{"id":2083,"date":"2026-01-21T04:39:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T10:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/?p=2083"},"modified":"2026-01-21T04:41:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T10:41:04","slug":"benjamin-towler-may-4-1831-last-will-and-testament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/benjamin-towler-may-4-1831-last-will-and-testament\/","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin Towler, May 4, 1831 Last Will and Testament"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Benjamin Towler Last )&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the name of God Amen, I Benjamin Towler<br \/>\nWill and Testament)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; of the state Tennessee, Rutherford County<br \/>\nJuly Term 1838) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; although at present in tolerable health Thanks be to God<br \/>\nyet certain circumstances render it my duty to provide for the disposal of the little property I possess or may here after possess and while ___ ___ of a sound mind___ I Benjamin Towler do make this my last will and testament in the following&nbsp; Manner<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">1. I bequest that all my debts I owe may be paid by my executor.<\/p>\n<p>2. I give to my grandson John Reese son of John Reese and Martha Reese his wife the sum of five dollars.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">3. I give to my granddaughters, Sally Scrape and Polly Crisp A piece.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">4. To my ever dear respected wife Martha Towler I give wholeAnd every part of the balance of my property, land, Negroes, Stock of every kind, household, and kitchen furniture, farming utensils __ ___ during her life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 5.&nbsp; At her decease my will is that Mary Elder my daughter shall Have all the tract of land where&nbsp; on I now live and where on William Elder lives with all the household furniture that is Now in William Elder\u2019s possession and I further give my Daughter Mary Elder my Negro man named&nbsp; Peter and Lucy His wife and her family of children namely Elizabeth, Phillip Johnson, William ____, David Randolph, Lucky Jones And Bob are also and also hers ______&nbsp; hereafter if any. I will This property to my daughter Mary Elder for own proper use, During&nbsp; her life and not to be liable for any contracts of her&nbsp; Husband William Elder or any other husband, and at her death The property is to be equally divided amongst the following&nbsp; Persons, _____ Benjamin Elder, William Elder Jr., James Elder, Robert Elder, Monroe Elder,&nbsp; John W. Elder, And Harry L. Elder,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 6. I give to my grandchildren Sally Dancy heirs, the following&nbsp; Negroes, Polly and her four&nbsp; children and her ___ which is already in Iszack Dancy\u2019s possesion, also a Negro woman Named Lucy and a man named Braston which is in my Possession, also three hundred&nbsp; dollars in cash to be made From the sale of my stock and divided between said heirs.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 7. I give the balance of my stock and household furniture To my two granddaughters -+-Sally Scrape and Polly Crisp Together with the five dollars apiece before named.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 8.And lastly I appoint my grandson Benjamin Elder my Executor to this my last will and&nbsp; testament in witness to The above. I the said Benjamin Towler have to this set my Hand&nbsp; and seal this 4th day of&nbsp; May in the year of&nbsp; our Lord One thousand eight hundred and&nbsp; thiry one.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <sup>&nbsp;<\/sup><\/p>\n<p><sup>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Benjamin Towler ( Seal )<\/p>\n<p>Signed sealed and acknowledged by<br \/>\n<sup>Sw Benjamin Towler<\/sup><br \/>\n<sup>For this his last will and testament in<\/sup><br \/>\n<sup>The presence of us<\/sup><br \/>\n<sup>Wm. H. Smith<\/sup><br \/>\n<sup>Joseph Farmer<\/sup><br \/>\n<sup>Benjamin Blanton<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Benjamin Elder to&nbsp;&nbsp; )&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Know all men by these presence that<br \/>\n<sup>Executors Bond to )&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; we Benjamin Elder James D. Scrape<\/sup><br \/>\n<sup>July Term 1838&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; )&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &amp; Louis Wade are held firmly bound by<\/sup><\/p>\n<p><sup>Newton ______ Governor of the state of Tennessee and his ____ in office in the just and full sum Of two thousand dollars for the payment of ____B will and truly to be made. We and each of us find our heirs Executions and Administrators _____ _____ and firmly by these presents sealed With our seals and dates this 24th day of July 1838. The condition of the above obligation is such that ____ the above bound Benjamin Elder hath this day taken upon Himself the ____and Execution of the will of Benjamin Towler deseased.____if the said Benjamin Elder Well and truly execute the same by paying first the debts Of said deseased and ___ ____ ____ ____ in said Will as ____as ___Fate will come into his ____ Will &nbsp; The law charges him and makes a true and perfect inventory Of the goods and Cattles of the deceased and return the sums In the time prescribed by law then this obligation to be void Otherwise to ____ in full force and ______ Test sc ____ ___<\/sup><\/p>\n<p><sup>Benjamin Elder ( Seal)<\/sup><br \/>\n<sup>J.D. Scrape ( Seal )<\/sup><br \/>\n<sup>Lewis Wade ( Seal )<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr width=\"60%\">\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This document transcribed by&nbsp;<strong>Tammy Shalina Scrape Garner<\/strong>&nbsp;6th great granddaughter of Benjamin Towler and<br \/>\n<sup><strong>James Michael Scrape<\/strong>&nbsp;5th great grandson of Benjamin Towler And father of Tammy Shalina Scrape Garner on May 1, 2000<\/sup><\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:&nbsp;<big>Benjamin Towler<\/big>, was the father of&nbsp;&nbsp;<big>Sarah&nbsp;<em>Towler<\/em><\/big>&nbsp;&nbsp;<big>Dancy<\/big>,&nbsp; first wife of&nbsp;<big>Isaac&nbsp; Dancy.<\/big><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Benjamin Towler Last )&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the name of God Amen, I Benjamin Towler Will and Testament)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; of the state Tennessee, Rutherford County July Term 1838) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; although at present in tolerable health Thanks be to God yet certain circumstances render it my duty to provide for the disposal of the little property I possess or may here after possess and while ___ ___ of a sound mind___ I Benjamin Towler do make this my last will and testament in the&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/benjamin-towler-may-4-1831-last-will-and-testament\/\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wills-and-probate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2083"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2095,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083\/revisions\/2095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/haywood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}