Will, NC, Wilkes, John BRYAN, 1837 In the name of God Amen I, JOHN BRYAN, of the county of Wilkes and the state of North Carolina do make this my last will and testament in the following form. FIRST I give and bequeath my dearly beloved wife NANCY BRYAN all my estate, real and personal, that is to say all my land, Negroes, money on hand deeds of trust, farming utensils, household and kitchen Furniture, stock of every kind during her natural life and she may give any part of it to children as she pleases so that they all have equal shares. SECOND I give and bequeath to JAMES [MARTIN] and ELVIRA [BRYAN] MARTIN $1 and all the Negroes and all other property they have had of me, likewise HENRY and SARAH. THIRD I give and bequeath to WILLIAM [PARKS] and MATILDA [BRYAN] PARKS $1 and all the Negroes and other property that they have had of me. FOURTH I give and bequeath to JAMES [PARKS] and POLLY [BRYAN] PARKS $1 and all of the Negroes and other property they have had of me. FIFTH I give to BENJAMIN F. PETTY and CYNTHIA [BRYAN PETTY] his wife all the Negroes they have had of me and $1. SIXTH I give and bequeath to GEORGE [BOWER] and NANCY [BRYAN] BOWER $1 and all the Negroes they have had of me. SEVENTH I give to my son FELIX BRYAN’s widow JULIA BRYAN and his daughter FRANCIS CORNELIA BRYAN $1 and all the Negroes that I gave to him and his lifetime to be equally divided between them except the Negro girl MYRA that I gave to FRANCIS CORNELIA BRYAN to be her own property which gift I confirm to hear absolutely and also give to my granddaughter FRANCIS CORNELIA BRYAN $500 to be paid out of my estate when she is 18 years of age but if she should die before she arrives at that age my will is that the $500 should be equally divided among the other ??? children my will is that if any of my daughters should die and their husband should marry again that no part of what they have had of me should go to the benefit of another after marriage but that every part of my estate that they had should be long to my grandchildren. EIGHTH it will be seen that my will is to have all my estate real and personal equally divided among my living children but my son FELIX BRYAN's widow JULIA BRYAN and his daughter FRANCIS CORNELIA BRYAN is not to have any more of my estate except the $500 to FRANCIS CORNELIA BRYAN given by this my present will as I think tough what was given to him my son FELIX BRYAN in his lifetime was equal to what my other children. NINTH I have my will that my wife NANCY BRYAN, which I appoint to be my sole executrix of this my last will and testament, shall have the sole disposal of my estate both real and personal so as to make as equal division as possible and I do hereby authorize and empower her to dispose of and convey the same, by deed, as otherwise in the manner hereafter directed and according to what is hereafter stipulated. But if any of our children should be dissatisfied with what she does they need not go to law but leave the matter in “dissect” to two good men and if them two cannot agree send them to may “consult” a third man and whatever them three agree upon shall be as binding as if judgment was given of the Superior Court. Page 1 of 4 ** PAGE BREAK ** Will, NC, Wilkes, John BRYAN, 1837 TENTH my desire that my land on the south side of the Yadkin should not be divided but remain in one tract as I think that dividing it would hurt its value and if any of my children should wish to purchase it to live on that my other children should give them the ??? and also give 18 months free of interest on this price likewise allow reasonable time to pay the whole amount and if any of my children should perhaps ??? of the aforesaid property they shall be allowed reasonable time for to make payment for any property that any of my children should purchase and land on the north side of Yadkin and that on Rock Creek and on the Round Mountain maybe disposed of in any way by my executrix anyone she chooses to cut for her may think fit hand if any of my children should wish to purchase any of my property and they sink see price set on it is too high they may choose to good men to value the same and if they cannot agree they may choose a third man to assist but if the purchaser thinks it to high he is not to take it. ELEVENTH but as my desire is that there should be no wrong meaning put on the writing of this my last will and testament I repeat in said manor what I have above written that all my estate real and personal shell along to my wife during her natural life and to be disposed of in what manner she pleases among our children and their equal portions except to my son FELIX BRYAN and his heir or heirs claiming under him whole full share is expressly given as above stated in this my will and if any of my daughters should be without children they are to have an equal share with those that have children but if any of my daughters should die in my lifetime or before the death of my wife without child or children then their husband is not to have any more of my estate that is willed to be disposed of by my wife. TWELFTH I do hereby revoke disannul and make void all former wills and testaments by me heretofore made declaring this to be my last will and testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 13t day of May in the year of Our Lord 1837 JOHN BRYAN {seal} Signed and sealed in the presence of J. J. BRYAN MAYBERRY WILBORN Page 2 of 4 ** PAGE BREAK ** Will, NC, Wilkes, John BRYAN, 1837 North Carolina Wilkes County To the worshipful Court of pleas and quarter sessions whereas in my husband's last will and testament bearing date the 13th day of May 1837 he has appointed me the sole executrix to said well and for various causes me hereunto moving, I do hereby relinquish my right of qualifying as executrix to said will onto my four sons-in- law, to wit, JAMES MARTIN, JAMES M. PARKS, WILLIAM PARKS and BENJAMIN F. PETTY, whom I wish to qualify as administrators the will annexed, witness my hand and seal this second day of May 1842. NANCY BRYAN JAMES R. DODGE Page 3 of 4 ** PAGE BREAK ** Will, NC, Wilkes, John BRYAN, 1837 ###### # # ##### ####### # # ##### ####### # # # # ## ## # # # ## # # # # # ## ## # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ###### # # # # #### ##### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## ### # # # # # # ###### # # ##### ####### # # ### ##### ####### # # Transcribed from original documents by Brent R. BRYAN & Martha M. BRYAN. 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. BRYAN Martha M. BRYAN BrianMitchellGenealogy@gmail.com Page 4 of 4 ** PAGE BREAK **