John Lewis's 1843 Will Follow Up

©  Kathy Duncan, 2019

The period copy of John Lewis's will that was filed in Tishomingo County, Mississippi prompts me to make several observations in comparing it to the documents in the F.A. Bryant et al lawsuit against Mary Jane Fitzpatrick et al. One of those documents being the will as remembered by Joel D. Lewis in 1871.

First, a few key dates:
1. The original will was dated 14 January 1840 in Jackson County, AL
2. The original will was proven 18 October 1843 in McNairy County, TN
3. A copy of the will was filed 16 November 1843 in Tishomingo County, MS
4. The copy of the will was recorded 16 December 1843 in Tishomingo County, MS
5. Son Joel D. Lewis wrote the will at his father's direction and tried to recreate its
contents for his niece Jane Catherine (Babb) Bryant on 15 March 1871
6. The McNairy County, TN courthouse burned 1881, destroying probate records prior to 1871 so that there are no period records of the type that provide valuable information about family connections: the inventory of John Lewis's property, the two day auction with a list of purchasers, a thorough list of legatees, and the list of expenses which sometimes reveal if a tombstone was purchased among other possibilities.

In the Tishomingo County copy of the will, the eldest son is named as William instead of Wiley. Based on the collective group of documents in the lawsuit and on other documents that show Henry's full name as William Henry Lewis, I would say that the name in the Tishomingo County copy is miscopied and should have been Wiley. My guess is that one of the county clerks assumed that Wiley was short for William and switched the name to what he perceived to be the formal version of the name. Joel D. Lewis's version makes a distinction between his brothers' names that I think can be trusted. Significantly, Wily was left five dollars just as Joel recalled. We know from the Sharp deposition that John Lewis considered his son Wiley to be irresponsible and "reckless," so this was his way of both providing tough love and disinheriting Wiley.

Celia is not designated as being deceased in the Tishomingo County copy, which leads me to believe that she was not deceased at the time John Lewis was writing his will, but that she may have predeceased her father so that her brother Joel D. Lewis remembered her as being deceased at the time of the will's writing even though she apparently was not. This would probably put her death as occurring between the writing of the will in January 1840 and its date of proving in October 1843.

None of the daughters in the Tishomingo County copy appear with their married names. Fortunately, Joel D. Lewis provided these in his version. Joel also seemed to think that the will provided the names of some of the grandchildren, which it did not.

Then there is the matter of Daniel A. Lewis. The will makes clear that Daniel A. Lewis is being disinherited. It leaves him one dollar and gives his child's share to his first wife and children. It is clear from the will that Daniel A. Lewis is living at the time. John Lewis seems to be under the impression that daughter-in-law Betsy Ann (Young) Lewis is still alive at the time he wrote his will even though she does not seem to be on the 1840 census. Her parents' 1840 household contains several children young enough to be grandchildren, but there is not a tick mark for a woman old enough to be Betsy. Logically, it would seem that the grandparents would need their adult daughter to be living with them to help in caring for all those children. Here is a short list of possibilities for what has happened to Betsy: 1.) she died between the writing of John Lewis's will on 14 January 1840 and the beginning of the census on 1 June 1840; 2.) she is living but the census taker neglected to put a tick mark for her in her father's household; 3.) she is working elsewhere as a servant and is included in another household; 4.) she is ill and being cared for in another relative's household; 5.) she is deceased before the writing of John Lewis's will, and he is not aware of it.

In any event, it is clear that Daniel A. Lewis has done something to cause a serious rift between him and his father. Since only Betsy's children are to inherit from John Lewis's estate it would seem that Daniel has committed some transgression against her or her children that John Lewis finds unforgivable.  That behavior was so unforgivable that no future children of Daniel's are to inherit. What could he have done? He may have divorced Betsy and remarried. He may have deserted Betsy and his children by her. He may have compounded that by taking up with another woman and starting a new family. It's possible he that abandoned his children after Betsy's death without the entanglement of another woman. With the record loss in Jackson County, Alabama, the only way this might be cleared up is through a newspaper record since divorces and desertions were often reported. Whatever Daniel did, John Lewis must have regarded it was worse that Wiley's recklessness since Wiley received five dollars but Daniel only received one dollar.

The original will does not provide a middle initial for John Lewis; however, several documents in the Bryant v. Fitzpatrick lawsuit name him as John D. Lewis. The middle initial for John's son John seems to be an N in the will.

A daughter named Harriet, wife of Kibble T. Daniel, does not appear in this will or in any of the documents included in the Bryant v. Fitzpatrick lawsuit. That suggests that she was not a daughter of John D. Lewis although she may have been a niece or cousin.

There is the question of residence. When exactly did John D. Lewis take up residence in McNairy County, TN? He seems to be living in Jackson County, AL in January 1840, but in McNairy County, TN by 1 June 1840 when the census was taken. However, his daughter Emily seems to have been born in Tennessee in about 1838. Is he moving back and forth?

The will does not mention specific pieces of property, but John D. Lewis at the time of his death John D. Lewis seems to have owned land in Jackson County, Alabama; McNairy County, Tennessee; and Tishomingo County, Mississippi. The land records need further research.

Finally, it was thrilling to see John Lewis's son-in-law and my 3x great-grandfather William Mason acting as surety for John's will.