Will of John Perdue in Bute County, North Carolina in 1769. Bute County, North Carolina Will Book A, page 52
John's will was probably dictated on 24 March 1768 when he signed with his mark in his own hand. Whoever took this dictation spelled his name Perdue. However, in all of the other records associated with the inventory and probate of his estate, his surname is spelled Pardue, when in February 1769 his will was entered into probate in Bute County, North Carolina. Bute County was formed in 1764 from a part of Granville County and in 1779 Warren and Franklin Counties were formed from Bute when Bute County was discontinued.
In the will John named eleven sons and three daughters and his wife. His children named in the order in which they are recorded in the will were: son, John, to receive land; sons, Joel and Morris, also to receive land when they "have judgement to manage their business"; his wife, Sarah, to receive the lease of land he had from John Dawson, and if she should die before the lease was up, then the lease to go to his son, Richard; sons, William, Joseph, and Adams, to receive five shillings sterling, apiece and daughter, Phebe, a feather bed and furniture; then named were sons, Bevel, Liliston, and Blackman, and daughters, Sally, and Ann; and finally son, Field, to receive a feather bed and furniture at the death of John's wife, Sarah. In January 1768, shortly before the will was written, Fields was deeded 100 acres of land by John, his father, for love and affection, which seems to explain the appearance of his name at the end of the will. This may also indicate that Fields may have been the first son by a second wife, or the wife, Sarah named in his will, who may be the same and the last of two wives John may have had.
Just as parents today usually recite their children's names in order of their births, just so, it would seem that parents would have always recited their children in such order and that the names in a will would be named in order of their birth, allowing, though for special circumstances as in the case of this will, underage children, especially male and involving land where they were mentioned directly after his first son, the main inheritor of property in that historical period. Having given his eldest son, John, land in 1758, he, then willed him, a second portion of land, fulfilling the law of inheritance in Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, that the first son was to receive a double portion. Thus the order of his appearance first in the will.
Some of the names were listed in clusters, the first one consisting of Joel and Morris, who, by having been willed a portion of land, also, indicates that they were his youngest sons, and the land willed to them was to be used for their benefit by their guardian(s), who were bound by law to use all the profits accrued from their portion of the land for their upkeep and education.
The second cluster listed William, Joseph, and Adams. From tithable lists, we know that William and Joseph were born after John, and that Adams was probably the next son in order of birth as seemingly also confirmed from a tithable list of their father in 1762/63 in Granville County, North Carolina where both Adams and his brother, Field, are shown in their father's list, presumably neither yet married and that both were at least 16 years old. No further Granville County, NC tithables lists are available and no other records have been found that could determine the ages of either of them.
Then, appears the cluster of Richard, Bevel, Liliston, and Phebe, of which only Liliston's birth year,1748, is known and finally the cluster of Blackman, Joel, Morris, Sally and Ann.
In increments of at least two years separating their births, with the known birth years of Joseph in 1733, Liliston in 1748, and Blackman in 1756, fitting the children in an arrangement that seems most probable, the more difficult ones, Phebe and Fields, are fitted in the possibilities outside the clusters and with noted exceptions, all subsequent names appear to be in order of birth.
Of all the children listed, Phebe is the most difficult. She had two children, born in the early 1770s, who were made wards of Sarah and James Burke in 1779, and in 1782 she married Alexander Burnam. In 1768 when her father wrote his will he left her a feather bed and furniture, indicating that she was probably at least approaching marriageable age or was already of marriageable age, but was unmarried, making her born no later than the early 1750s, or she could have been much older, born in the early 1740s or even earlier as surmised above. In any event moving her birth year would only rearrange the birth order of that cluster, except for Liliston, by probably only two years, so the general birth arrangements remain much the same.
The following is a transcription of the original will recorded in Bute County, North Carolina Will Book A, page 52, now housed in the archives of the North Carolina State Library in Raleigh. The above photostatic copy was obtained from the State Library on an excursion there, in 1973, by this compiler. The following transcription uses the spelling contained in the original.
"In the name of God and God's name this being the last Will and Testament of John Perdue being now of perfect Memory and Judgement thanks be to God for it... and first of all I give and bequeath my Soul to God who gave it and my body to the earth to be buried in a Christian like manner at the discretion of my executors and family................
Secondly I give and bequeath to my beloved Son John Perdue that tract of land where on he now lives from Jonathan Johnson Creek down to owins (Owen's) Creek, all over owins (Owen's) Creek of the North Side of the said creek..
Thirdly I give and bequeath to my two beloved sons Joel Perdue and Morris Perdue the land and plantation where on I now live to be divided between them at the discretion of James Moore and that they may have the benifit of the land as soon as they have judgment to manage their business and the howse and plantation I give the use of and benifit to my beloved wife during her life....
Fourthly and likewise I give and bequeath to my beloved wife my lot of land that I had of John Dawson during the time I leased it for and her life and if she should die before the time is out I give it to my son Richard Perdue...
Fifthly I give and bequeath to three sons William Perdue, Joseph Perdue and Adams Perdue five shillings of sterling a peace...
Sixthly I give and bequeath to my beloved daughter Phebe Perdue one feather bed and furniture and seventhly and lastly I do give and bequeath to my beloved wife my three negros Jack and Peter and Will to have the use of her life and at her death and the aforesaid negros as living or any of them I give them to my beloved sons Richard Perdue and Bevel Perdue and Liliston Perdue to be praised by fit persons with the rest of my estate not yet mentioned which I also give the use of to my beloved wife during her life and then to be divided with the praise value of the negros, between my three beloved children Blackman Perdue, Sally Perdue and Ann Perdue and if the value of the Negros be more then than that of the household estate and Stock then the aforesaid persons to wit Richard and Bevel and Liliston shall pay out of their value, so that they, the six last named children shall have a just and equal devesion of all.
Item. I give and bequeath to my beloved son Field Perdue one feather bed and furniture to be paid at the Death of my wife or before if it can be spared....As also I do appoint James Moore and my wife Sarah Perdue my hole and sole executors of all my Business in witness were of I have unto set my hand and fixed seal this 24 day of March 1768.
his John Perdue mark Seal
Signed Sealed in the presants of us
Susanna Moore Jurat
Ann Moore Jurat
Bute Sct February Court 1769
This will was proved by the oaths of Susanna Moore and Ann Moore the witnesses hereto and on motion it was ordered to be recorded. Then James Moore, one of the Executors herein named Qualified as such and was ordered to be Certified.
Test Ben. McCulloch C.C
Genealogy is never done; it is always a Work in Progress!
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