Amanuensis Monday – Will of John Hammontree 1840

On his TransylvanianDutch blog, John Newmark defines an amanuensis as “a person employed to write out what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.” For more information about this daily blogging prompt, see John’s post Amanuensis – Why?

I have amassed quite a collection of scans of handwritten documents related to my ancestors—primarily marriage records, deeds, and wills. As I have been transcribing these documents, it occurred to me that most of these documents were not actually written by my ancestors, but rather dictated to someone else, and then transcribed by a clerk into official records.

Today, I am presenting the will of John Hammontree, one of my paternal 4^th great-grandfathers. John names his children, providing evidence to prove parent-child relationships. His daughters’ married names are given, and, in one instance, the husband’s full name is also included. An image and the source citation follow the transcription:

I John Hammontree Sr. being of Sound and perfect mind and
memory on this Eighteenth day of August in the year of our lord

Savir Jesus Christ Eighteen hundred and forty do make this my last
will and testament_ and first I will my Soul to God who gave it
and my body a christian burial, and 2^d all my just debts be paid
3^d I bequeath to my beloved wife Sarah a good Suporte out of my Mill
and plantation and remain in this my dwelling during her natural
life 4^th I bequeath to my two Sons Phillip and John my my Mills and
plantation equally by them paying my son Hugh one hundred dollars
each and the said phillip and John are to have all my personal
property by them paying my daughters Viz. Elisabeth Rosin Martha Henry
Margaret Phebe McClain and Cintha J. Cathcart Sixty dollars
each as for my daughter Polly Black she has got her part in my pay-
ing H. B. Leeper for Joseph Black her Husband
5^th I bequeath my upper plantation to my son Harvey by him paying
my son Hugh two hundred dollars. 6^th_ I bequeath to my Son
Hugh the two hundred dollars is that he is to get from my two Sons
Phillip and John as above and two hundred dollars from my Son
Harvey as above for his portion. and lastly I apoint my Son Phillip
and Benj Abernathy my executors in order this my last will and
testament my be lawfully executed in witness where of I have here-
unto set my hand and seal in the day and date first above
written in the presents of                                  his
  John McClan Jr                                  John     X   Hammontree (seal)
  David Hammontree                                       mark

Source: Blount County, Tennessee, John Hammontree will dated 18 August 1840, citing Tennessee Probate Court Records, Blount, Wills, 1795-1869, Vol. 01, p. 68; digital images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 10 Jul 2011).

© 2011 Denise Spurlock

On This Day: July 9

1818: Ephraim Cary and Matilda Gandy, my maternal 3rd great-grandparents, were married in Madison County, Ohio. This is a copy of the marriage register:

 [Source: "Ohio County Marriages, 1790-1950" FHL microfilm 545132, digital folder number 4016838, image 72, Cory-Gandy, 1818; index and images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 1 Jul 2011).]

Ephraim and Matilda had nine children: Hiram, George, Abijah, Ruth, Stephen, Henry, Rhoda (from whom I descend), Tamson, and Malinda.

© 2011 Denise Spurlock

On This Day: July 8

1752: Luther Cary, one of my maternal 4th great-grandfathers, the son of Ezra Cary and Mary Jane Holman, was born in Mendham, Morris County, New Jersey. Luther, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, died on 8 October 1834, and is buried in Plain City, Madison County, Ohio. [Source 1: Joiner, Darrell and Sallyann, Cary Family History. Source 2: Luther Cary, Ancestor #A020239, Member National #320524, Daughters of the American Revolution.]


© 2011 Denise Spurlock

On This Day: July 7

1806: One of my maternal 3rd great-grandmothers, Susannah (Campbell) Parsons, was born in Virginia, the daughter of William Campbell and Nancy Margaret Woodward. Susannah died 13 October 1878 at Dassel, Meeker County, Minnesota. [Source: MaryAnne Herness Cottmeyer; online family tree, "Family Group Sheet - Susannah Campbell," Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Jul 2011).]

© 2011 Denise Spurlock

On This Day: July 5

1809: Henry Harris Gandy, Sr., my maternal 4th great-grandfather, married his second wife Sarah Harris in Trumbull County, Ohio. Here is how their marriage appears in the records:

[Source: Trumbull County, Ohio, "Ohio County Marriages, 1790-1950", FHS microfilm 904,260, Henry H. Gandy-Sarah Harris, 1809; index and images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 1 Jul 2011).]

Henry and his first wife Tamson Garrison (my 4th great-grandmother) had seven children before Tamson died: Abijah, Mary, Phoebe, Matilda (from whom I descend), George, Ruth, and Tamson. Henry fathered eight more children with Sarah.

© 2011 Denise Spurlock

Descended from Revolutionaries

A search of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) patriot database identifies five of my ancestors as patriots during the Revolutionary War:

• Luther Cary (maternal 4^th great-grandfather)
• George Clayton (maternal 5^th great-grandfather)
• Thomas Cook (maternal 4^th great-grandfather)
• William Justice (maternal 5^th great-grandfather)
• James Reeves (paternal 4^th great-grandfather)

Recognition as a patriot by the DAR does not require active military duty. In fact, only one of these five, Luther Cary, served in a military unit. The others provided provisions or supplies for the army.

Only those individuals who have had patriotic service documented by a DAR member are found in the database. There are probably other patriots in our family whose service has not yet been recognized in this way.

Our roots are long and strong in the history of the United States of America. Truly we are descended from revolutionaries!

© 2011 Denise Spurlock

On This Day: July 3

1894: My paternal great-grandfather John Fedrick Spurlock married his second wife Annie Lee Conville in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Here is a copy of their marriage certificate:

[Source: Bienville Parish, Louisiana, (Bienville Parish Courthouse, Arcadia), vol. G, p. 111, marriage certificate (1894), J. F. Spurlock-Annie V. Conville; FHL microfilm 266,031.]

John and his first wife, Dialtha Owens, had six children before Dialtha died in 1893; the eldest, Jasper Jackson, was my grandfather. John and Annie had thirteen children, making John the father of nineteen children, eighteen of whom lived to adulthood! John is certainly the top candidate for my most prolific ancestor.


© 2011 Denise Spurlock