O Say Can You See

In the name of God Amen, I Henderson Magruder of Prince George's County in the State of Maryland being weak & sick in the body but of sound & disposing mind memory and understanding considering the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the time thereof and being desirous to settle my worldy affairs and thereby be the better prepared to leave this world when it shall please god to call me hence, do therefore make & publish this my last will and Testament in manner & form following. That is to say First and principally I commit my soul into the hands of Almighty God, My body to the Earth to be decently buried at the discretion of my executor hereafter named, and after my Just debts & funeral charges are paid I give devise and bequeath as follows. It is my will & desire and I hereby order & direct, that all my negro men who shall be of the age of Twenty one years or upwards & all my negro women who shall be of the age of seventeen years or upwards at the time of my decease shall have their freedom immediately thereafter & I hereby enjoin upon & request of my executor hereinafter named, that he will pay particular attention to their obtaining certificates of their freedom. And I further will, order and direct, that my negro Boys who shall be under the age of Twenty one years, & my negro Girls who shall be under the age of seventeen years at the time of my decease except such as I shall[?] hereinafter otherwise dispose of, shall remain on my plantations under the management & control of my Executor until they shall respectively attain the aforesaid ages and then it is my will & desire & I hereby direct that they shall have their freedom. And I further will and direct that such of my negro slaves who from the infirmities incident to old age, or from other causes, shall not be able to support themselves, at the time of my death shall have the right & privilege of remaining on any of my plantations so long as they shall live, & I hereby order and direct that my executor shall provide for them comfortable support and maintainance, the expenses of which I   I hereby charge upon my whole estate. Item I give & devise unto the two daughters of my particular friend George Tyler their heirs and assigns forever, so much of the tract or parcel of land which I purchased of William B. Tyler called Brough as is comprehended within the following description and bounds, which I myself have erected in order to designate that portion of said land, which I hereby devise to the two daughters of the said George Tyler: That is to say beginning for the said part, at a Stone planted by me near a Willow Tree standing near the line of Fence, which divides the land which I bought of the said William B. Tyler, from the lands of William B. Mullikin and running thence, easterly to a stone planted by me directly at a line of fence which divided the said land from the lands of William E. Peach, then, by and with said last mentioned line of fence till it intersects the lines of the lands lately owned by Tobias Tyler, then by and with a line of the said Tobias Tyler's land, to a stone planted in the place where the third boundary of the whole tract of land, called Brough, formerly stood, then by & with the courses of the said tract of land called Brough to the aforesaid stone, near the Willow Tree aforesaid, which stone is the beginning of that part of the said land which I purchased of William. B. Tyler, which I hereby devise to the two daughters of the said George Tyler. Item I give & devise unto Mary Anne Magruder, a yellow Girl some years since manumitted by me, the residue of the land which I purchased of the said William. B. Tyler. for and during the Term of her natural life and no longer, & if she shall have lawful issue, it is will and desire that after her death, the said land hereby devised to her, shall be sold by my executor hereinafter named (if he be living) and the money arising from the sale of the same, shall be equally divided among such lawful issue as she shall leave, share & share alike And if the said Mary Anne Magruder shall have no lawful issue at the time or her death, then it is   my will and desire that the said land shall go and I hereby devise the same, in such case to the children of my Nephew Theodore M. Williams their heirs and assigns forever. Item I give & bequeath unto the said Mary Anne Magruder two beds & furniture to be selected by herself, from the bedding which may be in my house at the time of my death, & all the china ware & plate which belongs to my household, also all my chairs & Tables, excepting the round Table which stands under the large looking Glass in my parlour. I further give & bequeath unto the said Mary Anne Magruder a cart & four oxen, ten head of cattle, six horses to be chosen by herself from my stock of horses, & all the stock of hogs which shall be on my plantations at the time of my death I further give and bequeath unto the said Mary Anne Magruder ten of my young Negroes to be selected by herself, who shall serve her, the boys until they shall arrive at their ages of Twenty one years, & the girls until they shall attain respectively the age of seventeen years, when they shall be set at liberty. The said Mary Anne Magruder is hereby forbidden to select any above the age of fourteen years. Item I give and devise unto my affectionate Neice Eliza Anderson, wife of Doctor Asa Anderson, for & during the term of her natural life & no longer, all the lands in Anne Arundel County which I purchased of James Boyle the Trustee appointed to make sale of the real estate of Osbourn Williams, & which were conveyed to me by the said Boyle, by deed bearing date the Eight day of November