A Friend of Friends Friday: African American Slaves Named in the 1834 Will of JOHN GAMBRELL of Anderson District, South Carolina

Note: "A Friend of Friends" was a password used on the Underground Railway

WILL of JOHN GAMBRELL
South Carolina Anderson District.
I, JOHN GAMBRELL, of the State & District aforesaid do make and ordain this my last will & testament for the disposal of such property as I may die possessed of.

First- I give to my wife BARBARA GAMBRELL a negro woman Slave named JANE together with all the household and Kitchen furniture in fee Simple forever- I also give and bequeath to my wife a negro man Slave named FRANK during her natural life & after her death the said Slave to my Son MATTHEW GAMBRELL in fee Simple forever.

I also direct my executors to invest the sum of five hundred dollars (to be raised out funds as hereafter directed) in the purchase of such property as in their discretion shall be best adapted for the comfortable Support & maintenance of my wife, to remain with her during her life & at her death Such of Said property as may not have been necessarily consumed for her support to be sold by my Executors & the proceeds thereof to be equally divided between all my children-

Second- I give and bequeath to my Executors hereafter appointed the following property in trust for the uses and purposes hereafter named to wit Negro Slave MASNECK & negro woman named ELIZA together with her four children RACHEL, GRACE, MARIA & JENNY with their future increase and also a tract of land situate on waters of Broadmouth Creek containing one hundred & Eighty acres more or less and adjoining lands of Reuben Cox beginning on a maple 3 S72 E 40, 50 t o B.O. 3X S 12 W 16-75 to a Pine 3X on a branch thence down the branch to a Sassafras 3X s 4 0 W 39-50 to an ash 3X on the reedy fork branch, thence up that branch to the begining. The Said Negros & Land to be held by my Executors in trust as aforsaid for the support, use and benefit of my Son HENRY GAMBRELL during his life and at his death to be equally divided between the heirs of his body and SUSANNAH his wife for the purpose of carring the forgoing provisions into effect my said Executors as trustees are hereby invested with full & complete discretion in the execution of Said Trust & may either hire the property & rent the land from time to time accounting to my Son HENRY for the proceeds thereof or may permit the Same to remain the possession of the Said HENRY for any length of time or during his life as to them shall seem best and my Said Executors are also invested with full power to distribute the said property Real & personal amongst the Sd. heirs of the Said HENRY after his death either by selling the same and dividing the proceeds or distributing the property if in their opinion it be Susceptible of equal distribution.

Third- My will is that all outstanding debts be collected and that all the balance of my property of which I may die possessed be Sold by my executors on such terms as to them Shall seem best and out of this fund my debts to be paid- Five Hundred Dollars to be used by them as directed in the first clause for the benefit of my wife- One Hundred Dollars to be paid to my Son HENRY GAMBRELL and the balance of said money to be equally divided between all my children Vis. WILLIAM GAMBRELL, HENRY GAMBRELL, JOHN GAMBRELL, JAMES GAMBRELL, DAVID GAMBRELL, MATTHEW GAMBRELL, ELIZABETH COX, NANCY BRAZEALE-

Fourth- Having heretofore advanced to my children various descriptions of property & which I cannot now enumerate Some by deed & others by parole I hereby ratify & confirm all such gifts if need be & declare it to be my intention that the Same is not hereafter to be taken in to estimate in making divisions among the children-

Fifth- I appoint my Sons JOHN GAMBRELL & MATTHEW GAMBRELL Executors of this my last will & testament-
Given under my hand and Seal this tenth day of may one thousand eight hundren and thirty and in the fifty fourth year of the Independence of the United States of America.

JOHN GAMBRELL

Signed and sealed in the presence of Samuel Hammond, Elijah Griffin, Barbara Casey
Recorded in Will Book A page 500
Recorded September 29, 1834
Proved September 29, 1834
John Harris, O. A. D.
Roll No. 228

Have a Great Day!

Betty

© Betty Tartas  2013

Betty's Tips for Beginning Genealogists

While I may have touched upon some of these items in previous blogs, I wanted to post them again in the hopes that this list might help someone else get started!

1) Write down what you know--or what you think you know.  Use a printed out pedigree chart or fan chart, or if you have Ancestry.com, start a tree.  Even if you only get as far as your grandparents, that's okay!  Write down everything you know, where they were born, died, marriage date & location if you have it.  The "hints" on Ancestry.com can sometimes be very helpful for beginners.

2)  Check the most recent records first.  For recent ancestors in United States, start with the 1940 census and work your way backwards, check military records, birth, marriage & death certificates.  Many states have now digitized birth, death & marriage certificates and they are accessible online.  And it's not difficult to obtain them from county courthouses, even if they aren't online. You just need to know in which state & county the birth, death, marriage occurred.  Birth certificates give both parents' names; death certificates are a little less reliable, depending on who filled them out (I have found mistakes in my own family's death certificates). 

3) See if anyone else has researched your family already.  Check Ancestry.com public trees,  or do an advanced search on Rootsweb.com online family trees.  You may be surprised!  One caveat:  there can be errors and/or misinformation in online trees.  People tend to copy blindly what is already online, whether it is correct or not.  Use only information that is sourced (i.e. the info came from census, reputable books, actual records, etc).  If the person has cited only someone else's online tree as a source, be very skeptical.  Don't be tempted to copy someone else's work without going back & checking the records for yourself!

4) Pinpoint the exact location(s) where your ancestors lived.  This is almost as important as knowing their names.  JOHN JONES who was born in TN and died Peoria, Illinois  is likely not to be the same person as JOHN JONES born in TN who died in Huntsville, Alabama.  Try to find as many sources as possible for the locations.  Check for biographies, local histories, etc.  These sources can sometimes offer great insight into your ancestor & his/her neighbors.  (I have been known to research the entire populations of certain small towns in order to find information about my ancestors' origins, spouses, etc). 

5) Ask a living relative what they know about your family.  Notice this is not number one in my list.  While family stories are really wonderful, many many researchers have been sent on an ancestral wild goose chase stemming from a relative's penchant for story telling or embellishment--myself included!   Compare your relative's  stories with the records you have found.  Sometimes there is a grain of truth in family stories, and in some cases, it may be the only clue we have to go on.  Ask if your relative has photos, bible records, or other documents to share. 

6) Stay organized and source  the information that you find.  If you are collecting paper documents & records, it might be a good idea to scan them and/or make back-up copies.  I use an accordion file with sections for each surname I'm researching for hard copies & paper documents.  If you are using Ancestry.com,  be sure to attach sources, not only the sources that they have available on that website as hints, but also any other books, periodicals, etc, that you may find.  If you click on the "Source" button, you will be able to add a source, which includes, title, author, publisher name & location & date.  You will have to fill in "details"  ( I put in the page numbers there) and then you can check off boxes showing which information was found in the source (birth date, marriage date, name, etc).  If you find scanned copies of original records, attach those to your tree also.  

7) Make at least one back-up copy of your tree.  I have a paper copy of my tree back five generations.  I also use the program Family Tree Maker as a back-up to Ancestry.com    With Family Tree Maker, I can make gedcoms (online family tree files),  and upload them to Rootsweb.com for free.  Another back-up, in case Ancestry.com ever has a problem!!

Have a great day!

Betty

© Betty Tartas  2013