Elizabeth Stith

http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/vawomen/2015/honoree.htm?bio=Stith

Elizabeth Bray (ca. 1692–by February 22, 1774) grew up near Williamsburg and, unlike many young women at the time, learned to read and write. She married Arthur Allen in 1711 and after his death sixteen years later she managed his Surry County plantation and large brick home that later became known as Bacon's Castle. In order to secure the property that she had inherited for herself and her children, in 1729 she entered into a marriage contract with Arthur Smith. In 1753 she established a £140 trust fund to create a free school for six poor boys and girls in Smithfield. She named the trustees and gave directions for the construction of the building. She specified that boys would study reading, writing, and arithmetic for three years and that girls would study reading and writing for two years. After their schooling the boys would be apprenticed to learn a trade and the girls would learn about household matters from local women.

After her third marriage early in the 1760s, Elizabeth Stith continued her interest in the school. When she wrote her will, she provided for the education of a goddaughter and left £120 and the remainder of her estate to the Smithfield school, which continued to operate at least until the Revolutionary War. She was a wealthy woman with personal property valued at £350, including five enslaved laborers, when she died shortly before her will was proved in the Surry County Court on February, 22, 1774.

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Note: This woman is the granddaughter of James Bray I and Angelica Gibson--the daughter of James Bray II 1662-1725 and Mourning Burgh. (Some trees show her as the daughter of James Bray I)

She must have died between May 4, 1769 (date of the codicil to her will) and Feb. 22, 1774 (date her will was proved).

Please see the will of her father, James Bray II, dated 1724 (Elizabeth Allen is a beneficiary and one of the executors).

James Bray, II

James Bray II (son of James Bray I)

James Bray II, the son of James Bray I, married Mourning Glenn Pettus, widow of the late Thomas Pettus of Littletown (later Kingsmill) plantation in ca. 1697. Through their union, James II inherited Mourning's legal interest in her former husband's property. James Bray II and his sister, Ann Bray Ingles, inherited from their brother, David I, a residual interest in his property (Hening 1809-1823:VI:414-415; Goodwin 1972:56). In 1700 James Bray II purchased from the Walker and Pettus heirs "all those tracts called or known by the name or names of Littletown and Utopia… containing 1280 acres." He also bought a 500 acre tract that straddled the line between New Kent and James City Counties (Stephenson 1963:6).

James Bray II and his wife produced at least three children who lived to adulthood: Thomas II, who married Elizabeth Meriwether; Angelica, who married Henry Baker; and Elizabeth, who married Arthur Allen, the builder of Bacon's Castle. After Arthur Allen's death in 1711, Elizabeth wed Arthur Smith, who died in 1728. Her third and final husband was William Stith of Charles City County, whom she married sometime prior to 1763. James Bray II and his wife, Mourning, lived at what became Kingsmill Plantation, where he unified the Littletown and Utopia tracts and built a substantial home. However, he also had a brick house and lots in Williamsburg. Mourning died in 1711 (Stephenson 1963:5, 12; Fry and Jefferson 1751).

The will James Bray II made on November 17, 1725, was presented for probate on March 14, 1726. He left to his son, Thomas II, "all his real and personal estate now in [his] possession" and stipulated that his "Brick House and lets belonging thereto at Williamsburg" were to remain in the hands of his executor until the same can be sold by son, Thomas." The funds derived from the sale were to go toward the education and maintenance of the testator's grandson, James Bray III, who also stood to inherit his grandfather's land in Wilmington and Bruton Parishes. James Bray II bequeathed to his daughter, Elizabeth Allen, life-rights to the Pettus plantation, Littletown, until James Bray III came of age, and he left to Elizabeth "forever" the plantation called Rockahock on the Chickahominy River. Elizabeth Allen and her sister, Angelica Baker, were authorized to keep "all personal and real estate formerly delivered to them forever" and he bequeathed to Elizabeth "two single lots in Williamsburg forever" (Stephenson 1963:5; Winfree 1971:382; C.O. 5/1389 ff 66-68) .

