Will of Josiah Watts

Josiah Watts named wife Susannah, daughter Susannah and business partners; brother Thomas Watts and John Grant Rencher were executors.

Kind of paper

Will

Testator

Josiah Watts (printed JOSIAH WATTS)

Dated

6 July 1788

Proved

Date not given

A second reading

Mark Chilton’s index of the will books gives the probate as August 1788. Check the will book to settle it.

In the court minutes

• Will proved, 27 August 1788

Family named

Susannah (wife); Susannah (daughter); Thomas Watts (brother)

Executors

Thomas Watts (brother); John Grant Rencher

Witnesses

Vincent P. Williamson; William Courtney

Also named

Courtney Watts (Partners in business); Wm. Lytle (Esq.; Partners in business)

Names and places are given as the abstract writes them, spelling and all. This record has not been checked against the will book.

Where to find it

• Orange County Will Book B, page 39.
• Abstract: Ruth Herndon Shields, Abstracts of Wills Recorded 1752 through 1800 in Orange County, North Carolina, Will Books A, B and C (Davie Poplar Chapter NSDAR, revised edition 1966).
• Also listed in Mark Chilton, “Wills Recorded in Orange County, NC 1756–1893” (Wandering through the NC Piedmont, 2019), an index of the will books with references to the court minutes.
• Microfilm at the Orange County Public Library, Wall Local History Collection: reel 80001, “Record of Wills, 1752–1795, Vols. A, B” (State Archives film).