The Will of Col. Augustine Moore
This was sent to me by William W. Richardson, III, current owner of Chelsea Plantation and Moore descendant.

“In the name of God, amen, I Augustine Moore, of King William county, being in my perfect senses & memory, do make this my last will & Testament:

“I give to my dear & well beloved wife, Elizabeth Moore, during her natural Life, my dwelling House, together with all the Land & Plantation thereunto adjoining & one half of the Land I bought of Martin & Roger Palmer, to be divided by a line to be run across from James Richardson’s line to Claiborne’s Line, & after her death, I give the said House, Lands & Plantations, to my son Bernard Moore, & the Heirs of his Body, & for want of such Heirs, to my son Thomas Moore, & the Heirs of his Body & for want of such heirs, to the Heirs of my son Augustine Moore, & for the want of such Heirs, to be equally divided between my two Daughters, Elizabeth Macon & Lucy Robinson, & the Heirs of their Bodys & for want of such Heirs, to my Sons-in-Law John Robinson & George Seton & their Heirs, forever.  I also give to my said Wife, during her life, the use of all my Plate, Household & Kitchen Furniture, & all the stock of cattle, sheep & Hogs, on the said Plantations, and after her death I give all the said Furniture, half the Plate, & two-thirds of the Stock, to my son Bernard Moore, & the other Third of the Stock & half the plate, I give to my son Thomas Moore, & if the Plantations, here-in-before given to my wife, shall not be sufficient to work her slaves upon I will that she shall have the choice of Lands & Plantations, either in Caroline or Spotsylvania Countys to work them on.  I give to my said Wife two hundred Pounds sterling & three slaves, to wit: Catina, [a half-breed Indian] Old Jenny & Dinah, my Coach & Chaise & Coach Horses & all my Boats.  I give to my son Bernard Moore, all that tract of Land lying in Caroline & Spotsylvania Counties, whereon

Joseph Woolfolk is now overseer, part of which I have already given to my said son by Deeds, all which said Tract of Land I give to my said Bernard Moore & his Heirs, forever.  I also give

to my said son all the stock of Cattle, Horses, Sheep & Hogs, that are upon the said Land, & the Pots & Pans & other Things made use of on the said Plantation.  I give to my son Thomas Moore all that tract of Land & Plantation, that I bought of the Rev. Mr. John Fox, called & known by the name of the Brick house & the other half of the Land I bought of Martin & Roger Palmer, & my Water Grist-mill, adjoining to the said Land I bought of Fox, but my will is that my wife & my two sons, Augustine & Bernard Moore have their corn ground, Toll free, at the said Mill.  I give the said Lands & Mill to my said son Thomas & the Hairs of his Body, & for want of such Heirs, to the heirs of the Body of my son Augustine, and for want of such Heirs, to be equally divided between my two daughters, Elizabeth Macon & Lucy Robinson & the Heirs of their Bodys, & for the want of such Heirs, to my Sons-in-Law John Robinson & George Seton & their Heirs, forever.  I also give to my said son Thomas, all the Furniture that came in for and belongs to the house, lately built on the said Land, as also the stock of Cattle, Horses Sheep & Hogs, that are on the Said Land & Plantation, & Pots & Pans & other things that are thereon for Plantation use. I give to my son Thomas a Tract of Land, containing Two Thousand acres, lying in Spotsylvania county & called & known by the name of Rich Neck, & one thousand acres, part of a tract of Eight thousand thee hundred & fifty acres, in the fork of Pamunkey, the said one thousand acres to be laid off adjoining to the Tract of one thousand acres [Augustine Moore] granted the said Thomas by Patent, by a Line to be run from River to River:  I give the said Tract of Land to my said son Thomas & his Heirs forever.  I also give to my said son Thomas all the stocks of Cattle, Horses, Sheep & Hogs, that are on the said Lands, together with the Pots & Pans & other things that are thereon for the Plantation use.  I give to my son Bernard Moore, and his Heirs forever, two of my Lots in Delaware Town, [So called after Thomas West, Lord Delaware, and now called West Point] whereon the dwelling house & store now stands, and the Lot

whereon the kitchen stands, I give to my son Thomas Moore & his Heirs forever.  I give to my

Daughter, Elizabeth Macon, five Hundred acres of Land, part of my Tract of Eight Thousand three hundred & fifty acres, to be laid off at the lower end of said Tract, & on the North side of the Ridge road, to her & the Heirs of her Body lawfully begotten, I also give to my said Daughter

Elizabeth, Hannah, Great Daniel’s Wife, & their children & all their future increase, which said

slaves I hereby annex to the said land, & declare my mind & will to be that the same shall descend pass and go in the same manner as the said Land hereafter is limited & appointed.  I give to my Daughter, Lucy Robinson, five hundred acres of Land, part of the same Tract, to be laid off at the lower end of the said Tract, & on the South side of the Ridge Toad, to her & the Heirs of her Body lawfully begotten.

