Will of John Edwards

John Edwards named his family, distributed unnamed enslaved people, freed an unnamed enslaved woman, and appointed two executors.

Kind of paper

Will

Testator

John Edwards (printed JOHN EDWARDS)

Dated

2 April 1796

Proved

November 1801 court

Family named

Mary Edwards (wife); John Edwards (son); David Edwards (son); William Edwards (son); Sell Edwards (son); Henry Edwards (son); Susannah Odean (daughter); Mary Campbell (daughter)

Executors

Henry Edwards (son); Zackfield Brewer

Witnesses

Thomas Brewer; Elizabeth (x) Brewer

Enslaved people not named

1 enslaved person each|an enslaved woman|5 enslaved people

Money and goods

10 shillings; 10 shillings each

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 D, page 56.
• Abstract: Ruth Herndon Shields, Abstracts of Wills Recorded in Orange County, North Carolina, 1800–1850 (1958), page 7.
• 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).