Saturday, September 13, 2014

The Will of Lewis Weathersby
1843

Amite County Courthouse
Amite County Courthouse
Courtesy of J Stephen Conn, on Flickr

The ancestors of my Crossley cousins were bequeathed a quasi freedom, land and provisions in the 1843 will of Lewis Weathersby. The Weathersby heirs were not thrilled with this provision in the will.

Extraction of Lewis Weathersby Will Pertaining to the Crossley Slaves

In the name of God Amen I Lewis Weathersby of the County of Amite and State of Mississippi being of sound mind and disposing memory do make ordain and publish this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former wills and codicils by me made...

15th I give and bequeath to my son Lodwick L Weathersby my faithful servants Thomas and his wife Lucy and their children Matilda, Sylvester, Andrew and Dicy in trust and under the following conditions, "to wit" in as much as the said Thomas and Lucy have served me for several years with great fidelity, it is my earnest desire and I do hereby enjoin it upon my said son Lodwick L Weathersby and that he enjoin it upon his heirs executors and administrators to make the said Slaves Thomas and Lucy as comfortable in life as possible, that he furnish them and their children with a house separate from others, that he provide a horse, farming tools, a small tract of land for their separate use, and that they have suitable time to work the same, and he attend to the sale of their little crops, furnish them with a cow for milk, and two hundred pounds of sugar, and one hundred pounds of coffee yearly, and that in consideration of these things, he require of them reasonable service and should the said slaves Thomas and Lucy at any time be able to raise a sum of money sufficient to compensate said Lodwick Weathersby say three hundred dollars for each, for the services of their daughters, Matilda and Dicy These he shall give to the said Matilda and Dicy to said Thomas and Lucy to serve and comfort, them in their old age.

SOURCES
Amite County Will Records 1818-1848, Vol 1, Pages 248-252, Microfilm Number: 6217
Microfilm found at Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Case Study of the Crossley Family

3 comments:

alittlewiser63 said...

Love the historical pictures you include with each post, Cuz Linda! It really keeps me motivated to learn more about my family roots in Mississippi and of course gives me a better idea of how the lives of our fore parents were constantly being changed. The Weatherby family owned my great great parents, Eli and Elizabeth Hilson and possibly my great grandmother whose name was also Matilda.

LindaRe said...

Major changes in the Big House had impact on our people. What a stressful life to have to adapt to change when you had no decision making power to deal with the change.

Kristin said...

That is so true.