Tennessee via Ancestry.com. Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008, Provo, UT, USA

Note to cousins: Sarah and John's son, Josiah, was a dad to my grandmother Esther's maternal grandmother, Anna Lee. Got that? 


A New Bride, A Heart Attack, And A Contested Will

          On April 12, 1912, John H. Coffee of Kingston, Oklahoma, and Ina Hight of Denison, Texas, were married. A widower who had lost his wife Nancy (James) Coffee in 1895, this was John's second marriage. He was 60. It was the bride's third marriage. She was 40.


          I don't know where they were married, but the license was filed in Grayson County, Texas--just over the Oklahoma border.  Source: Texas, Select County Marriage Records, 1837-2015 (database) via Ancestry.com/


          Born Ina Marie Beasley, her second husband, James Robert Hight, had recently lost his wife, Ruth Ella (Beasley). Yes, Ruth was Ina's older sister.  James was left with the care of their six children. I imagine his concern as a father was a factor in his January 1, 1909 marriage to Ina Marie Greer. 


          It was not uncommon for siblings to marry widowed spouses of family. Ina brought with her the three young children from her first husband, Oscar Gilbert Greer.  One year after marrying, the 1910 Federal Census finds James and Ina living in Comanche County, Oklahoma with their combined ten children. See them on this census page:


MEANWHILE BACK IN LITTLE DIXIE: (Yes, southeast Oklahoma is called that)  The next I find Ina Hight is in 1912 Marshall County after marrying my 2xGreat-Gramps. John has a grocery, a restaurant, and a candy store in Kingston. His obit later indicated "Mrs. Iona Hight" was from Denison, Texas. If accurate, then Ina somehow moved from Comanche County, Oklahoma to northeastern Texas. Would love to know how she met John Coffee. 

          Here are two images from the 1913 Polk City Directory for Kingston, Oklahoma showing John's restaurant and grocery:



          Sadly, their new marriage was shortened, as my maternal 2xG-Grandfather suffered a heart attack in early November 1913. He died two weeks later. Ina notified John's two adult children: John, who lived in New Mexico, and Elizabeth in Gravois Mills, Missouri. John's obituary made the front page of The Kingston Messenger.  The WEEKLY paper, mind you!
 


Can't read it?  It says:   A PIONEER CITIZEN PASSES AWAY -- Death of J.H. Coffee After an Illness of a Short Time.
          Last Monday night, after an illness of about two weeks, Mr. J.H. COFFEE, one of our oldest citizens, laid down his        life's burdens and went to his last rest. He was well thought of by all our people, a man of honor, integrity and uprightness. He was loyal to the church of his faith, the Christian church. He was born in Mt. Sterling, Ky., March 9, 1850, going from there to Missouri in his early manhood, where he was married to Miss Nancy C. JAMES, Sept. 1, 1872. Two children were born to them, John COFFEE, now residing in New Mexico, and Mrs. Lizzie PAGE, now living in Missouri. His wife died at their Missouri home August 9, 1895, soon after which he came to this section and located near here. About eleven years ago he purchased property in town and opened up the business which he conducted to the time of his death. April 12, 1912 he was married to Mrs. Iona HIGHT of Denison, who survives him. He was buried Tuesday afternoon in the cemetery here. The funeral services were held in the new church of which he was so proud, Rev. J.H. LAWSON of Denison, conducting the services. Mr. John COFFEE, of New Mexico, and little daughter, and Mrs. Martha EDMON, his sister, and her daughter, Mrs. Ida THOMPSON, of Texarkana, Ark., Mr. Tom COFFEE and family of Madill, and Joe COFFEE, of Calera, nephews of deceased, were here to attend the funeral. 
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          They came to Oklahoma for their dad's funeral. Upon learning of John's will leaving them $2 each, they promptly hired lawyers to contest the will. But after a few weeks, it ended well. John's children dismissed their claim. 

          Descendants may find these 19 pages interesting, as they are actual copies from the court's probate file. Woo hoo! Click on each page, and move the horizontal scroll bar to the right to see all 19. Errors and all! White Out wasn't yet invented.



          Meet the gentlemen in question:  John H. Coffee, born March 9, 1852, and died November 17, 1913


          I'm grateful to Aunt Nancy for sharing her worn copy of his obit long ago. It gave me the clues necessary to begin my search. And I so appreciate RaeJean for contacting me this summer. What a thrill it was to find a message from Ina's descendant! She helped knock down a genealogy "brick wall" of many years.



          

The Wills Are Online, The Wills Are Online!

On September 1, 2015 Ancestry.com added millions of pages of probate records from 50 U.S. states onto its database. Many of these documents were already on the free site at Familysearch.org, having been microfilmed from county courthouses years ago. The two companies have since partnered. Ancestry.com has added and WILL CONTINUE TO ADD (beautiful words!)  more wills to its new database. 

Why do probate records make a family historian sing out loud? "An inventory of the estate assets can reveal personal details about the deceased’s occupation and lifestyle," notes Ancestry.com. Names of family members are given in these records which some times differ from names recorded in a family's old Bible. Ah, ha! Children's names might appear--from earlier marriages now long forgotten. I love surprises. And my fav probate shocker was learning of a great-great's new wife preparing a new will for her husband to sign in his final hours. A will that left his two adult children only one dollar each. (The resulting Coffee family lawsuit to be shared later)

But first, in appreciation of the guy who pays my genealogy expenses, I submit this will from his fourth great-grandfather. Born in British America about 1762, 4xGreat-Grandfather is thought to have died in Circleville, Pendleton County, Virginia before April 1821. As you will see, he left his mark on this document on December 20, 1820. 


Source Information

Ancestry.com. West Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1724-1978 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data: West Virginia County, District and Probate Courts.
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LINEAGE? Monroe's grandfather was Amos Cyrus Arbogast, the son of George Washington Arbogast, the son of Michael--the fourth child of the above-mentioned John.