Will of Peter Jefferson
13 July 1757
In the Name of God Amen
I Peter Jefferson of the County of Abemarle being of perfect and sound memory (for which I bless God) Do make and Publish this my Last Will and Testament revoking & annulling all former or other Wills by me heretofore made in manner & form following that is to say Imprima I Give and devise to my Dear & Well beloved Wife Jane Jefferson for and During her Natural Life or Widdowhood the use and profits of the House & plantation wherein I now live comprehending four hundred acres of Land being the same I purchased from the Late William Randolph of Tuckahoe Esqr the Water mill only Excepted Item I Give and bequeath unto my Dear Wife the sixth part of my Slaves During her Natural Life which slaves I hereby impower her by a Deed Executed in her Lifetime or by her Last Will and Testament to dispose of amongst & to such & so many of my Children as she shall think fit but if she shall fail or omitt to make such Disposition then my Will is that such as shall be undisposed of by her be Equally Divided between my two sons Thomas & Randolph in the same manner as I have Directed my other slaves to be Divided.
Item my Will is that my Wife shall have & Enjoy all my Hous hold stuff (my Cherry Tree Desk and Bookcase only Excepted) dureing her Natural Life or Widowhood with full power and liberty to Disposing of the same amongst my Children according to her discretion & if any part thereof shall remain undisposed of at the time of her Death or Marriage then my Will is that the same be Disposed of by my Execrs as to them shall seem most to the Interest & Benefit of my Children.
Item I Give and bequeath to my Daughter Jane one of my two Negro Girls Chloe or Patt, which she shall Chuse and her futur Increase to her and her Heirs forever and the sum of two hundred pounds to be paid unto her in one year after she shall Attain the age of twenty one years or shall marry which ever shall first Happen
Item I Give and bequeath to my Daughter Mary my Negro Girl nan salls Daughter & her future Increase to her and her Heirs forever & the sum of two hundred pounds to be paid unto her in the like manner as is appointed for the Payment of her sister Janes Fortune Item I give & bequeath unto my Daughter Elizabeth my Negro Girl Cate & her futer Increas to her and her Heirs forever & the sum of two hundred Pounds to be paid in Like manner as is appointed for the Payment of her sister Janes Fortune Item I Give & bequeath unto my Daughter Martha my mulattoe Girl named Rachel & her future Increase to her & her Heirs forever & the sum of Two hundred Pounds to be paid unto her in the like manner as is appointed for the Payment of her sister Janes Fortune Item I Give & bequeath unto my Daughter Lucy my Negro Wench Cutchina & her Child Phebe together with their Future Increase to her and her Heirs forever and the sum of two hundred Pounds to be paid unto her in the like manner as is appointed for the Payment of her sister Janes Fortune.
Item I Give and bequeath unto my Daughter Anne Scoot my Negro Girl Eve and her future increase to her and her Heirs forever and the sum of two hundred Pounds to be paid in as is appointed for the payment of her other sisters Fortunes that is to say in one year after she shall attain the age of twenty one years or shall Marry whichsoever shall first happen: and if it shall happen that any of the slaves bequeathed to my Daughters as aforesd die before they come to the Possession of my said Daughters respectively then it is my Will that such & so many Female slaves of near the same age be set apart out of my Estate & Given to such Daughter or Daughters whose slaves shall be so Dead in the list thereof and if any of my said daughters die before they attain the age of twenty one years or marry then it is my Will that the Portion or Legacys bequeathed to such Daughter Immerge into my Estate & that no Distribution thereof be made: and it is my Will & Desire that what ready money I may have & Debts owing to me at the time of my Death together with the clear Profits of my Estate (after the maintainance of my Family & Education of my Children is provided for) shall be appropriated to the Paying off my Daughters Portions at the respective times they become due & if these should prove insufficient for that purpose I then & in that case Empower & authorise my Execrs to sell & Convey my Lands in the Countys of Cumberland & Bedford in such manner & in such proportions as shall make Good the Deficiency the Lands in Cumberland being to be first sold.
Item I Give & Bequeath to my son Thomas my mulattoe Fellow sawney my Books mathematical Instruments & my Cherry Tree Desk and Book case Item I Give unto my son Randolph [. . .] My Negro Boy Peter Mytillas Son to him and his Heirs forever Item I give and bequeath all my Slaves not herein otherwise disposed of to be equally divided between my two Sons Thomas and Randolph, at such Time as my son Thomas shall attain the Age of twenty one years each of my said Sons to have and to hold the Slaves allotted to them on such Division to them and their Heirs forever, but Subject nevertheless to this Condition, that the Estate bequeathed to my son Thomas, as to the clear Profits thereof, be and remain equally liable with my other Estates to provide for the Maintenance and Support of my Family, the Education of my younger Children, and the Payment of my Daughters Portions.