Eighteen hundred & twenty three; And if the said Eliza Anderson shall have issue at the time of her death, I hereby will order & direct that the said lands shall be sold by my Executor (if he be living) & the money arrising from the sale of the same, shall be equally divided among such issues, share & share alike; And if the said Eliza Anderson shall die without leaving issue, I still will & direct that the said lands shall be sold in manner aforesaid, and that the proceeds of said sale shall be equally divided among the children of my   Nephew Theodore. M. Williams share & share alike. Item I give & devise unto Thomas Brice Beale Worthington son of my Nephew Beale. M. Worthington late of Anne Arundel County deceased, all my part of a tract of land called Enfield Chase situate in Prince George's County on Collington Branch, to him the said Thomas Brice, Beale Worthington for and during the term of his natural life & no longer, & in case he shall leave issue lawfully begotten, I hereby devise the said land to such issue in fee simple. and if the said Thomas Brice Beale Worthington shall die without leaving lawful issue then it is my will & desire that the said land shall go, and I hereby devise the same to his three sisters, daughters of my Nephew Beale. M. Worthington deceased to them, their heirs and assigns forever. Nevertheless it is my will & I hereby direct that the devise above made to the said Thomas Brice Beale, Worthington shall cease & be of no effect unless he the said Thomas Brice Beale Worthington, shall within five years after he attains the age of Twenty one years, pay to each of his said three sisters the sum of eight hundred dollars, & if the said Thomas Brice, Beale Worthington shall not pay to each of his said three sisters the sum of eight hundred dollars within the time herein limited, then it is my will & desire & I hereby order and direct, that the said land shall be sold by my executor (if he be living) & the money arising from the sale of the same, shall be equally divided between the said Thomas Brice Beale Worthington & his said three sisters equally share & share alike Item I give & devise unto Henderson Magruder Williams, son of my Nephew Theodore. M. Williams (provided that he the said Henderson Magruder Williams shall within a reasonable time, have & cause his name to be altered & changed to Henderson Williams Magruder; I mean a reasonable time after my death) my plantation whereon I now dwell containing three hundred & eighty seven acres more or less to him the said Henderson Magruder Williams, & the heirs of   of his body, and if the said Henderson Magruder Williams shall die without leaving issue then it is my will and and desire that my said dwelling plantation shall go, and I hereby devise the same, to the next male issue of my Nephew Theodore. M. Williams in fee Simple, provided that the said next male issue of my said Nephew shall take and bear the name of Henderson Williams Magruder. Nevertheless I do hereby make a reserve of the grave yard on my said dwelling plantation which I hereby direct my executor to have enclosed with a neat & strong fence, to be extended to four stones one at each angle of said grave yard, which I myself have planted & hereby direct, shall at all times hereafter, be observed & regarded as the boundaries of said grave yard. Item I give and bequeath all the rest & residue of my personal estate unto the children of my Nephew Theodore. M. Williams & the children of Neice Sarah T. Weeden to be equally divided among them share & share alike. Item I give & devise unto the said Mary Ann Magruder herein before named, all my real estate in the Town of Queen Anne & all the rest & residue of my real estate, wherever the same may be to her the said Mary Anne Magruder her heirs and assigns forever. And lastly I do hereby nominate constitute, & appoint my friend Doctor Ada Anderson, executor of this my last will & Testament The Said Asa Anderson to have one hundred dollars out of my Estate in lieu of any percent or commission which he might otherwise claim from the Orphans Court revoking & annulling all former wills by me heretofore made ratyfing & conforming this & none other to be my last will and Testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this Twentieth day of February in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred and Twenty Nine.

Henderson Magruder (Seal)

Signed Sealed & published & declared by Henderson Magruder the above named Testator as & for his last will and Testament, in the presence of us the Subscribers, who at his request in his presence & in the presence of each other have Subscribed our names as Witnesses thereto
Richd Peach
Wm. E. Peach
Saml. Peach

Then came Richard Peach and Samuel Peach two of the subscribing Witnesses to the foregoing & annexed Will and made oath on the holy Evangely of Almighty God that they did see Henderson Magruder the Testator within named sign and seal this will & heard him publish, pronounce & declare the same to be his last Will & Testament, that at the time of his so doing he was to the best of their apprehensions of sound and disposing mind, memory & understanding & that they together with William. E. Peach the other subscribing Witness respectively subscribed their names as Witnesses to this Will in the presence of the Testator at his request and in the presence of each other

Sworn before Trueman Tyler Regr. of Willis for Prince Georges County

In testimony that the aforegoing & annexed is truly copied from the Original Will filed & recorded in my office, I hereto set my hand & affix the public seal of my office this 30th day of June Anno Domini 1829

Trueman Tyler Regr. of Wills for P. G. Cty