Although James Bray II's will reveals that he had a brick house and lots in Williamsburg, plus the two single lots that he bequeathed to his daughter, Elizabeth, nothing in that document reveals how he acquired his lots or precisely where they were located. However, when daughter Elizabeth Bray Allen Smith Stith made her will in 1764, she bequeathed to her granddaughters "my House and Lots adjoining the Lott which Dr. Hay purchased of Col. Philip Johnson and Facing the Lott where the Doctor formerly lived." Elizabeth also left to James Allen Bridger "my single Corner Lott lying near the Colledge & facing the Lott where Mr. Cambell formerly lived" (Stephenson 1963:7, 12-13) . This may be one of the two lots she inherited.

LAND OWNERSHIP PATTERNS AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE PLANTATION: REPORT OF ARCHIVAL RESEARCH

by Martha W. McCartney, Historian, 2000

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Report Series - 1724

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library, Williamsburg, Virginia, 2010

http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/view/index.cfm?doc=Resea...

VIRGINIA WOMEN IN HISTORY

Elizabeth Bray Allen Smith Stith

(ca. 1692–February 22, 1774)

Isle of Wight County

PLANTER AND PHILANTHROPIST

Elizabeth Bray (ca. 1692–by February 22, 1774) grew up near Williamsburg and, unlike many young women at the time, learned to read and write. She married Arthur Allen in 1711 and after his death sixteen years later she managed his Surry County plantation and large brick home that later became known as Bacon's Castle. In order to secure the property that she had inherited for herself and her children, in 1729 she entered into a marriage contract with Arthur Smith. In 1753 she established a £140 trust fund to create a free school for six poor boys and girls in Smithfield. She named the trustees and gave directions for the construction of the building. She specified that boys would study reading, writing, and arithmetic for three years and that girls would study reading and writing for two years. After their schooling the boys would be apprenticed to learn a trade and the girls would learn about household matters from local women.

After her third marriage early in the 1760s, Elizabeth Stith continued her interest in the school. When she wrote her will, she provided for the education of a goddaughter and left £120 and the remainder of her estate to the Smithfield school, which continued to operate at least until the Revolutionary War. She was a wealthy woman with personal property valued at £350, including five enslaved laborers, when she died shortly before her will was proved in the Surry County Court on February, 22, 1774.

https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/vawomen/2015/honoree.htm?bio=Stith

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Surry's Stalwart, by Don Harrison, Virginia Living magazine.

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 11:23 AM

Bacon’s Castle celebrates its 350th anniversary.

"Some former occupants left powerful traces. Elizabeth Bray, who married Major Allen’s son, Arthur III, outlived him and two other husbands (including Arthur Smith, the namesake of Smithfield), and even her own children. Elizabeth formed a local school, and was shrewd in business and in love, agreeing to marriage only if her suitors signed pre-nuptial agreements stipulating that she held the larger fortune. During her 60 years in the house, she was the first to make significant changes to its interior, such as adding the center passageway."

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HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY

Addendum to

MASON'S HALL

HABSNo. VA-424

Location: Mason Street, Smithfield, Isle of Wight County, Virginia. The building was demolished in 1953.

Description: As depicted in the ca. 1940 HABS photograph, Mason's Hall was a two story building, four bays in length and covered by a gable roof. The first floor was constructed out of brick masonry, while the second was wood frame. Four windows punctuated the upper story; below a door opened into each room. A sash window illuminated each first-floor room as well. Chimneys set just inside the gable end walls heated the interior spaces.

History: The "old Masonic temple" was damaged in a storm in the 1910s and demolished in 1953. The lodge replaced it with another structure built for their needs since Mason's Hall was initially erected as a schoolhouse for poor children of the county in the 1750s. With the advent of the American Revolution and the want of a teacher, it fell vacant. The school trustees let the masons assume control over the premises in 1788. The history of building, however, begins with its benefactress, Elizabeth Bray Allen.

Elizabeth, who was .the daughter of James Bray, married Arthur Allen III of Surry County [1] in 1711. Invited to their wedding was William Byrd II of Westover. [2] As a bride, she moved into the Aliens' brick house, a dwelling erected in 1665. [3] Her husband grew up there along with his seven siblings. Although not the eldest, Arthur inherited the house after the death of his father in 1710 and of his brother James in 1711. The wedding occurred shortly after Arthur's oldest brother John entered the final accounting of their father's estate in court.

