(Note: This blog got a tad bit long....as in 13 pages. This is the first 4 pages and I will add installments over the weekend!)
Today I
am going to examine a will of one of our relatives, Elias James. Elias was born on February 11, 1745 in Upper
Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He married Anne Matson, born in 1750, also of
Upper Merion, in 1767. Interestingly, the
marriage took place in Loudoun County, Virginia. It appears that a number of Philadelphia
families chose to move to Virginia at the same time.
Elias and Anne appeared to be happy and successful, as will
be seen when we discuss Elias’ will more closely. They had six children: Thomas, Isaac, Ann,
Hannah, James, and Elias. James James,
born in 1777, is my ancestor.
I have attached copies of the pages of the will, which,
although not great copies, are still better than my transcription. I offer my hearty thanks to Ila Jean Garlitz
Drugg (daughter of Grace Viola James Garlitz, the sister of my grandfather, Melvin
Chester James, the greatx3 grandson of Elias) for finding this will and
including it in her book The James Path. I do not remember when this book was written,
but it must have been at least 25 years ago.
Her diligence in finding, documenting, and recording her work has saved
me countless hours. Thank you Jeannie!
In addition to the photocopies of the will I am going to
include my transcription of the will, paragraph by paragraph, and then my
comments on it. I have modernized the
spelling and punctuation, and created the paragraphs from the large monolithic
whole that is Elias’ will, and have indicated with brackets [thus] any place
where I inserted information for ease of reading.
I,
Elias James of the County of Loudoun in the State of Virginia, cooper, being
some afflicted in body but of perfect mind and memory, thanks be given unto God
for the same and calling to mind the mortality of my body and that it is appointed
for all men once to die, I therefore commend my soul to him who gave it and do
ordain this my last will and testament in manner and form as followeth.
Loudoun County, Virginia is in
the northeast corner of the state, sharing a border with Maryland. A cooper is a barrel maker, an important
occupation in a world without cardboard boxes.
If something was going to be shipped, it went in either a wooden box or
a barrel. Most things were sent in
barrels because they were so sturdy and so unbreakable. (Check out this YouTube video from Mythbusters to see just how unbreakable
a barrel filled with 500 pounds can be: http://youtu.be/VUN1sEyBwFY - you can ignore the peeing on the rail part if you want, but it’s pretty funny) Dishes, food items, and of course wine and
other potables were shipped and stored in barrels. Later in the will we will discover just how
lucrative the cooperage business can be.
First
I imprimise [“in premise” or “in the first place”] I will that all my just
debts and funeral charges be paid and discharged by my executors hereafter
named,
2nd
Item. I give and bequeath unto my
beloved wife Anne: one square walnut
table, two chairs, one feather bed, bedstead and bedding, one chest of drawers,
one iron pot, one Dutch oven, one frying pan, one bucket, one wash tub, one
flatiron, one pewter basin, three pewter plates, one pewter dish, three spoons,
one pewter tea pot and sugar bowl, three tea cups and saucers, one tea kettle,
one tin pan, two tin cups, two earthen dishes, two milk pans, one earthen pot,
two white plates, two knives and forks; these for her to enjoy while she
remains my widow or during her life which ever first then she shall return to
our children that may then survive, share and share alike. 
Oh, to have Anne’s legacy today! Each item would bring a fortune in an antique
store or auction. What I find most
interesting about this list of items is that they are all intended to provide
Anne with a comfortable life, with a certain degree of elegance and luxury. She has a table and two chairs, a feather bed
with all the necessary bedding and bedstead, and a chest of drawers for her
bedroom.
For entertaining guests she is given plenty
of cooking tools: an iron pot and (I
assume since I have never heard of a tin Dutch oven) an iron Dutch oven provide
her with the highest quality cookware.
There is no mention of the material making up the frying pan, but I also
assume this is made of iron. The Widow
James will be able to cook like a queen.
For cleaning up and carrying water she has a bucket and a wash tub. There is a flatiron for ironing, and two
(presumably tin) milk pans.
For
her fancier dining and entertaining she receives a pewter basin (think large
flat bowl, along the lines of 14 to 16 inches in diameter), three pewter
plates, a pewter dish (another bowl, only smaller), three pewter spoons, and a
pewter teapot and sugar bowl plus three cups and saucers of unnamed
material. For everyday use she has a tea
kettle, a tin pan, two tin cups, two earthen dishes (think ceramic), an earthen
pot, two white plates (china or ceramic), and two knives and forks.
While
it may sound unkind and domineering to our modern sensibilities when we read
the provision that these are for Anne “to enjoy while she remains my widow”
this was a not unusual addition to wills which I believe was designed to
protect grieving women from being preyed upon by unscrupulous men. By only providing these relatively valuable
items to the Widow James and taking them from her if she remarries, Elias is
ensuring that she only remarries someone that she truly loves, or someone who
has more than she does. Because,
remember, once Anne remarried, all of her goods would belong to her new
husband, who could then sell them, break, them, or kick her out of the house
and deprive her of them. However, if she remarried a man of greater
wealth, then she (presumably) wouldn’t mind exchanging her good things for his
better things. And if she married a man
and there was mutual and reciprocal love, then neither would mind that she lost
her material goods, because to have love without property was preferable to
property without love.
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