Will of Milton P. Wheat, Adair County 

Deed Book H, pp. 59-62     

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(Punctuation added for clarity; original spelling maintained.)

 

I Milton P. Wheat of Columbia Kentucky do hereby make and declare my last Will and Testament in manner and form following.

1st It is my Will that all my just debts and funeral expences be paid out of my estate. 2nd After these payments, I give to my wife Rebecca Wheat my tract of about 155 acres of land near to the Town of Columbia, also the lots of ground upon which my dwelling house and store house stands, including the yard and garden with all the buildings and improvements on these lots, also my two stable lots with the buildings & improvements thereon, all of which are in said Town, also all of my household and kitchen furniture, cooking utensils, beds, bedsteads and furniture, and all of my cupboard furniture, my wagon, wagon horse & all the gearing, my buggy & harness & buggy horse, and all of my farming tools & implements, and all the cattle, hogs, poultry, bee stands, with all the provisions on hands for family use, and also the provender on hand at my decease. Also all of my slaves with their future increase, and should any of the slaves become unmanageable my wife is empowered to sell such, taking care not to separate Simon & his wife two far from each other, both of whom I own. Should it become necessary to sell either of the two last named slaves, for the cause before stated, he or she must be sold to live in the same vicinity if not together. I also give my said wife Rebecca my gold watch and chain, the foregoing mentioned articles are given to my said wife for and during her natural life, and then to return to my estate, except such of it as may be consumed in its use.

I give to my said wife in addition to the before mentioned property, one third of the proceeds of my personal estate which may remain after paying my debts & funeral expences, this last is an absolute gift. 3rd After the death of my said wife, it is my will that all of the estate given to her for life, and which may then remain, be sold upon a reasonable credit, and the proceeds divided as hereinafter directed. 4th It is my will that my Executors sell any of my personal property not herein disposed of, also the parcel of ground in Columbia with the brick house thereon, in which P.C. Hardin has an office & I have a lumber room, also sell the plantation I own in Russell County, containing about 100 acres and also the tract of about 62 ½  acres of land I own in Adair County lying on the North side of Green River. These sales upon a reasonable credit. 5th I have advanced to each of my living children $650, for which they must account upon a division of estate. I revoke the charges made against my deceased son Joseph Z. Wheat, except as to $150. I now give my grandson Joseph Z. Wheat five hundred dollars, which with the $150 charged as an advancement to his father, will make $650 and will equalise my children & grandson out of my estate. If my said grandson dies before he shall be twenty one years of age, and his mother Myra E. Wheat survives him, she is to have the said $500, but should she not then be living, the said $500 is to return to my estate & be equally divided among my four children. If my said grandson lives until he is 21 years old, I give him and equal share of my whole estate with my four children now living, but if he does not live to attain that age then all of my estate intended fro him, except said sum of $500, is to go equally to my said four children, and the said $500 is to pass as above directed. 6th After my said wife's death, all my estate then remaining is to be sold and the proceeds thereof is to be divided into five equal shares, one of which I give to Granville A. Wheat, one to Elizabeth A. Kennedy, one to Susan C. Dehoney, one to Clayton M. Wheat, all of whom are my children, and one share to my said grandson if he shall live to be twenty one years old, & if he does not live, then the share intended for him is to pass equally to my four children & be divided accordingly. But the $500 intended for my said grandson as before stated, is to go to my said grandson's mother, if she should survive him & he died before he is 21 years of age, & not otherwise. If any of my children die before getting the portion given them, then the lawfull issue of such deceased child, is to receive the parent's share. 7th I will that such one of my Executors as may qualify or act, have full power to sell and convey a good title, to any part of my estate and also have power to convey any real estate, which I have sold or may sell, & bind myself to convey by bond, and which may not be conveyed at my death, to the purchaser; & the title to my real estate is hereby vested severally in my executors so as to enable them, or either of them, to pass the title thereto, to a purchaser or purchasers, but for no other purpose, & to no greater extent. 8th I hereby appoint my brother Zachariah Wheat and my friend Thomas T. Alexander Executors of this my last will & testament, giving either of them who may act full power to execute this will in all things. And I hereby revoke any former will or wills or testament or testaments I may have heretofore made.

Signed, sealed, acknowledged & published this 3rd day of February 1859 in presence of

/s/ Milton Wheat {seal}

attest:

P.C. Hardin

Eli Wheat

Joseph Coffey

 

State of Kentucky

County of Adair {Sct}

 

At a Special Term of the Adair County  Court began & held for the County of Adair at the Courthouse in Columbia on Monday the 3rd day of Nov'r. 1862.