Elizabeth Allen died in 1774. [5] The big brick house, and the entailed lands, where she had lived for so many years passed to her grandson Allen Cocke. [6] Within a generation the building was known as "Bacon's Castle." [7] Yet the house played only a minor role in the 1676 uprising against Governor Sir William Berkeley. After the burning of Jamestown, Nathaniel Bacon sent men to establish a stronghold in Surry. They took over Major Allen's house, and unceremoniously turned the family out, including his mother who was described as an "ancient gentlewoman" at the time. [8] At Bacon's death, the rebels disbanded and the Allen family returned.

In 1725 Elizabeth Allen and her brother Thomas Bray renegotiated facets of their inheritance. Allen held onto rights to a plantation on the Chickahominy River and sold her life rights to another for 500 pounds. The siblings entered onto a bond for twice that amount to formalize their arrangement. [9] Within two years Arthur Allen died, without a will, leaving Elizabeth widowed with two children, James and Catherine.

As administrator to Allen's estate, Elizabeth distinguished the money from her brother from that of her husband. She also sought to protect that income with a prenuptial agreement before marrying again. [10] She did remarry, by 1730, to Arthur Smith IV of Isle of Wight County. [11] Arthur Smith and Elizabeth Allen maintained their residence at the Castle. In 1750 Arthur Smith had a plat drawn up for a town - Smithfield - to be established on his property; by 1752 he and Elizabeth were selling lots. The school she financed through a trust agreement was to occupy lot 26 and the building was to be "tenable" by the end of June of 1756.

Free schools, like that endowed by Elizabeth Allen in the 1753 trust, appeared early in Virginia. In Robert Beverly's assessment of the Colony in 1705, he noted the schools were to benefit poor children and were funded by the "legacies of well-inclined gentlemen." [12] Around fifteen were established in the colonial period, the earliest in 1635. [13] The Mathew Whaley School was operating in Williamsburg by the first decade of the eighteenth century; Allen would have been aware of it, just as she was of the scholarship to the College of William and Mary financed by her aunt in 1716 [14] and the "Allen School" her son James wanted his estate to sustain if his sister had no children. [15]

Similarly, Arthur Smith II referenced a free school - also a beneficiary of last resort - in his will. There were four such free schools operating in Isle of Wight County's Newport Parish in 1724, although Elizabeth Allen's school established a generation later is perhaps better known. [17] The first schoolmaster is said to have been the Reverend John Reid, who was the minister for Newport Parish. [18]

In her will Allen tried to ensure its longevity with an endowment that was intended to provide for six more children. Slaves named Grace, Israel, Isham, and Jimmy were to be sold to raise the necessary funds. [19] Allen also had been very specific in the deed of trust about what she wanted taught in the school and to whom, and about what she wanted architecturally. She relied on relatives and friends to implement her wishes, as she was unable legally to do it herself. As trustees, they duly administered the school, but erected a brick building rather than what she requested. Allen wanted a well-framed, wood house measuring 28' x 16'. It was to have a schoolroom and another for lodging, to be heated by brick chimneys located at each end, and to be finished inside with plastered walls. Like the chimneystacks, the underpinnings were to be masonry. [20] Her specifications demonstrate an awareness of architectural forms and accepted conventions for articulating interior space. The public record suggests her then husband, Arthur Smith IV, approved of the trust, donated the land, and then left Allen's project to her trustees. Allen's school remained open until the American Revolution, and in 1788 the surviving trustee, Richard Kello, allowed the masons to take over the building.

1. Arthur Allen III was the son of Katherine Baker and Arthur Allen II (also known as Major Allen). He was one of four boys.

2. The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover, edited by Louis B. Wright and Marion Tinling (Richmond: Dietz Press, 1941). Byrd did not attend the November 27th wedding as it was too cold, staying instead at Commissary Blair's by the fire.

3. Dendrochronology dated.

4. Surry County Court Records, Deeds Wills &c, Book 6 1709-1715.

5. [Obituary], Virginia Gazette (Purdie and Dixon) 24 February 1774, 3.

6. Will, 20 November 1780 (recorded 1782), Surry County Court Records, Deeds, Wills &c, Book 11 1778- 1783.

7. Not to be outdone, the house built by 1785 for the Smith family in Isle of Wight County came to be called "Windsor Castle." Windsor Castle was a one-and-a-half story, gable roofed house with a central passage, a commonly found house type in the eighteenth century Chesapeake. It is, perhaps, interesting that the children of Arthur Smith's heir (his nephew Thomas) styled their dwelling a castle at the same time Allen's house became Bacon's Castle.

