Ann M. Sharp's Deposition - 1872

      ©  Kathy Duncan, 2023

On 26 February 1872, Ann M. Sharp provided a deposition in the lawsuit of F. A. Bryant v. John Fitzpatrick. That suit was filed in McNairy County, Tennessee by the children of Elizabeth (Lewis) and Green B. Babb against their stepmother Mary (Broom) Babb and her husband John Fitzpatrick. At the center of the lawsuit was the inheritance that the elder Babb children should have received from their mother's inheritance from her own father's estate - John D. Lewis. To determine what Elizabeth's inheritance was, depositions were taken regarding the children of John D. Lewis. Just to make it interesting, the suit was filed thirty years after John D. Lewis died, which meant that some of his heirs were deceased or had moved from Tennessee. 

The depositions in this lawsuit were critical because the probate records of McNairy County, Tennessee were lost in a fire. One of the 1872 documents in the lawsuit is from a county clerk who stated that there was a fire in 1866 that destroyed all the probate records. That particular fire is not accounted for in the record losses for McNairy County on Family Search's wiki page. 

Ann M. Sharp lived in McNairy County, Tennessee, and was married to John Sharp. Her maiden name was Wardlow. In an earlier post, I related her connection by marriage to Ephraim D. Moore who performed the marriage of John D. Lewis's son Wiley Lewis to Charlotte Bricker.  Ann Sharp's deposition provided important information about some of the Lewis siblings. 

Cover Sheet:

F.A. Bryant et al

vs

John Fitzpatrick et al

Deposition

Filed 26 February 1872

Cmplts

Ann Sharp

about sale &

circumstances of

Lewis ded'd

F A Bryant et al          }

vs                                }

John Fitzpatrick et al  }

In the Chancery Cout of McNairy County - State of Tennessee

Deposition of Ann M Sharp witness for Plaintiffs in the above case taken upon notice on the 23rd of Feby 1872 at the office of W J Sutton Justice of the peace in and for said County in the 9th Civil district in the presents of the plaintiff and defendant. The said witness Ann M Sharp aged 65 (sixty five) years being duly sworn deposed as follows

1st Was you acquainted with John D Lewis before his death if so where did he live and about what time did he die

Ans. I was well acquainted with John D. Lewis before and up to the time of his death he lived in the 9th civil district McNairy County & he died at his home in the same district at what time he died I am not positive I think at about the year 43 or 44

2nd Was you acquainted with him sufficiently for you to know anything about his situation and of his business before and up to the time of death

Ans. I have intimately acquainted with him John D. Lewis, and know him to be a man in fair circumstances

3rd Do you know that he made his last will and testament before his death and if so who was the executors and witnesses of said will and what was the nature of the provisions in said will & was the share of Elizabeth Babb set apart to sole and seperate use during her natural life and afterwards to go to her children

[Commentary: Ann Sharp would have been about 36 at the time of John D. Lewi's death. She would have been a contemporary of his eldest children. Here, she reveals the location of his death: at home in the 9th district of McNairy County, Tennessee.]

Ans. I heard him say at my house a short time before his death that he had made his will & Henry Lewis and Joel Lewis were the executors the witnesses to the will I do not remember I heard him say that he had made a provision for Emily (his youngest child) over and above her share I also heard him say that he had made his wife and equal sharer with his children. Except his two sons Wiley & Daniel Lewis whom he had made no provision for in his will As to the share of (Elizabeth Babb his daughter) being set apart to her and separate use during her natural life I do not know

4th State if you can the reason why he did not in his will make Daniel Lewis & Wiley Lewis Equal shares with the other heirs

Ans. I heard him say that he did not make any provisions in his will for his son Wiley Lewis on account of his recklessness & dissipation as to the cause of his disinheriting his son Daniel Lewis I do not know.

