The Will of Valentine Stearns:
"IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN being sick And as it appears very night unto Death; but blessed be God in my perfect Sense and Memory; after having Committed my Soul to God, who gave it, and my Body to the Dust; to be desently buried at ye discretion of my Execs nothing doubting, but they shall be united in the Resurrection; As for what Worldly Goods it hath pleased God to bless me with; I leave in manner & form as follows; and first I Order that what debts I owe, be paid of the whole of my Estate; next I order that my Beloved Spouse, Jean Stearn shall have ye whole of my Estate Excepting such legacies as it is after mentioned; ITEM, I leave to my honoured Father, Frederick Stearns my Suit of Blue Cloath & My new Buck Skin Britches; Item to my brother Frederciks oldest son John Stearn, One hundred Acres of my Land; upon Juniata; Item to my Cozens Arthur & Charles Conegham my Interest to one hundred Acres more upon Juneata; ITEM to Arthur Coneygham my new Great Coat; Item to Henry Conyngham Five Pounds Item to Cathrine Conynham Five-pounds if she lives with her Aunt; untill she comes of age; & be obedient to her; a horse and Saddle to ye Value of Fifteen pounds ten Shillings, or the Cash. Item to Brother Leonard Stearns my blue Camblet Coat & ye Cloath that is in the house for my jacket I further Order that my beloved Spouse Jean Stearn and Arthur Conynham to be whole and sole Execs of this my Last Will and Testament; GIVEN under my hand 15th day of February 1761.
Valentine (X) Stearn (Seal)
Witness present Thos. Dougan, George Fleming. .
"LANCASTER COUNTY FS 25 March 1761 Appeared before ye Subscriber Thomas Dougan & George Fleming, The Witnesses to the Within Will who being duly Sworn did depose that they were present and saw & heard ye Testator within name, Sign, Seal, Publish, Pronounse and Declare the Within Writing as his last Will and Testament & that at the doing thereof, he was of Sound dispensing mind memory and Understanding to the best of their knowledge, belief and Observation. Edw. Shippen D. Rr.....etc." .
p. 56, "Of Them That Left A Name Behind" by Starnes & Starnes, 1983.
(My notes on the above: The Juniata is a river in Pennsylvania. It seems all these Cunningham "relatives" are actually Valentine's wife Jean's kin. While he signed the will with a mark, this is not necessarily an indication that Valentine was illiterate. It often was, but it may have been just that he was too sick to sign his name. I once assumed that whenever someone signed anything with a mark, it meant they were illiterate, until I discovered a 5th great grandfather in another line of mine who I knew to be literate (who, indeed, wrote many documents while a member of the NC House of Commons in the early 1770s), but who signed his will with a mark. I puzzled over this for some time until it finally dawned on me.... he was dying and didn't have the strength to write his name!).
The Will of Valentine Stearns:
"IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN being sick And as it appears very night unto Death; but blessed be God in my perfect Sense and Memory; after having Committed my Soul to God, who gave it, and my Body to the Dust; to be desently buried at ye discretion of my Execs nothing doubting, but they shall be united in the Resurrection; As for what Worldly Goods it hath pleased God to bless me with; I leave in manner & form as follows; and first I Order that what debts I owe, be paid of the whole of my Estate; next I order that my Beloved Spouse, Jean Stearn shall have ye whole of my Estate Excepting such legacies as it is after mentioned; ITEM, I leave to my honoured Father, Frederick Stearns my Suit of Blue Cloath & My new Buck Skin Britches; Item to my brother Frederciks oldest son John Stearn, One hundred Acres of my Land; upon Juniata; Item to my Cozens Arthur & Charles Conegham my Interest to one hundred Acres more upon Juneata; ITEM to Arthur Coneygham my new Great Coat; Item to Henry Conyngham Five Pounds Item to Cathrine Conynham Five-pounds if she lives with her Aunt; untill she comes of age; & be obedient to her; a horse and Saddle to ye Value of Fifteen pounds ten Shillings, or the Cash. Item to Brother Leonard Stearns my blue Camblet Coat & ye Cloath that is in the house for my jacket I further Order that my beloved Spouse Jean Stearn and Arthur Conynham to be whole and sole Execs of this my Last Will and Testament; GIVEN under my hand 15th day of February 1761.
Valentine (X) Stearn (Seal)
Witness present Thos. Dougan, George Fleming. .
"LANCASTER COUNTY FS 25 March 1761 Appeared before ye Subscriber Thomas Dougan & George Fleming, The Witnesses to the Within Will who being duly Sworn did depose that they were present and saw & heard ye Testator within name, Sign, Seal, Publish, Pronounse and Declare the Within Writing as his last Will and Testament & that at the doing thereof, he was of Sound dispensing mind memory and Understanding to the best of their knowledge, belief and Observation. Edw. Shippen D. Rr.....etc." .
p. 56, "Of Them That Left A Name Behind" by Starnes & Starnes, 1983.
(My notes on the above: The Juniata is a river in Pennsylvania. It seems all these Cunningham "relatives" are actually Valentine's wife Jean's kin. While he signed the will with a mark, this is not necessarily an indication that Valentine was illiterate. It often was, but it may have been just that he was too sick to sign his name. I once assumed that whenever someone signed anything with a mark, it meant they were illiterate, until I discovered a 5th great grandfather in another line of mine who I knew to be literate (who, indeed, wrote many documents while a member of the NC House of Commons in the early 1770s), but who signed his will with a mark. I puzzled over this for some time until it finally dawned on me.... he was dying and didn't have the strength to write his name!).
Family Members
Advertisement
Advertisement