8. Manuscript 1554, ca. 1704-05, Nicholson Papers, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

9. 21 August 1728, Surry County Court Records, Deeds Wills &c, Book 7 1715-1730. Thomas Bray, Elizabeth's brother lived at Littleton, next to Kingsmill. He died in 1751. Elizabeth and Arthur Allen had received 200 of the 500 pounds owed before he died; Elizabeth claimed the remainder separate from Arthur Allen's estate and noted it in the martial contract with Smith. It is unclear if she received the remaining money before her brother's death. If his death in 1751 prompted the final payment, that would explain the financing of the school in 1753 apart from Smith.

10. [Prenuptial Agreement] Indenture, 17 February 1728/29, filed 16 May 1749, Surry County Court Records, Deed Book 5 1746-1749; Surry County Court Records, Orders, 1744-1749.

11. They are married by September of 1730 when William Bridger writes his will, entrusting his younger son James to them, with Arthur as his guardian, and leaving Elizabeth a dozen china cups. Bridger was her brother-in-law - at least while she was married to Arthur Allen. Isle of Wight County Court Records, Will Book 3 1726-1734, 230, 232-36.

12. Robert Beverley, History and Present State of Virginia (1705), cited in "Education in Colonial Virginia: Part III: Free Schools," William and Mary Quarterly 6, no. 2 (October 1897): 71.

13. Benjamin Syms endowed the first school in 1635; he lived in Elizabeth City County. In 1659 Thomas Eaton provided for another school in that county. After the American Revolution the schools merged and their successor is the present-day Hampton Academy.

14. "Bray Family," William and Mary Quarterly 13, no. 4 (April 1905), 266.

15. Surry County Court Records, Deeds Wills &c, Book 9 1738-1754. Allen's will left the bulk of his estate to his sister Catherine and her heirs; if "forward of such issue" to her husband Benjamin for his lifetime and then to the Southwark church wardens to administer "Allen's School" for poor children in the parish.

16. Isle of Wight County Court Records, Deeds & Wills 2, 377; Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5 4th edition (2007), III: 182-83.

17. Del Moore to Virginia B. Price, electronic communication, 2008; "Free Schools in Isle of Wight County," William and Mary Quarterly 5, no. 2 (October 1896): 112-13; "Education in Colonial Virginia," 71-85; Segar Cofer Dashiell, Smithfleld; A Pictorial History (Norfolk: Donning Company Publishers, 1977), 66-69.

18. Dashiell, 66-69.

19. Will, no date [filed 26 April 1774], Surry County Court Records, Deeds Wills &c, Book 10a 1768-1779.

20. Indenture, 6 January 1753, Isle of Wight County Court Records, Deed Book 9 1752-1758.

http://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/va/va0500/va0597/data/va0597...

Will of Mrs. Elizabeth Stith ~ The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Oct., 1896), pp. 114-117

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1914909?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

https://archive.org/stream/jstor-1914909/1914909_djvu.txt

Will of Mrs. Elizabeth Stith.

In the name of God amen, I Elizabeth Stith of Surry County. Whereas it has pleased almighty God to grant me a long continuation in this my Pilgrim-age and altho at this Time weak of Body yet in perfect and Sound Mind and Memory do praise and Glorifie his Name for ever; but being Mindfull of the Debt which all must pay, and None but God can tell how soon, think fit to make and Ordain this to be my last Will and Testament in manner and form following: Imprs. I give my soul to him that made it trusting in a Happy Besurrection through the Merrits and intercession of my dear Redeemer Jesus Christ and my Body (without any Pomp) to be decently intered by my Execu-tors hereafter Named.

Item. I give and Devise unto my Grand-son Allen [1] Cocke my Gold Watch, Chain, and Seals, (Provided he will give unto Thomas Smith the old Family Seal'd Ring which his Father bought at the Sale of Mr. Smith's Estate) but in case he should fail to do so then I give unto the said Thomas Smith my Gold Seal which hangs now to my Watch, the said Watch &c. above mentioned I give to my said Grandson Allen Cocke and his Heirs for ever and hope he will never part with it.