5th Was you at the sale of the personal property of the said John D Lewis and if so state as near as you can what was sold what it Brought State particularly how many negroes were sold who bought them and what did they bring

Ans. I was at the sale which lasted two days there was two negro men and one negro woman and child Sold at the sale Benjamin Sanders Bought one of the Negro men. I do not know what he brought Aaron Rice a son in Law of John D Lewis bought the other three they being a family the family I have mentioned were likely young negroes and my impression is that they sold very high he had good stock Horses and cattle and mules & hogs all sold at the sale also had good household and Kitchen furniture all of which was sold

[Commentary: This portion of Ann Sharp's deposition documents that Emily Lewis was John D. Lewis's youngest child, that his widow was to receive a child's share, that Wiley and Daniel were disinherited, and that Aaron Rice was a son-in-law. Wiley was disinherited because of "his recklessness and dissipation." Wiley's recklessness and dissipation will be covered in another post, but I think he was of a much higher character than this would lead us to believe. That might be reflected in his inheritance of $5. Daniel A. Lewis, however, received only $1. His transgression is never spoken of in any way in any of the documents in the lawsuit. Although Ann's deposition does not say so, Henry and Joel Lewis were John D. Lewi's elder sons. We can guess, though, that John D. Lewis was even more displeased with Daniel than he was with Wiley. Benjamin Sanders needs to be researched.]

6th Do you not know that said John D Lewis was a very cautious man never going in debt and did not owe anything at the time of his death and do you not further know that he had on hand at the time of his death a considerable amt of money

Ans. I think he was a very cautious man about going in debt. I do not think he was in debt much when he died I do not know whether he had money on hand or not at the time of his death

7th Do you not know that he John D Lewis at the time of his death owned a great deal of Land and that said Lands and also the personal property was sold for distribution among the heirs and not of pay debts

Ans I do not know how much land he owned I know of his owning four tracts of land in this county and land in Alabama which I think was very valuable. the Land here was not worth so much My understanding is that the land was sold for distribution among the heirs also the personal property.

8th Do you know that G B Babb as agent for his wife Elizabeth Babb daughter of the said John D Lewis bid off a portion of said Lands and was if not there and even afterward considered to be her Land Until her death and her childrens afterward

Ans. My understanding is that G B Babb did bid off certain portions of the lands and I afterwards heard Elizabeth Babb say that on account of difficulties between herself and husband she had been abused and driven from but now she had a home of her own and would leave no more

[Commentary: We get a glimmer of John D. Lewis's personality here - he was a "very cautious man" who avoided debt. Although John D. Lewis went to extremes to disinherit sons Wiley and Daniel because he did not approve of their lifestyles, his will made no provisions to protect daughter Elizabeth's inheritance from her husband G.B. Babb.]

9th Do you know whether or not that said lands were paid for by discount out of said Elizabeth Babbs distributive share of her father's Estate

Ans. I think that the lands bought by G. B. Babb at the Sale were bought and paid for in that way that is according to my best recollection of the matter

10th Was you well acquainted with G.B. Babb before the time of the death of Said John D Lewis and do you not know that Said G.B. Babb was at that time in very embarrassing circumstances having had to make over his property in order to evade the payment of debts and could not no did he own any thing of himself and therefore could not have paid for said lands with his own means

 Ans. I was tolerably well acquainted with him before and at the time of the death of the said John D Lewis. the report at that time was that G.B. Babb was in embarrassed circumstances on account of recklessness. he had but little property

       her

Ann x M. Sharp

     mark

The forgoing deposition was taken before me as stated in the caption by [?] reduced to writing by me and I certify that I am not interested in the cause nor of kin or consel to either of the parties and that I sealed them and delivered them up to F.A. Bryant Without being out of my possession or altered after they were taken Given under my hand the 23d day of February 1872

W.P. Sutton J.P.

witness fee

1 day Travel 10 miles

J.P. Fee         $1.00

witness..         1.40

                     $2.40

[Commentary: Here we learn that G. B. Babb was basically broke as a result of his poor decisions; therefore, the land he purchased from the estate had to be paid for out of Elizabeth's cash settlement. We know from other documents that he was brash and prone to violence.]