Will, NC, Craven, Hardy Bryan 1760 In the name of God, Amen. I, HARDY BRYAN of the province of North Carolina & Craven County, planter, being sick in body, but of sound mind & memory, do make my last will & testament in the form & manner following, that is to say. It is my will that the plantation on where my son THOMAS BRYAN now lives consisting of about two hundred & seventy acres be divided by the Ash Branch & then I give and bequeath that part of it lying on the north side of the Ash Branch to my said son THOMAS to him & his heirs forever. I further give & bequeath to my son THOMAS one negro man name EDINBURGH & one negro girl name LUCY, which said LUCY is already in the possession of my son THOMAS. I give and bequeath to my son WILLIAM [BRYAN] to him & his heirs forever two hundred & seventy five acres of land be the same, more or less, which I bought of my brother LEWIS [BRYAN] & is adjoining to the land of FREDERICK ISLER. I further give & bequeath to my son WILLIAM, to him & his heirs forever, one hundred acres of land which I bought of FREDERIC [FREDERICK] JONES & lying on the west side of Trent River. I further give & bequeath to my son WILLIAM one Negro boy named CAIN which I have already delivered into his possession. It is my will and desire that the plantation or survey of land on which I now live be equally divided & then I give & bequeath to my son HARDY [BRYAN], to him and his heirs forever, after the marriage or death of his affectionate mother, the upper half of the said plantation or survey or that half of it which the houses are now erected. And I give & bequeath to my son NATHAN [BRYAN], to him & his heirs forever, the other or lower part of the said plantation or survey of land. But if my son NATHAN should die without issue or before he arrives at the age of twenty one years, then I give & bequeath the whole of the said plantation or survey of land I know live upon to my son HARDY, to him & his heirs forever. Or if my son after the marriage or death of his affectionate mother, or if my son HARDY should die without issue or before he arrives at the age of twenty one years, then I give and bequeath the said whole plantation or survey of land on which I now live to my son NATHAN, to him & his heirs forever, after the marriage or death of his affectionate mother. But if both my sons HARDY & NATHAN should die without issue or before the age of twenty one years, then whatever land I have given & bequeathed to my sons HARDY and NATHAN I give and bequeath to my son LEWIS [BRYAN], to him & his heirs forever. I give & bequeath to my son ISAAC [BRYAN], to him & his heirs forever, one half of the plantation or land on which my son THOMAS now lives, namely, that half of it which lies on the south side of the Ash Branch. I give & bequeath to my son LEWIS, to him & his heirs forever, one front lot in the town of Newbern lying upon Neuse River & one of my two front lots of the said town lying upon Trent River, it being my will that my son LEWIS shall take his choice of the said two lots lying upon Trent River. But if my son ISAAC should die without issue or before he arrives at the age of twenty one years, then I give & bequeath to my son LEWIS, to him & his heirs forever, all the land which I have given & bequeathed to my son ISAAC. But if my son LEWIS should die without issue or before he arrives at the age of twenty one years, then I give & bequeath to my son ISAAC, to him & his heirs forever, all the lots in Newbern which I have given & bequeathed to my son LEWIS. Page 1 of 4 ** PAGE BREAK ** Will, NC, Craven, Hardy Bryan 1760 I give & bequeath to my daughter MARY [BRYAN], to her and her heirs forever, one front lot in the town of Newbern lying on Trent, after my son LEWIS has taken his choice of the two lots as before mentioned. It is my will & desire that my loving wife SARAH [BRYAN], so long as she shall continue my widow or live unmarried, shall have one half of the plantation or survey of land on which I now live, particularly the upper half or that half or part on which the houses are now erected. And it is further my will & desire that as long as my loving wife SARAH shall continue my widow or live unmarried, she shall have the use & profit of the following five Negroes, namely, one negro man named DAVID, one negro man named POMPY, one negro man named FRANK, one negro man named BEN & one negro girl name LEYLLA; but then it is my will & desire that my loving wife SARAH shall find meat, drink, washing, lodging & schooling for my children till they are married or arrive at the age of twenty one years, out of the profits arising from the plantation & the labor of the five slaves above mentioned. And it is further my will that the said five Negroes, DAVID, POMPY, FRANK, BEN & LEYLLA be equally divided among all my children at the marriage or death of my loving wife SARAH. I likewise give & bequeath to my loving wife SARAH all my stocks of cattle, hogs, sheep & horses, all my household furniture, all my plantation tools & implements of husbandry. It is further my will & desire that my following six children, namely my sons WILLIAM, HARDY, NATHAN, ISAAC & LEWIS & my daughters MARY or the survivors of them, shall have & be equal shares of all the rest of my Negroes not mentioned in this will, in the manner following, that is to say, the rest of my Negroes not mentioned in this will shall not be immediately divided, but each of my said children, namely WILLIAM, HARDY, NATHAN, ISAAC, LEWIS & MARY shall have & receive his or her share of the said Negroes & their increase on the day of marriage or at the age of twenty one years. And it is my will that when any one of my said six children shall have received his or her share of the said Negroes as before directed; he or she so receiving his or her share shall not have any claim or title to the remaining slaves or their future increase. I do hereby nominate & appoint my sons THOMAS & WILLIAM executors & my loving wife SARAH executrix of this my last will & testament, & I do hereby revoke & disannul all other wills heretofore by me made. Witness my hand & seal this twenty eighth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred & sixty. HARDY BRYAN {seal} Signed, sealed & acknowledged in the presence of the JAMES REED SHADRACK ALLEN MATTHEW ARTER {his + mark} Page 2 of 4 ** PAGE BREAK ** Will, NC, Craven, Hardy Bryan 1760 Newbern 6 May 1760 The foregoing Last Will & Testament of HARDY BRYAN, deceased, was duly proved before me by the oaths of JAMES REED and MATTHEW ARTER evidences thereto. At the same time THOMAS BRYAN one of the executors within named and SARAH BRYAN named executrix in the foregoing will qualified before me by taking the oath of executor and executrix. Let letters testamentary issue to the said THOMAS BRYAN and SARAH BRYAN on the foregoing will accordingly. ARTHUR DOBBS Page 3 of 4 ** PAGE BREAK ** Will, NC, Craven, Hardy Bryan 1760 ###### # # ##### ####### # # ##### ####### # # # # ## ## # # # ## # # # # # ## ## # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ###### # # # # #### ##### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## ### # # # # # # ###### # # ##### ####### # # ### ##### ####### # # Transcribed from original documents by Brent R. Brian & Martha M. Brian. This document and others can be found on our website: BMGEN We claim COPYLEFT on the documents that we publish that are our original work. COPYLEFT “rules” can be reviewed on the web site: GNU Free Documentation License In short, use what you like. But if you use our stuff, mention us as the source. Brent R. Brian Martha M. Brian BrianMitchellGenealogy@gmail.com Page 4 of 4 ** PAGE BREAK **