BEGATS AND BEQUEATHALS

James Lauderdale’s Will, Sumner County, Tennessee, Will Bk. 1, pp. 39-41

In the name of God Amen: I James Lauderdale of the County of Botetourt in the state of Virginia being now by the bleſsing of God in usual health of body and of perfect sound, mind and memory make this my last will and Testament. I resign my soul to its creator in all humble hope of its future happineſs as in the disposal of a being infinitely good. As to my body my will is that it be buried in a decent manner at the discretion of my Executors hereinafter named the Survivors or Survivor of them, that may be with or nearest me at the time of my decease; As it my intention to remove, God willing from this State to the State of Tenneſsee, I hereby make and appoint my oldest son William Lauderdale, my youngest Son James Lauderdale and my son- in-law James Henry the Survivors or Survivor of them Executors to this my last will and Testament.

First I order after my funeral Expenses are paid, that all my just debts be discharged as soon as possible.

Secondly I order and it is my will that the goods and chattels, that I may be poseſsed of, and Lands if any together with the slaves, that I now have or hereafter may have be Sold at public Sale to the highest bidder and the moneys arising from such Sale be disposed of in manner following this is to say.

Thirdly I give and bequeath unto my eldest daughter Margaret Cain widow and relic of James Cain deceased one federal dollar as her full part and share of whatsoever I may be poseſsed of at the time of my decease.

Fourthly I give and bequeath unto my Grand son James Martin the sum of twenty pounds out of the neat [sic] proceeds of my Estate to be put to interest by my Executors the Survivors or Survivor of them, on the best Security they or either of them can get Which Money is to be managed in the best Manner for the use of my said Grandson until he arrives to the age of twenty one years, but in case of his death during his minority, I order the said twenty pounds with its interest to be equally divided amongst my legatees hereinafter named.

Fifthly I give and bequeath unto my son William Lauderdale[,] my son John Lauderdale, my son James Lauderdale, my Daughter Jane Crawford, my daughter Elizabeth Martin, my daughter Mary Franklin[,] my daughter Annie Henry and my Grandson John Mills, son of my daughter Elizabeth aforesaid share equally in and of all and Singular the neat [sic] proceeds of my Estate as aforesaid, after all legal deductions are taken out. It is my will that the above last named persons have equal partition and share and share alike in the distribution of my estate. This is my last will and Testament and I do hereby disannul and entirely revoke all former wills and Testaments by me heretofore made and executed ratifying and confirming this and no other for My last will and Testament, signed with my hand and sealed with my seal in the County and State first herein mentioned this twenty second day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety six.

James Lauderdale his mark wafer seal

Signed, sealed, and declared by the Testator as his last will and Testament in the presence of us

John Wood

James Lauderdale

John Mills

Be it remembered that I James Lauderdale, who made and executed the foregoing instrument of writing do make the following Codicil to the said last will and Testament that is to say — I give and bequeath unto my Grandson John Lauderdale son of my youngest son James Lauderdale before named in the body of my said last will and Testament an equal share and part of such estate as I shall be poseſsed of at my decease according to the tenor and intent and meaning of the said will as fully and amply as if he had been named in the said will and Testament.

In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my Seal in the County first mentioned in the said will this twenty fourth day of September in the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety six. N.B. the Word (and) was interlined in this Codicil before signing.

James Lauderdale his mark wafer Seal

Signed and sealed in the presence of us who subscribed our names thereunto

John Wood

James Lauderdale

John Mills

Insofar as I can ascertain, Sumner County does not have the original will on file, and I find no probate or estate documents other than the notation in Sumner County Court Minutes Bk. 3, p. 125, that William and James Lauderdale filed an inventory of the estate on the first Monday of April 1797. I’m not aware of state-level probate files that might have the original will or more information about it. I have searched for newspaper notices of James’ death or about his estate settlement, and have not found any.

Note that, like other documents signed by James in Augusta and Botetourt County, Virginia, the will is signed by mark. James Lauderdale appears not to have been literate, and that fact alone should cast considerable doubt on the myth that his father was a Scottish nobleman. The will and other documents suggest that James was a man with considerable business acumen who handled his business with careful thought. The will also tells us that at the time of his demise, James held enslaved people.

A recent marker has been placed (see head of this posting) in the historic Lauderdale cemetery at Hartsville in Trousdale County, Tennessee, where James Lauderdale’s son William was living in 1836 (see below), and where other family members including John, son of James Lauderdale Jr. and John’s wife Amelia Wood, are buried. The Find a Grave page for Lauderdale cemetery says that it dates from 1796, and states that some headstones in the cemetery are turned over and the hill on which the cemetery is located is overgrown. There is apparently not absolute proof that this is the burial place of James Lauderdale (abt. 1707? – 1797), but if the cemetery does, in fact, date from 1796, it’s possible that James is buried in it. Trousdale County was formed from Sumner and other counties. Though the marker for James Lauderdale in this cemetery states that he was a Revolutionary soldier, as I’ve stated previously, I think this claim is dubious and that it was James’ son James who gave military service during the Revolution.