I also give to my said Grandson Allen Cocke my Three Silver Castors four Silver Salts four Silver Salt spoons and one silver Can to him and his Heirs for ever.

Item. I give unto my Grandaughter Katherine Allen Bradby my large silver Tankard and to her and her Heirs for ever.

Item. I give unto my Grandaughter Rebekah Cocke and her Heirs for ever one and an Half Dozen Table spoons Thirteen Tea spoons Two pair Tea tongs and one strainer all of silver together with one silver Poringer.

Item. I give and Devise unto my beloved Grandson Allen Cocke and his Heirs for ever my Plain Gold Ring marked in the inside with A. E. and one mourning stone Ring with T. Bray on it and my Will and Desire is that he shall have my Father's Picture, and his Grandfather Allen's Aunt's Picture. And Whereas there is a Deed of Gift Recorded in the Court of James City County wherein I give to my Daughter Katherine Cocke and her Heirs for ever my Plantation and Land called Rockohock, I do now give and con-firm the said Gift unto my Grandson Allen Cocke as his Mother's Representative.

Item. I give unto James Bodwell Bradby and his Heirs for ever one plain Gold Ring marked E. S., and one pair Cypher Stone Buttons set in Gold.

Item. My Will and Desire is that my Grandaughters Katherine Allen Bradby and Rebekah Cocke and the Heirs of their Bodys for ever shall have the use of my House and Lotts adjoining the Lott which Doctor Hay purchased of Col. Philip Johnson [2] and Facing the Lott where the Doctor formerly lived

[1] His will, dated November 20, 1780, is recorded in Surry county, and men-tions sons, Benjamin, Allen, and Richard; daughters, Ann Hunt and Catharine, sister Eaton; friend and relative, Bichard Cocke, Sr.

[2] Col. Philip Johnson married Elizabeth, heiress of James Bray, and had issue: James Bray Johnson and others. James Bray Johnson married Re-becca, dau. Col. Littlebury and Bebecca Cocke, and had Eliza, sole heiress, who married Chancellor Samuel Tyler, of Williamsburg. (Hening's Statutes and Charles City Records.)

Will of Mrs. Elizabeth Stith. 115

and if either of them should be inclined to sell their parts to the other they may do it without any penalty but by no means sell it to any other Person tinder the penalty of Fifty pounds Current Money to be paid to my Grandson Allen Cocke unless either of my said Grandaughters should sell their parts to my said Grandson which they may do without any Penalty.

Item. I give unto Col. Joseph Bridger my small silver Tankard marked A. S. M.

Item. I give unto Col. Philip Johnson and Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson Ten pounds Current money to buy them two neat Rings.

Item. I give to my Three God children, Henry Baker, Charlotte Mackie, & Elizabeth Browne five pounds Current money each to buy them a silver cup with the two first letters of their Names on them. Also I give unto my God Daughter Martha Taylor Daughter of James and Rebecca Taylor Five pounds Current Money to give her four years schooling.

Item. I give and devise unto James Allen Bridger and his Heirs for ever my single Corner Lott lying near the Colledge & facing the Lott where Mr. Camell formerly lived I also give him five pounds to buy him a silver cup.

Item. I give unto Mrs. Sarah Bridger (wife of Capt. James Bridger) my silver Soop spoon.

Item. I give unto the Parish of Southwark Fifty pounds Current Money to purchase an Alter piece for the lower Church in the said County and I hope my Executors as well as the Church Wardens will see that this my Will is com-plyed with. I would have Moses and Aaron drawn at full length holding up between them the Ten commandments and if money enough I would have the Lord's prayer in a small Fraim to hang on the right hand over the great Pew and the Creed in another small Fraim to Hang on the Left Hand over the other great Pew.

