Miller-MS-1847-Will

Will & Probate Records of Ebenezer Miller Pkt. 378, Pontotoc Co., Mississippi, dated 1847 

The last will and testament of Ebenezer Miller of Pontotoc County, Mississippi.
Be it known that I Ebenezer Miller of said county and State, being of sound mind, do make, ordain and appoint, this to be my last will and testament.
I desire that my funeral expenses and all my just debts shall be paid, and my executors are hereby empowered to sell such portion of my personal property as may be necessary for that purpose. 
I desire that all my personal property shall be kept together on the place where I now reside, for and during the natural life of my wife Margery Miller, to be used and worked for the benefit and support of my said wife, and of such of my children as may continue to reside with her. 
I give and bequeath to my daughter Susan my negro woman named Sarah and her child named Tom.
I give and bequeath to my daughter Margaret Ann, my negro woman named Betty and her youngest child named William. 
I give and bequeath to my son Robert Alexander my negro man named Stepney and his two children, one named Esther, and the other named Israil, and also that parcel of land known and designated as the South East quarter of Section Thirty Six, in Township Nine, of Range Three East, according to the survey of the Chickasaw Cession, lying and being in the county of Pontotoc; and it is to be understood that this bequest is in full payment for all services which my said son Robert A. has heretofore rendered in attending to my business.
It is further my will and desire that if either of my children Susan, Margaret Ann, or Robert Alexander, shall desire to live separate and apart from their mother, instead of residing with her during her lifetime, such child shall be at liberty to take with them for their own separate use, the negroes bequeathed to them respectively above. 
It is my will that in the event of the death of either of my children provided for in this my will, without issue living at their death, the share or portion of such child, shall belong and be distributed to my surviving children and their heirs of such as may have died leaving issue. 
It is my will that after the death of my wife, all the rest and residue of my property, both real and personal, and the increase thereof, shall be equally distributed amongst all my children, share and share alike, with this exception that the share and portion of said property which shall be allotted in the distribution to my daughter Jane Pickens Norwood shall remain in the possession of my sons Andrew Miller and Hugh R. Miller, and shall be held by them in trust, for the benefit of my said daughter Jane Pickens, and of her children, and shall be paid by said trustees to her, or in case of her death, to her children when they become of age respectively, in such sums and at such times as in their opinion may be proper. 
I do ordain, constitute and appoint my sons, Andrew Miller and Hugh R. Miller my executors, to execute this my last will and testament. In testimony that the forgoing three pages contain my last will and testament, I hereunto set my hand and affix my seal this 31st day of August A.D. 1847. 
[signed] Ebenezer Miller [seal]
Witnesses: Jas. D. Brome, A. H. Aston, Madison King 

Lotus D. Cirilo, Executive Director	 TISD Foundation, PO Box 2035 Tyler, Texas 75710-2035
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