This little obituary is a very exciting find for me. It is the obituary of my ancestor Solomon Reese. He wrote his will, which stated that he was ill, on 11 October 1834. Evidently, he already feared that he would not recover. The will mentioned only his wife Mahala by name. He referenced his first wife and their seven children and his three children with Mahala, but none of them are named. This may have been because he was ill and was not feeling up to going into that level of detail, but given some of the wills that I've read in the time period in Tennesee, I often suspect that lawyers were charging by the word.
In any event, this little gem is brimming with information. It gives me the exact date of his death: 8 November 1834. The place of his death: Lincoln County, Tennessee. The cause of his death: fistula. It gives his age: 39. It references his "large and respectable" family which is supported by his will. It tells me that he sported the title Captain. And it hints that he may have belonged to a fraternal organization.
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