James Lauderdale’s Children, Brief Notes

At various online websites, you may encounter lists of James’ children that go beyond the names named in his will. I have found no reason to doubt that the will enumerates all of James Lauderdale’s children. Here are some brief notes based on what I’ve been able to document about the children named in the will — but note that I have not done extensive research on any of these children except my ancestor John, so there may well be more information to find and mine may need correcting:

1. Margaret Lauderdale was born, it appears, between 1738-1741 in, I suspect, Maryland, though possibly in Pennsylvania. Before 11 October 1759 in Augusta (later Botetourt) County, Virginia, Margaret married Peter, son of Robert Looney. Following Peter’s death in Augusta County on 17 April 1760, Margaret married James McKain in Augusta County prior to 18 May 1768. James’ surname often appears in documents as Cain (as it does in her father’s will). A number of published accounts of this family state that Margaret died in 1796 in Sumner County, Tennessee. I have not found clear documentation of the date or place of her death. She was living on 22 September 1796 when her father made his will, and did move with other family members to Sumner County.

2. William Lauderdale was born in 1741 or 1742 in Maryland. His Revolutionary pension file discussed previously indicates that he was still living — at Hartsville in Sumner County, Tennessee — as late as 5 December 1836. Some accounts of the family have confused William with his nephew of the same name, son of James Lauderdale and Sarah Mills, a soldier of the War of 1812 and Seminole Wars, who died 11 May 1838. I have not found information showing a spouse for William Lauderdale. Hartsville, where William was living in 1836, is now in Trousdale County.

3. John Lauderdale was born in 1745 in Augusta (later Botetourt) County, Virginia, and died between 1830-1840 in Limestone County, Alabama. About 1785 in Pendleton District, South Carolina, John married Milbury Mauldin, daughter of John and Sarah Mauldin. I’ve documented John Lauderdale’s life in detail in a series of postings listed here.

4. James Lauderdale was born about 1746 in Augusta (later Botetourt) County, Virginia. About 1767 in Augusta County, he married Sarah Mills. James died in Sumner County, Tennessee, prior to 9 December 1811, when sons Samuel and Josiah were appointed administrators of his estate.

5. Jane Lauderdale appears to have married John Crawford in Botetourt County, Virginia, about 1775. On the basis of her probable date of marriage and the birth of her first child in 1776, her date of birth is often estimated around 1753-5. I do not have information about when Jane died. After serving as a representative from Knox County, Tennessee, at the state’s first General Assembly in 1796-7 and then as a senator from the same county in 1799-1801, John Crawford moved his family to Jackson County, Tennessee in 1801. If Jane was still living at this point, I think it’s likely that both she and John died in that county.

6. Elizabeth Lauderdale was evidently close in age to her sister Jane. As has previously been noted, on 10 February 1773 in Botetourt County, Virginia, Elizabeth sued John Mills for breach of contract of a promise to marry her. Her son John Mills, named in her father’s will, was evidently born of this union that did not end in marriage (Elizabeth won her suit against John Mills). Elizabeth’s brothers William, John, and James served under John Mills as captain of a Botetourt County militia unit during the Revolution. In October 1784, Elizabeth’s sister Anna/Annie sued James Mills for breach of contract of a promise to marry her. According to Elizabeth Shown Mills, John and James were brothers, sons of a John Mills Sr. who died about February 1782 in Botetourt. On 18 October 1785 in Botetourt County, Elizabeth married William Martin. At this point, I do not have further information about Elizabeth and her husband William Martin, except that they had a son James who is named in the will of his grandfather James Lauderdale.

7. Mary Lauderdale is thought to have been born about 1762 in Augusta (later Botetourt) County, Virginia. An obituary of her son Isaac Franklin published in the New Orleans newspaper, the Times-Picayune, on 7 October 1846 says that his parents James Franklin and Mary Lauderdale married about the commencement of the American Revolution and moved about 1776 to East Tennessee, relocating in 1784 to Middle Tennessee. James Franklin died in Sumner County, Tennessee. James and wife Mary are buried in a family cemetery at Hendersonville in Sumner County, with a (modern) marker stating that James died 29 December 1828 but not stating Mary’s date of death.

8. Anna/Annie Lauderdale appears to have been born about 1765 in Augusta (later Botetourt) County, Virginia. As noted previously, in October 1784 in Botetourt, Annie sued James Mills for breach of a promise to marry her. James was a brother of John Mills, whom Annie’s sister Elizabeth sued for similar reasons, and under whom Elizabeth and Annie’s brothers William, John, and James served in the Botetourt milita during the Revolution. About 1793 in Botetourt County, Annie married James Henry, son of Andrew Henry. After moving to Tennessee, the couple settled in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, where James died 31 December 1836 and Annie 9 December 1822. This family has been discussed in two previous postings — here and here.