Will, NC, Johnston, Thomas Avera 1761 12th day of February 1761 In the name of God, Amen. I THOMAS AVERA late of Johnston County, province of North Carolina, planter, being weak in body but in perfect mind and memory, thank to God for the same, calling to mind the mortality of my body & that it is appointed for all men once to die, I do make and ordain this my last will & testament. FIRST of all I give my soul into the hands of God that gave it me, nothing doubting at ye general resurrection to receive it again by the mighty power of God, and my body to the earth to be buried in a decent, Christian manner at ye discretion of my executors. And as for what worldly Estate it has been please God to bless me with, I dispose of in the following manner & form. Imprimis I leave & bequeath to my beloved wife JUDITH AVERA her third of half a tract of land I now dwell on with all ye improvements during her life and one negro girl named JUDITH and one feather bed with a green rug & pair of sheets & two cows & calves, and one horse, bridle & saddle and fifty pounds current money of aforesaid province to be levied out of my estate. I leave & bequeath to my son ALEXANDER AVERA one hundred acres of land where he now dwells, to him & his heirs forever. I leave & bequeath to my beloved son THOMAS AVERA Jr. one piece of land where he now dwells containing about ninety acres to him & his heirs for ever. I leave & bequeath to my beloved son JOHN AVERA one half of the land I now dwell on & part up ye River to him & his heirs forever. I leave & bequeath to my beloved sons WILLIAM [AVERA] and MOSES AVERA one tract of land south side of the Neuse River containing two hundred & twenty five acres to be equally divided between them, to them & their heirs and assigns forever. I leave & bequeath to my beloved son ISAAC AVERA one half of ye land I now dwell on with ye plantation to him and his heirs forever. I leave & bequeath to my beloved son HENRY AVERA forty pounds current money of ye aforesaid province to be levied out of my estate. I leave & bequeath to my beloved daughter ELIZABETH JONES thirty pounds current money of ye said province to be levied out of my estate. I leave & bequeath to my beloved MARY AVERA forty pounds current money of ye said province to be levied out of my estate. I likewise leave forty pounds of ye aforesaid money to ye child my wife JUDITH AVERA goes forth to be paid out of my estate but if it should die before it comes to maturity ye money to be divided amongst ye rest of my children. And I do hereby constitute & appoint my beloved sons ALEXANDER AVERA & THOMAS AVERA to be executor of this my last will & testament. Page 1 of 4 ** PAGE BREAK ** Will, NC, Johnston, Thomas Avera 1761 I do hereby revoke, disanull & disallow all other & former wills & testaments this and no other to be my last will & testament. In witness whereof I have set my hand & seal. THOMAS AVERA {seal, his + mark} Signed, sealed and delivered in ye presents of us Test WILLIAM AVERA WILLIAM JONES Sr. This will registered in book A page the 58th and forward to 60. Page 2 of 4 ** PAGE BREAK ** Will, NC, Johnston, Thomas Avera 1761 Annotated by FRANKLIN W. INGRAM, 19 Feb 1999 Note that this Will has proven to be misleading without reference to other Johnston and Cumberland Co documents found in the NC Archives, Raleigh, NC, and in the AVERY Vertical File at the Johnston Co Genealogy Library, Smithfield, NC. For example, five (5) of the sons named in this Will became Minor Orphans at the time of THOMAS AVERA, Sr.'s death and the sixth minor son, ARTHUR [AVERA], was still unborn when the Will was signed. WILLIAM, the son, was a boy at the time and is not the WILLIAM AVERA who witnessed the Will. The son, WILLIAM, eventually moved to Cumberland Co, NC, and sold his inheritance to his brother MOSES [AVERA] and was given power of attorney to act on behalf of his brother, SAMUEL. It is proven that SAMUEL AVERA married (10 Feb 1779) ZILPHA INGRAM, daughter of RICHARD INGRAM, Testator of 1781, and later moved to Wilkes / Lincoln Co GA, as did his younger brothers, ISAAC [AVERA] and ARTHUR. It is also likely that SAMUEL's brother, WILLIAM, married ZILPHA's sister, ELIZABETH INGRAM, and that SAMUEL and WILLIAM's older sister, MARY AVERA, married ZILPHA and ELIZABETH’S brother, JOHN INGRAM. THOMAS INGRAM and his younger brother, JOHN INGRAM, the sons of JOHN INGRAM and MARY AVERA INGRAM, went with SAMUEL and ZILPHA INGRAM AVERA to GA where they married daughters of HEZEKIAH BUSSEY. In addition to all of the related records, it is wise to keep in mind that THOMAS AVERA, Sr.'s grandson, THOMAS AVERA, III, also married a JUDITH. Care should be taken not to confuse JUDITH the wife of THOMAS AVERA, Sr. with JUDITH the wife of THOMAS AVERA, III. Page 3 of 4 ** PAGE BREAK ** Will, NC, Johnston, Thomas Avera 1761 ###### # # ##### ####### # # ##### ####### # # # # ## ## # # # ## # # # # # ## ## # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ###### # # # # #### ##### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## ### # # # # # # ###### # # ##### ####### # # ### ##### ####### # # 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 **