“I also give to my said Daughter Lucy, these slaves, to wit: Judy, Robin’s wife, & Great Patty at the Home house, & their children, & all their future Increase; which slaves I do hereby annex to the said Land & declare my mind & will to be that the same shall descend pass & go in the same manner as the said Land is hereafter limited and appointed; and if both or either of my said Daughters shall die, not having Issue of her Body at the time of her death, then I give the Lands & Slaves devised to such Daughter, or Daughters so dying, to my son Augustine Moore, & to his Heirs forever; he paying to his Brothers, Bernard & Thomas, two-thirds of the value of the Slaves, which shall descend or come to hi8m, upon failure of such Issue as aforesaid; & in case my son Augustine shall fail or refuse to pay to his said Brothers, or their Heirs, the before-mentioned proportion of the value of the Slaves so descended or come to him, as aforesaid, then I give the said Lands & Slaves of my said Daughters, or Daughter, so dying, to my sons Bernard & Thomas, their Heirs & assigns, as Tenants in common, equally to be divided between them.  I give to my son Augustine Moore, the remaining part of my Tract of Eight Thousand three hundred & fifty acres, & the Land whereon he now lives, during his life, & after his death I give the same to his Children, if he should leave any. But if he should die, leaving no Issue, I give the said Land whereon he Lives, to my son Thomas & his Heirs forever & the other Land I give to be equally divided between my sons Bernard & Thomas & their Heirs forever.  But my will & desire is, that if my Daughter-in-Law, Anne Moore, [Anne Catherine, daughter of Governor Spotswood] should be left a Widow she should have the Land whereon her husband now lives & five hundred acres of that Land given him in Spotsylvania, during her life.  I give to my son Augustine all the House & Kitchen Furniture that is in the House and Kitchen where he now lives & all the stocks of Cattle, Horses, Sheep &  Hogs, that are on the Land & plantations herein before given to him & on his Land in Glocester County, & the Pots & Pans & other things that are on the said Lands & Plantations for the Plantation use.  I give my Tract of Land in the same County that I bought of * * * to be equally divided between my sons Augustine, Bernard & Thomas and my Son-in-Law George Seaton & their Heirs forever.  I give to my wife one Third part of my Slaves during her life, in which third part, my will & desire is, that she may have Neptune, the Coachman & his wife Violet & Sambo & York, Sawyers & after the death of my said wife, I give the said third part to be equally [Augustine Moore] divided between my sons Bernard and Thomas, they paying to their Brother Augustine, each, one hundred Pounds sterling, & if my sons Bernard & Thomas shall delay or refuse to pay to their said Brother the said sum of one hundred Pounds Sterling, each, then my will is, that my said son Augustine shall have one third pard of the said slaves.  I give to my son Augustine Moore, during his life, the use of one third part of the remainder of my slaves, after the slaves herein before given away, and my Wife’s third part are taken out & my will is, that my said son shall have the slaves he is now in possession of, in his part & after his Death I give the said slaves be divided among his children, if he shall have any, but if should have no children, I give the said slaves after his Death equally to be divided between my sons Bernard & Thomas and their Heirs.  But it is further my Will, that my Daughter-in-Law, Anne Moore, shall be left a widow, she shall have the use of Ten working slaves, such as she shall choose out of the part given my said son Augustine, during he life.  One third part of the said Remainder of my Slaves I give to my son Bernard & his Heirs forever; & the other third part I give to my son Thomas and his Heirs forever.  I give to my Daughter Elizabeth Macon, besides what I have already given her, two hundred Pounds sterling, deducting, however, out of the said sum, the several sums of money I have advanced her for the Payment of her late Husband’s Debts.  I give to my Daughter Lucy Robinson, besides what I have already given her, Three hundred Pounds Sterling.  I give to each of my three Grandchildren, Elizabeth Macon, Lucy Robinson & John Robinson, Fifty Pounds sterling to

be laid out in young slaves.  I give tomy Son-in-Law, George Seton, One hundred Pounds of his

Debt he owes to me.  All the rest of my money, Debts, Goods, merchandize & other personal Es-

tate, I give to be equally divided between my five children, Augustine Moore, Bernard Moore,

Thomas Moore, Elizabeth Macon & Lucy Robinson & their Heirs.  My will & desire is, that

my estate may not be appraised.  Whereas Philip Whitehead Gent. has conveyed a Tract or Parcel of Laud lying in the said County by Deed to John Dandridge, Philip Aylett & myself, my will is that my Executors hereafter named, or such of them as shall immediately act after my Death, shall convey & make over to William Dandridge Esq. all my right & Title to the said Tract or Parcel of Land, upon his paying the money I am engaged for to the said Philip Whitehead for the same, or otherwise discharging my estate from the Payment of the said money.  I do appoint my Sons-in-Law George Seaton & John Robinson, Guardians to my son Thomas.  I make & appoint my son Bernard, my sons-in-Law, John Robinson & George Seton & my son Thomas, when he becomes of age, Executors of this my last Will & Testament in which there is an interlineations in the sixteenth line of the second sheet of these words “Fifty Pounds Sterling,” & I do hereby revoke all & every former will or wills by me made, & declare this to be my last will & Testament, written on two sides of one sheet & on one side of another sheet of Paper signed * * * & to the last sheet I have set my hand & seal this twentieth of January, one thousand seven hundred & forty two.

(Signed),

“Augustine Moore [seal]

                “Signed, sealed and published by the said Augustine Moore in the presence of us,

                                                Mary Bramble,

                                                Betty Todd,

                                                Robt. Tapscott,

                                                John Woolfolk.     “Proved in King William Court, Aug 18. 17. Geo. 2d”

Back to Augustine Moore Page