THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
I ended last week’s article by
promising a look at
the will of Jesse Souther (1784- 1858), whose children Joseph, John
Jesse,
KizziahSouther Humphries, Jesse and Hix moved to Union County, Georgia
in the
mid-1830’s. What about their father
and
other children who remained in North Carolina?
His will reads:
Fall Term 1858
State of North
Carolina
This the twenty-second day of December,
McDowell County
One
Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-Seven
I,
Jesse Souther, of the county and state aforesaid, Being of sound mind
and
Memory, Thanks to God for His mercy, do make and ordain this my last
Will and
Testament in manner and form as follows:
First
of all, I will my soul to God who first gave it to me.
Then I will that my just debts be punctually
paid with all burial expenses first.
Then
I will to my son James Souther to have all the notes I hold against him
together with all the notes and judgements where I am security for him.
I
do will to my three daughters, to wit:
Nancy and Lucinda and Rosa J. Hogan all my perishable property,
only
Rosa J. Hogan to pay Nancy and Lucinda thirty dollars out of her part
of the
property.
Further,
I will that Lydia Jane Justice have one cow and calf, one bed and
furniture.
I
further will that HixSouther’s three children, to wit:
Catherine Saphronia, Jesse William, and John
Jefferson have thirty dollars each when they arrive at the age of
twenty-one,
to be paid out of my perishable property.
I
also will to Jesse Souther and Nancy and Noah and Lucinda Souther and
Rosa J.
Hogan all my lands to be equally divided between the five above-named.
Further,
that my daughter Mary Elliott is to have one hundred dollars out of my
estate.
Also,
my daughter Kizziah Humphrey to have thirty dollars to be paid out of
my
estate.
All
the above property to be paid over to my Executor and also applied my
two sons
Jesse Souther and Noah SoutherExecturors to this my last will and
testament.
I
set my hand and seal in the presence of:
Jesse
(X) Souther, Seal
Testators:
John Ross,
Juratt
John P.
Fortune, Juratt
Court of pleas, Quarter Session, Fall Term, 1858.
The
foregoing Will and Testament was presented
to
open court for probation in due execution.
These
were proven in solemn form by the oath of
John
P. Fortune and John Ross, Executors.
Subscribing
openly these and ordered to be
recorded and registered together with the certificate.
J. M. Finley, Clerk.
Some
observations about the will of Jesse Souther will be made while listing
his
known fourteen children:
(1) Joseph
Souther (1802-died in Stone County, Missouri), married Sarah Davis. He is not listed in the will, possibly having
received money or land when he left home and moved to Georgia (and
later to
Benton County, Arkansas, and to Missouri).
(2) John
Jesse Souther (1803-1889) married Mary Combs.
He died in Union County, Georgia.
He is not mentioned in his father’s will. Could
John have been given his inheritance
before he moved to Georgia?
(3) Mary
Souther (1805-?) married an Elliott. She
was mentioned in her father’s will to receive $100.
Had he given her property already at the time
of her marriage? Or perhaps at that time
an amount of $100 was equal to several acres of land.
(4) Elizabeth
Souther (1805) is believed to have died young.
She is not listed in her father’s will.
(5) James
Souther (1809-?) married a Logan.
According to the will, James owed his father money, and his
father had
signed on loan notes for him. Therefore, his inheritance was the money
he had
not repaid. Two of James’s sons, James
Logan and John “Rink” Souther, moved to Union County, Georgia, married
there,
then moved to St. Charles Mesa, Pueblo, Colorado.
(6)
KizziahSouther (1811-?) married John Humphries. They
moved to Union County, Georgia between
1840 and 1850. They had thirteen
children and lived awhile in Blount County, TN.
Kizziah died in Cherokee County, NC.
See their story is an earlier “Mountain Mists” article.
(7) Jesse
Souther (1813-1869) moved to Union County, Georgia and established the
Souther
Mill in Choestoe. He married Malinda Nix (1829-1894), daughter of
William Nix
and Susannah Stonecypher Nix. They had
eight children. Their stories are traced
in previous “Through Mountain Mists” articles.
Note that Jesse Souther (the elder) appointed son Jesse and son
Noah to
be Executors of his will. His second son
(my great, great grandfather) was named John Jesse.
It was not unusual in those days for two
children to have one of the names of their father or mother.
(8)
HixSouther (1815-1840?) married Caroline Burgess.
They, too, settled in Union County,
Georgia. Hix died, leaving a wife and
three children. Notice that Jesse
Souther was thinking of his three minor grandchildren, Hix’s children,
and gave
them $30 each. Later, Caroline married
Roland (or Rolin) Wimpey. Their story is
in a previous “Through Mountain Mists” article.
Children
(9)
Martha Souther (1817-?)
(10) Nancy
Souther (1818-?) and
(11) Sarah
Souther (1820) never married and continued to live in the old
Southerhomeplace
in North Carolina. Nancy was the only
one of these three mentioned in Jesse’s will.
Martha and Sarah had perhaps died before 1858, the date of the
will.
(12) Noah
Souther (1821-1883) married Sarah Gilliam, a daughter of Maynard
Gilliam. In
the will, he was to receive land, which was to be equally divided
between Noah,
Jesse, Nancy, Lucinda and Rosa J. Souther Hogan. He
also was named one of the executors.
(13)
Lucinda Souther (1824-1875) never married. She,
too, continued to live in McDowell
County. She received equal parts of
Jesse’s lands with sisters Nancy and Rosa and brothers Jesse and Noah.
(14) Rosa
Jane Souther (1828-?) married William C. Hogan.
I have no record of her family.
She received a five-way division of Jesse’s land with two
sisters and
two brothers.
Who
was Lydia Jane Justice mentioned in the will as receiving a cow and
calf, a bed
and furniture? Was she a married
granddaughter, or was she someone who lived with and took care of Jesse
Souther
after his wife Jane Combs died? Were the
heirs of Jesse Souther pleased with his distribution of property or
were some
offended and complained? Family records
available do not show this aspect of his descendants’ reactions.
[Resource:
Dyer, Watson Benjamin. Souther
Family History.Self-published, 1988.
Pp. 52-53]
c2012 by
Ethelene Dyer Jones; published online February
9, 2012 by permission of the author at GaGenWebProject.
All rights reserved.
[Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator,
freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at
e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
Back To Union County, GAGenWeb
Site