Last month in Slave Name Roll Project: RELEASING Letty, Cyrus, and Nelson the slaves of William Bell who died before 10 August 1825 in Nicholas County, (West) Virginia were released.
In 1842 Elizabeth Bell, a daughter of William Bell, married William Hutchison. He was previously married and had children. In 1850 the William Hutchison household included two of William Bell’s daughters, Jane T. Bell age 53 and Hutchison’s wife Elizabeth age 50.
On the 1850 slave schedule, William Hutchison and Jane Bell are listed one after the other. William had a female black age 26 and a male black age 16 in 1850.
In 1860 William Hutchison had one female black age 33, one male black age 24, one female mulatto age 17, one male mulatto age 13, and one female black age 11.
Hannah J. Hutchison was the informant on the death of her father William Hutchison on 16 May 1866. In his last will and testament written on 6 July 1861 he mentions five slaves: Mark, Mary, Jane, Dick, and Eliza.
The Last Will and Testament of William Hutchison of Braxton County, West Virginia
I William Hutchison of the County of Braxton & State of Virginia do make and publish this my last will and testament whereby revoking and making void all formerly wills by me heretofore made: 1st: I direct that all my debts and funeral expenses be paid as soon after my decease as possible out of the first moneys that shall come into the hands of my Executor from any portion of my real or personal estate which I direct to be sold, bonds & e; 2nd: I give and bequeath to my wife Elizabeth Hutchison the farm on which I now reside which is embraced in the following boundary to wit: Beginning on the line of the survey conveyed by Nicholas Gibson to me, below the house and running a westerly course with the division fence between the lands occupied by myself & Felix Hutchison & continuing same course to Salt Lick Creek, thence up the Creek with the lines of the deed from said Gibson till where a line running with the fence which is between the land occupied by Nathan M. Hutchison & myself & with said line to the corner of the fence in the impovement (sic) the (sic) with the fence along the edge of the corn & old field to the edge of the wods (sic), thence a straight line along the lower end to the original line, thence continuing course about 10 pole, thence a straight line crossing Toms fork at two sugar trees one on each side & running to the top of the point that is opposite the house, Thence up the point along the top to the out line of a tract conveyed to me by C. Hall, C.S. Hurley, H.A. Holt and John S. Hoffman & with lines of same to join the lines of the Gibson Survey & with lines of same to the beginning, to have and to hold during her natural life time, Also my negro Slaves Mark, Mary, Jane and Dick during her lifetime, two head (sic), Six head of cattle which is to be selected by her, also my my (sic) sheep and hogs, farming implements, the grain on hands, also all the grain and grass that is on the land; Jane T. Bell is to have a maintenance to be made of the place during her natural life provided she remains on the place. Also Hannah Jane Hutchison is to have a maintenance to be made off the place during her lifetime or while she lives single provided she remains on the place, and at the decease of my wife Elizabeth, I desire that the above described tract of land be sold upon a credit of one, two, three and four years, also the property that is not made use of if any to be sold on a credit of twelve months & retaining a lien on the land to secure the payment of the purchase money & the proceeds to be applied as followeth viz: Jane T. Bell & Hannah J. Hutchison is annually to receive forty dollars each provide they live single or untill the time they marry then to cease, the residue, fifty dollars to my son Joseph Hutchison in addition to what he has received and debts which I have paid for him, the remainder to be divided into five equal parts, one part to Nathan Hutchison, one to Hannah Jane, one to Felix, one to Miles M. Hutchison, and one to Virginia Kniceley, their heirs & assigns forever. But at the time Hannah Jane receives any portion of her part the the (sic) above annuity of forty dollars is to cease. I also direct that my negro slaves Mark & Mary to have their freedom agreeable to the laws of Virginia at the death of my wife Elizabeth, and Jane and Dick to have their freedom when they arrive to the age of thirty years, agreeable to the laws of Virginia. 3rd: I also give & bequeath to my son Nathan M. Hutchison a certain boundary of land being the upper end of the Gibson Survey and running with the lines of the tract described in the second clause of this instrument and containing all that part of the Gibson Survey that lies between that line and John G. Morrisons line, to him, his heirs and assigns forever. 