3.1.2.1.14. Transcription

Gibson County, Tennessee
Will Book “E”, Page: 302

May Term -1855

Thos. E Hale’s Will

	In the name of God, Amen, I Thomas E. Hale, being weak of body, but of sound mind and memory, do make and publish this my Last Will and Testament.

	Item 1- I give and bequeath to my son James Uriah, Nathaniel Montgomery, Green Lewis Oliver, Wm. Elijah and George Thomas- to each of then as they may severally arrive to the age of twenty-one years- a horse, bridle and saddle, and one one hundred dollars; and to my daughters- Martha Elizabeth, Mary Carolina and Sally Ann- to each of them, I give and bequeath two hundred dollars should they marry before arriving to the age of twenty-one years.

	Item 2- It is my desire and request that my sons all stay with their mother until all of my children are grown.

	Item 3- It is my wish and request that all my children receive a liberal English education, such a one as my son James received and that my estate be charged with the expense of the same.

	Item 4- After paying all my just debts, burial expenses, it is my will and desire that my beloved wife, ______ Hale, have the balance of my property until my youngest child comes of age or until she, that is to say my wife, marries.  If she should marry, I wish her to have one hundred sixty-one acres of land consisting the original tract and seventy-eight acres adjoining and two negroes of her own selection.

	Item 5- When my youngest child arrives to the age of twenty-one years, it is my will and desire that my beloved wife, ______ Hale, whether married or not, have allotted to her in a division of my property then to take place with what I have given her in the preceeding item and all and all of my property not herein before willed away.  It is my desire should be there divided equally between my several children.  Should my wife marry before my youngest child arrive of age- I wish the above division to take place as soon thereafter as possible.

	Item 6- I wish all my perishable property that can be best spared, to be sold and should there not be enough to pay my debts, I wish fifty acres, of my land to be cut- from the East end of my tract next to the Utleys and sold on a credit of twelve months and the money arriving from the sale of the Same applied to the settlement of such claims against my Estate as may be there unpaid.

	Item 7- After a careful examination of the foregoing, I find it expresses my will and desire and hope it will be executed.

	Item 8- I hereby constitute and appoint Mr. Thomas Walker, one of my best friends, executor, to this my last will and testament.

	I witness whereof I have hereunto affixed my hand and seal, this 1st day of March, A.D. 1855.
								Thos. E. Hale
Signed in Presence of:

Richd. B. Parker
George W. Smith

3.1.2.1.14. Transcription (cont.)

	Transcription note:  This will contains two name anomalies that require explanation.  The son named Green Lewis Oliver in Item 1 is found as Green Lewis Franklin Hale in family Bible records and his tombstone in the Hale family burial plot at Mt. Zion Methodist Church Cemetery, Medina, Gibson Co., TN states “G.L.F. Hale”.  Thomas Hale did have a brother named Green O.L. Hale, so it is possible that this is where the Oliver name originates.  The will is notable for having a blank spot where the first name of his wife should be.  His wife’s name was Jurene, also spelled as Jarean, which was an unusual first name, but it is thought that Thomas Hale would remembered it.  The will was apparently written in North Carolina and then brought back to Gibson County for probate, as the witnesses being out of state residents had to be proven in court.  Several possibilities could exist for the name omission: 
     1. Thomas Hale was too ill to correctly state her name, so it was left blank.  The will is dated 1MAR1855 and he died 12MAR1855.
     2. The will brought back to Gibson Co., TN might not have been original document, as Thomas Hale was in North Carolina on family business and the original might have been retained there to probate any assets or property still owned in North Carolina.  It is possible that it was a copy of the will that was brought back to Tennessee.  The will recorded in the court record is not the original document itself, but just a transcription into the record.
     3. The Gibson Co., TN court clerk could not decipher the name from either the original or copied will.
     4. It’s any body’s guess.

Transcribed by:
Richard A. Holt
2253 Chesterfield Circle
Lakeland, FL 33813
863-646-6185
Pete646@aol.com
© 2003 Richard Holt