William Carpenter wrote his will in 1745 and apparently he died soon after writing his will. The will was filed with the court, and testimony was taken from John Carpenter, protesting its filing as a will. The court took testimony from Richard Burdyne and John Floyd. It is not known why it took fifty years until a further action was taken in the case, namely, a Power of Attorney filed by Joshua Tillery in Culpeper County, Virginia, on 5 Sep 1796. It read,
"Know all men by these presents that I Joshua Tillery of County of Oglethorp and State of Georgia for divers good causes and considerations me hereunto moving, do constitute and appoint Thomas Dillon of County of Culpeper and State of Virginia my true and lawful Attorney for me and in my name as the Legal Heir and Representative of Catrine Proctor, one of the Devisees¹ of William Carpenter, deceased, of Orange County, who afterwards intermarried with Henry Tillery by whom she had issue, I the aforesaid Joshua Tillery, all such property both real and personnel as was devised by William Carpenter, deced, to his Wife Elizabeth during her life and at her decease to descend to the aforesaid Catharine according to the tenure and effect of the last Will and Testament of William Carpenter, deceased, and duly recorded in the County Court of Orange, and take all lawful ways and means for recovery of the Estate which I have or hereafter may be entitled to as the Legal heir of Catharine Proctor, claiming by and under the Last Will and Testament of William Carpenter, deced, I ratifying and allowing all and whatever my said Attorney shall for me and in my name do by virtue of the power and trust in him reposed and it is convenanted and mutually agreed by and between the parties that the aforesaid Tillery doth hereby vest in the aforesaid Dillon one half of the money, land and Negroes and other property which he may recover by virtue of the power herein granted, said Dillon paying unto said Tillery his heirs one half of the monies and other property by him received or recovered clear of all expenses attending on the premises; In Witness thereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 5th day of September 1796 Signed sealed and delivered in presence of Joshua Tillery."
Leonard Bainage
Reuben Zimmerman
Russell Vaughan
Budd Hawwood(Filed in the Culpeper Court 15 Feb 1796 with the Oaths of Zimmerman, Vaughan, and Haywood.)
(¹Devisee: (
Law
) One to whom a devise² is made.)
(²Devise: (
Law
) 1.a. The act of transmitting, or giving, real property by will. b. The property, or lands, so transmitted or given. 2. A will, or clause in a will, transmitting or giving real property.)
Apparently Joshua Tillery had some doubts about whether he would recover the property, as he was willing to split the proceeds down the middle with his attorney. The fifty-year delay by Joshua Tillery in attempting a recovery is not explained.
John Tillery (whom we heard from recently) and I had fun working on this case for Beyond Germanna. It was a case of his ancestors versus my ancestors (via John Carpenter). We are not sure how what the final resolution was, but I suspect the Carpenters maintained possession of the property.
Note the Reuben Zimmerman who was a witness. He was from the Zimmerman family, not the Carpenter family.
(23 Dec 00)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.