Individual Details

Will

Will of Richard Williams
Loudoun County, Virginia. Will Book E, pp.297-298

In the name of God Amen. I Richard Williams of the County of Loudon and State of Virginia being weak of Body but of Sound mind and memory and calling to mind the uncertainty of Life and the certainty of Death do make and ordain this my last will and Testament in manner and form following and as touching such worldly Goods as God hath been pleased to bless me with I give and bequeath in the manner and form following. Viz, my desire is that all my just debts pe (be) paid:

Item I give and bequeath to my son Jinkin Williams five Shillings.

Item I give and bequeth to my son Joseph Williams five Shillings.

Item I give and bequeath to my son James Williams one middle sized pewter Dish.

Item I give and bequeath to my Daughter Mary Shrieves five Shillings.

Item I give and bequeath to my son Enos Williams all my lands I now possess to him and his heirs or assigns forever

Item I give and bequeath to my wife Margrate one third part of the above mentioned land with all my stock consisting of Cattle Sheep, hoggs, and one mare for and during her naturall life and after her Death

I give the same to son Enos Williams with all my houshold furniture and everything else that is my property to him his heirs & assigns forever. my son Enos to take care of the stock above mentioned and to find his mother in fire wood as long as She lives.

Item I give and bequeath to my Grandson William George Six pounds Virginia currency to be paid him two years after my decease by my Executors: And I make constitute and appoint my Son Enos Williams and my Friend Charles Bennett as Executors to this my last will and Testament utterly revoking & disannulling all other former will and wills made heretofore ratifying and confirming this and this only my last will and Testament In Witness whereof I have hereunto sett my hand and affixed my seal this twentieth day of march one thousand hundred & ninety five
his
Richard "j" Williams
mark seal
Seald Sign'd & pronouncd
In the presants of
Jesse Taylor
William Brown

At a court held for Loudoun County may the 8th 1797 This Last will and Testament of Richard Williams Decd was proved by the affirmation of William Brown and Jesse Taylor two subscribing witnesses thereto and ordered to be recorded and on the motion of Enos Williams & Charles Bennett the Executors therein named who made oath thereto according to law and together with Isaac Larrowe their Security entered into and acknowledged their Bond in the penalty of two hundred pounds with condition as the law direts (directs) certificate is granted them for obtaining a probate thereof in due form. Teste Chas Binns


From Richard's will it is evident that he, his wife, and named children were all alive in March 1795. Also, it is apparent that Richard died before May 8, 1797, when the will was proven. The mention of a grandson named William George indicates that Richard probably had a deceased daughter that had married a George, or else he was the son of Mary Shrieves from a former marriage to becoming a Shrieves.

Marriage information for Richard to Margaret is still being sought to determine Margaret's maiden name. Some researchers have reported that this is the Quaker couple Richard Williams and Margaret Jones marrying in 1717 in Gwynedd, Montgomery, Pennsylvania. There are problems with this link, however, because it would mean that both Richard and Margaret had all of their above mentioned five children AFTER they were forty, some twenty to thirty years after they married! Plus, both lived to be nearly 100 years old (concluded from the date of Richard's will). The same researchers that claim the above marriage date as 1717 also have recorded that Richard was born in 1714 and Margaret was born in 1718. These birthdates exclude the said Quaker marriage as a possibility. The information linking this couple to the Quaker marriage was published in "The Scotts of Southwest Virginia" (1999) and possibly other books as well.

Family summary based on Richard Williams' will:
wife-Margaret______
children: Jenkin, Joseph, James, Mary, Enos, and ? another daughter.
Side note: no slaves were mentioned in the will and there is not a listing for Richard Williams in the "Index to the Tithables of Loudoun County, Virginia and to Slaveholders and Slaves 1758-1786" compiled and edited by Margaret Lail Hopkins (1991).

  Two of Richard's sons can be traced moving south. Jenkin and Joseph all settled in southwest Virginia. The county named evolved but records for these sons and their descendants can be found in Wythe, Smyth, Washington, Russell, and possibly other counties.
Enos remained in Loudoun County, Virginia. See "story" in his entry for more details.