4th: I give and bequeath to my Daughter Hannah Jane Hutchison the following described tract or parcel of land and bounded as followeth, Beginning at a bunch of white walnuts standing on the bank of Salt Lick corner to land belonging to Eugenes Haymond & with his line a northerly course and passing his corner to the line of the original survey & with same to to (sic) top of the ridge thence along top of the ridge to a line of a Survey made for Morgan Dyer & with same to the Gibson Survey & with a line of same to the lower end of a fence thence crossing Toms fork and running up a steep bank thence along the hill side to the sharp point near the mouth of Toms fork thence to the ford of Toms fork, thence down the creek to the beginning to her and her bodily heirs forever. 5th: I give and bequeath to my son Felix Hutchison The following described tract or parcel of land bounded as viz: Beginning at the mouth of Toms fork thence up Salt Lick Creek to join the tract described in the second clause and with the same reversed to join the tract described in the 4th clause, and with same to the beginning to him his heirs & assigns forever. 6th: I give and bequeath to my son Miles M. Hutchison the described tract or parcel of land, Beginning on the hill side on the right hand side of Toms fork on a line of the tract describe (sic) in second clause an (sic) running with same crossing Toms fork and up the ridge to a line of the original survey and with same to a beech corner on the branch, on a branch which runs down from T. C. Cogers and down said branch to Toms fork & down said _ till the upper end of the hacking & crossing and running up the hill about 20 pole, thence along the hill side about twenty pole from the run cornering at different places to the beginning to him, his heirs and assigns forever. 7th: I give and bequeath to my Daughter Virginia Kniceley the place where she now resides and known as the Coger place containing one hundred acres together with twenty acres to be run off an eight hundred acre Survey conveyed to me by Joseph & C.E. Singleton, to join the line which runs from a chesnut to a beech & on the south west side of the 100 acres, to her, her heirs and assigns forever. 8th: I direct that all my personal property not heretofore mentioned be sold upon a credit of twelve months, and all lands which I
may have except such as before mentioned to be sold on a credit of one two and three year, and the moneys arising from bonds obligations, sale of property and land be applied to the payment of my just debts, and to effectuate this intention I do hereby vest in my Executor full power and authority to dispose of such real estate in fee simple or by special warrantee as he may think best, as I could myself do if living, and if there should be any surplus in the money arising from the sale of the last mentioned land, property & bonds I direct that such surplus if any be equally divided with my wife and six children. 9th: I give and bequeath my Daughter Hannah Jane Hutchison my Negro girl Eliza, to her, her heirs and assigns forever. 9th: If any of the lands heretofore bequeathed should be taken with any other title I direct that they be made equal to the other heirs out of the the (sic) proceeds of the sale of the home place. I Testimony I have signed and seal this my last will and testament this 6th day of July 1861.
William Hutchison *Seal*
West Virginia County of Braxton S.S.
Recorder’s Office September 10th 1866 being the 2d Monday in the month The following proceedings were had before the Recorder of said County.
A writing purporting to be the last will and testament of Wm Hutchison deceased was produced before me in my office, and there being no subscribing witness thereto, Allen S. Berry, David H. Bright, Homer A. Holt, and Wm L. Corley, were sworn, and severally deposed that they are well acquainted with the testators hand writing and verily believe the the (sic) said writing and the name thereto subscribed to be wholly written by the testators own hand, whereupon, the said writing is ordered to be recorded as the true last will and testament of the said Wm Hutchison deceased.
Teste. M. H. Morrison Recorder
Are Mark, Mary, Jane, Dick, and Eliza the names of the slaves seen on the 1860 slave schedule: one female black age 33, one male black age 24, one female mulatto age 17, one male mulatto age 13, and one female black age 11? I tried to find persons in the 1870 who would match these five. I believe I may have traced Mark and Eliza but cannot bring forth positive proof and therefore will not share the guesswork in this post.
Following my three part series on the slaves of my 5th great-grandfather James Sims during Black History Month in February 2015 I made a commitment to write a post on a monthly basis until I’ve RELEASED all of the names of slaves owned by my ancestors or owned by persons I’ve researched who were relatives or neighbors of my ancestors. These posts are part of the Slave Name Roll Project which can be found on Schalene Jennings Dagutis’ blog Tangled Roots and Trees
© 2017, copyright Cathy Meder-Dempsey. All rights reserved.
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Opening Doors in Brick Walls 
You are so kind by sharing the information you discover about slavery.
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Thank you, Ann Marie. It is interesting and helps hone the genealogy research skills by working on non-family lines. You look at them with different eyes.
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