Will of James (x) Armstrong

James Armstrong freed Cicero, named his family, and appointed two executors.

Kind of paper

Will

Testator

James (x) Armstrong (printed JAMES (x) ARMSTRONG)

Dated

6 April 1794

Proved

November 1796 court

In the court minutes

• Will proved, 29 November 1796
• Freedom or emancipation, 25 May 1797

Family named

William Armstrong (son); Sarah Allen (daughter); Sysannah Lloyed (daughter); Mary Mebane (daughter); Elizabeth Lapsley (daughter); Thomas (grandson; all under age); James (grandson; all under age); Wm. Armstrong (grandson; all under age); Mary Tinnen (granddaughter)

Executors

John Taylor (well beloved friends); Robert Faucette (well beloved friends)

Witnesses

William Elliott; Robert Taylor

Enslaved people named

• Cicero (freed by this paper)

In the records of enslaved people

• Cicero (this paper)

Reading note: Grandsons surname printed only after final given name; retained as printed.

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 C, page 88.
• 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 80002, “Record of Wills, 1794–1822, Vols. C, D” (State Archives film).