Item. I give unto my Free School at Smithfield One Hundred and Twenty pounds Current Money the interest whereof I desire may be paid yearly for the schooling of any six poor children and that the one hundred and twenty pounds Remain untouched in the Hands of my Trustees hereafter Mentioned, to-wit: Richard Kello, Arthur Smith, Thomas Pierce and William Hudsden, these three may be seen in the Deed of Gift Recorded in the Court of Isle of Wight County and how far their Power extends, and whereas Col. Bridger hinted to me one day that he did not care to be a Trustee any longer I desire in case he should Resign that Mr. Miles Cary may succeed him and demand of Col. Bridger twelve pounds One shilling which I put into his hands for the use aforesaid. I desire after my decease that my Exors may pay to the said Trustees One hundred and seven pounds Nineteen Shillings which Added to the money in Col. Bridger's Hands will make up the above-mentioned Sum of one hundred and twenty pounds; and if after paying my Just Debts, Legacys, and funeral Expenses there should be a ballance in favor of my Estate, then I desire it may go to the better Maintenance of that School and Compleating those Pictures in the Church.

Item. My Will and Desire is that after my Legacys are taken out, all the Rest of my Estate shall be appraised and sold to discharge my Debts and Legacys, and that there may be no dispute about the Slaves I desire that the four Negroes which I bought since the death of Mr. Smith my be sold viz. :

116 William and Mary College Quarterly.

Hannibal, George, Joe, & Lucy, and the money arising thereby to be added to the money arising from the sale of my other Estate and applyed to the same uses, and all the other Slaves of which I am possessed belong to Mr. Smith's Estate, notwithstanding there are three among them which belonged to Mr. Arthur Allen's Estate, which are Dick, Jenny, and Phillis, but when my son James Allen settled with Mr. Smith my son Allen gave him those three Negroes in consideration of something by him Beceived of Mr. Smith in their Settlement as I have been Informed.

Item. My Will and Desire is not to have any of my Clothes sold, and if my Grandaughters think any of them worth their Acceptance, I desire they may take such as they like, and the .Remainder they are to Devide Equally be- tween Mrs. Delk, Mrs. Alice Drew, and Mrs. Holt, wife of Francis Holt; these are three I choose to shroud me. I likewise further desire not to have any Funeral, but a Decent burial, with only my Relations and Near Neibours at it ; and that the Parson and Clark with the four Men that beir me to the Grave shall have Hat bands and Gloves ; that I may have a plain black Wal-nut Coffin, and that John Cornwell, Francis Holt, Nathaniel Sebrell, and James Holt may beir it to the Ground. And I do appoint Mr. William Ed-wards and Capt. James Bridger Executors of this my last Will and Testament, making void all other Wills by me heretofore made, and resting in the hope that they will see this my will truly performed according to the true intent and meaning of me this Testator.

In confidence whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 3rd day of November A. D. 1774. [1]

Elizabeth Stith (L. S.)

Seal'd, Sign'd, & Acknowledged

in presence of

Richd. Hardy, Francis Holt,

Wm. Philip Edwards, Wm. Edwards.

I, Elizabeth Stith, of the Parish of Southwark and County of Surry, do this fourth day of May, One Thousand Seven Hundred sixty and nine, make this my Codicil to my last Will and Testament in manner following (that is to say) It's my Desire that the following Negroes be sold by my Exors. (to-wit) : Grace, Isaac, Isham, and Jemmey, and the money arising from the sales to be applyed towards Discharging the Legacys in my said Will.

Witness my hand the day and Year above written.

Witness. Elizabeth Stith (L. Si)

Martha Edwards,

Martha Holt.

At a Court held for Surry County February the twenty-second, One thou-sand seven hundred & seventy-four.

The aforewritten last Will and Testament of Elizabeth Stith, Deceased, was presented in Court by James Bridger Gent. , one of the Executors therein named, who, refusing to take upon him the burthen of the Execution of the said Will, the same was proved by the Oaths of Bichard Hardy and William Philip Edwards, two of the witnesses thereto, and was continued for further Proof.

[1] This date must be erroneous, as the codicil is dated 1769. It probably stood 1764 in the original will.

And on the motion of Arthur Smith Gent., who made oath thereto according to law, Certificate is granted him for obtaining Letters of Administration of the Estate of the said Elizabeth Stith, deceased, with the Will of the said Elizabeth Stith annexed, he giving Bond as the Law Directs. And at a Court held for Surry County, April the Twenty-sixth, One Thousand seven hundred and seventy-four, The afore written will was further proved by Francis Holt, another of the Witnesses thereto, and was by the Court Ordered to be Re-corded.

Teste: Wtt. Nelson, 01. Cur.

A Copy — Teste : A. S. Edwabds, Clerk.