Frances Fisher of Dorchester Co, Md. Will written 19 Feb 1723/4, probated 7 May 1729

In the name of God. Amen. I, Frances Fisher of Dorchster County in the Province of Maryland being weak of body, but sound and perfect mind & memory, praise be given unto almighty God, do make & ordaine this my Last Will & Testament in manner and form following, that is to say, first & principally, I commend my soul into the hands of Almighty God, hoping through the merits Death and Passion of my savior Jesus Christ to have full & free pardon and forgiveness of all my sins, and to inherit Everlasting Life, and my body I commit to the Earth to be decently buried at the discretion of Executors hereafter named and as touching the dispostion of all such temporal estate as it hath pleased almighty to bestow upon me. I give & dispose thereof as followeth...

Imprimis: I will that my debts and funeral charges shall be paid and discharged.

Item: I give & bequeath unto my loving son Richard Willis the one-half of my land on Nanticoke River where now I live which half hath on it my dwelling house & being the lower-most half pursuant to an agreement and division lately made between my son Richard Willis and unto the said Richard and his heirs forever.

Item: I give & bequeath unto my loving daughter Frances Newton one feather bed, bolster & covering and one mullato slave named Nanny, also one large trunk (being the biggest trunk) with what shall be therein contained and all my wearing clothes and a cole still with one chest of drawers, to her forever.

Item: I give & bequeath unto my grandson Richard Willis (III) the other half of my land on Nanticoke River belonging to my dwelling plantation and being the uppermost half of all my said lands pursuant to an agreement and division lately made between my son John Willis and unto the said grandson Richard Willis and his heirs forever. [See DLR Old 7:63 & Old 8:26] And it is my will that my grandson Richard Willis shall have one negro boy called by the name of Robin the said Richard paying two thousand pounds of tobacco upon the account of the land and two thousand pounds of tobacco on the account of the negro boy. All this tobacco to be paid to his brother John Willis,  the land and negro boy to be delivered to the said Richard Willis at the age of twenty-one years, and futher it is my will that my son Richard Willis see the managing of the same till the aforesaid Richard Willis come to the age afsd.

Item: I give & bequeath unto my granddaughters, Frances & Mary Newton, dau's of Edward Newton, to each of them a heifer.

Item: It is my will and desire that all Travilling Friends and their occasions shall call them this way shall have freedom of entertainment and be kindly used so long as this place endures.

Item: I give & bequeath to Elizabeth Thompson, d/o Joseph Thompson, one heifer to be left in the hands of her Uncle Edw. Newton to be delivered at the age of eighteen years.

Item: I give & bequeath unto Obediah Dawson, son of Richard Dawson, one mare forever.

Item: I give & bequeath unto Anthony Dawson, son of Richard Dawson, one cow and calf forever.

IItem:  give & bequeath unto Elizabeth Dawson, dau. of Richard Dawson, one heifer forever.

Item: And lastly all the residue of my personalty after my debts, funeral charges & legacies are paid and discharged, I do give & beq. unto my loving sons Richard Willis and Edward Newton and do hereby declare, constitute, appoint said Richard Willis & Edward Newton full & sole executors of this my last will & testament, and do hereby revoke disannul & make void all former wills & testatment by me heretofore made.

In witness whereof, the said Frances Fisher, to this my last will & testament being contained in one sheet of paper, set my hand & seal this twenty ninth day of February one thousand seven hundred & twenty three/four, signed Frances Fisher (seal) Signed & acknowledged to be her last will & testament in the presence of us Thomas Griffithy, Samuel Long, William Burn.

To which said will was annexed the following codicil dated April 14, 1729. this is a codicil annext to my last will is to show that my desire is ...[unreadable word]:

Item: to granddau. Elizabeth Thompson have the white mare and my yellow gown & pettycoat & the bed one blanket and one pair of sheets which lies now thereon the same bed which she now lies on.

Item: to my son Richard willis I give my negro  named Betty to him and his heirs forever.

Item: I give to my loving grdson Edward Newton one negro named Toby to him and his heirs forever.

Item: I give to my grdson Richard Willis one negro girl named Phillis in manner and form as the afsd. Robin is given to my said grndson & his heirs forever.

Item: My will is ...that the first child of afsd. Phillis is delivered of which shall live to age of 12 months is hereby given to the proper use of Mary Willis, sister to the afsd. legatee Richard Willis, to her the said Mary and her heirs forever.

Frances Fisher (her mark & seal) Her Heirs For Ever.

In the presence of us..Thomas Thompson, his mark; William Thornell, his mark; Margaret Edwards, her mark.

And to well said will was annexed the following probates - May the seventh 1729 came Samuel Long, one of the subscribing witnesses to the late will & testament of Frances Fisher, late of Dor Co, deceased and made oath on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God that he saw the above named Frances Fisher sign & seal and heard him publish & declare the above instrument of writing to be her last will & testament, and at the time of her so doing she was to the best of his knowledge in perfect sense & memory and that the other two witnesses viz. Thos Griffith (who since has gone out of the country) and William Burn (who is since dead) was there with presence & signed with him.

John Pitt, Deputy Clerk of Dorchester Co.

There likewise appeared at the same time, viz. May 7, 1729, Thomas Thompson Jr., Wm Thornell and Margaret Edwards, the three subscribing evidences to the codicil annext to the last will & testatment of said Frances Fisher and made Oath on the holy Evangelists of Almighty God that they saw the above named Frances Fisher sign & seal and heard her publish & declase the above writing to be a codicil which she delivered to be annexed.

And to the aforegoing will was also annexed the following Deposition of Elizabeth Thompson of Dor Co Md.

Elizabeth Thompson being sworn by me the subscriber John Rider, one of his Lordships Justices of afsd. Court, on the holy Evangelist of Almighty God, saith that she at her Grandmother Frances Fishers about the twelveth day of last month being Saturday, on which day her Grandmother was taken sick and the next morning following, finding herself very ill, ordered her will to be brought and read to her which was done. This deponant understood the will was made about six years before, and this deponant declared that she then heard her Grandmother Frances Fisher ordered the names of the Dawsons & John Newton's name to be scratched out of her will saying they had misbehaved themselves, or something like it, and this deponant further saith that about one hour after or thereabouts she heard her said Grandmother Frances Fisher order several Legatees to be inserted in her will, and should direct one of which legacies she very well remembered was a negro woman named Betty which she ordered to be given to her son Richard Willis and this deponent further saith that after her grdmother desired her will should be read over to her which was done, all which she liked & approved of and seemed to be content and satisfaction and further this deponant saith not. Signed Elizabeth Thompson, her mark. 

Source: Will  Book 19:679-683 & "MD Calendar of Wills," Vol. VI, p. 109, by Jane Baldwin Cotton, reprint by  Family Line Pub., 1988.

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