Item I give and devise unto my Son Thomas either my Lands on the Rivanna River and it’s Branches, or my Lands on the Fluvanna in Albemarle County which I purchased from John & Noble Ladds, together with all my other Lands adjacent thereto which I have taken up by Virtue of an Order of Council which of the two he shall choose he being to make his Election within one year after he shall attain to the age of Twenty one years if he be at that time in this colony but if he be out of the same then he shall make his Election in six months after his Return therto Item I Give and devise to my son Randolph & his Heirs forever either my Land on the Rivanna and its branches or my Land on the Fluvannah in Albemarle County which I purchased of John & Noble Ladds together my other Lands thereto adjacent which I have taken up & surveyed by Virtue of an order of Council after my son thomas has made his Election & Choice which of the two he will take Item I Give & Devise unto which soever of my said sons shall be possest of my Lands on the Fluvanna River to them and their Heirs forever the Land I hold on Hard ware River in partnership with Authur Hopkins and others called the Limestone Land and wheareas I have Bought of one Joseph Smith two hundred acres of Land Joyning to my Lands on the Rivanna River being part of a Tract of Land Granted to Edwin Hickman by Pattent & others for which I have no Deed my Desire is that my Execrs procure from the said Joseph Smith a Conveyance to them in Trust for the use of such one of my sons Thomas or Randolph as shall Take my other Lands on the Rivanna River & its branches which is left to the Election of my said son Thomas in the Devise of the said Lands.
Item whereas I have a right to and Interest in Certain Lands, on the branches of missisippi River in Partnership with Doctor Thomas Walker & others & to two hundred acres on Rocky Run in albemarle County in parthership with John Harvie & others whereon it is immagined to be a Vein of Copper Oar my Desire is that my Execrs sell & Convey or Otherwise dispose of the same in such manner as shall to them seem to be the most for the benefit of my Famely & any money that may arise from the sale or Profits thereof to be equally Divided amongst my Children Item whereof I have surveyed and laid of for James Spears one hundred acres of Land on Carrols Creek adjoining the Land he lives upon which is not yet Conveyed to him I therefore Impower my Execrs to Convey it to him in Fee simple whenever he shall require the same.
Item it is my Will and desire that all my Family live & be maintained & my Children Educated out of the Profits of my Estate until such time as they shall severly Attain to the age of Twenty one years or marry and at what time soever my Wife shall require a Division of my Estate & to have her part ascertained & laid out for her (which on her Request my Execrs are hereby Authorised to do without any Judgment or Decree of the Court for that Purpose) I Order & appoint that my Execrs shall pay and deliver unto her for her only use and behoof one full & Equal third part of all my real Cattle Hoggs & sheep that shall be at any or all my plantations together with two Good serviceable Work Horses and further it is my Will & I Do hereby Appoint & direct that if any Diffirence or dispute shall hereafter arise amongst my Children about the distribution of my Estate that the same shall be finally determined by my Execrs or such of them as shall remain & be alive at the time & if they should all be dead that then such Difference or Dispute shall be finally Determined by the three first Justices in the Commission of the peace for that County where the matter or thing shall Lye, and if any of my Children shall refuse to abide by such Determination then it is my Will that such Child or Children shall foever forfit all manner of Claim and right either in Law or Equity to the thing in Dispute.
Item I Give & bequeath to my Executors herein after mentioned all my stocks of Horses Cattle Hoggs & sheep (excepting the part already bequeathed to my Wife) to be disposed of by their discretion for the support & Maintainance of my Famely & for the benifit of my two sons equally & for no other use or purpose whatsoever.
Item I do Give & bequeath unto my son Thomas all the residue of my Estate whether real or Personal of what kind soever and finally I do appoint Constitu[t]e & Ordain The Honorable Peter Randolph Esqr Thomas Turpin the Elder John Nicholas Doctor Thomas Walker & John Harvie Execrs of this my last will & Testament & Guardian to all my children In Testimony whereof I have signed sealed & Published this as my Last Will and Testament on the thirteenth Day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and fifty seven
Note the Words (& Guardians to all my Children) were Interlined before signed In Presence of
John Bell Peter Jefferson (Ls)
Edwin Hickman
Samuel Cobbs
At a Court Held for Albemarle County the thirteenth Day of October 1757. This Last Will and Testament of Peter Jefferson Gent. decd was presented to Court by one of the Exors therein named proved by the Oaths of John Bell Edwin Hickman & Samuel Cobbs the Witnesses thereto & Ordered to be record and At another, Court Held for the said County the tenth Day of November 1757 On the Motion of John Harvie Thomas Walker & John Nicholas three of the Exors therein named who made Oath According to Law Certificate was Granted them for Obtaining a Probat thereof in due Form giveing securety
Peter Jefferson
28 Feb 1707 Chesterfield County, Virginia, USA- 17 Aug 1757 (aged 50) Albemarle County, Virginia, USA
Son of
Capt. Thomas Jefferson and
Virginia Mary Field,
husband of
Jane Isham Randolph Jefferson.
Father of
Jane Randolph Jefferson;
Mary Wayles Bolling;
Maria Jefferson;
Thomas Jefferson,
3rd President of the United States of
America;
Susannah Jefferson;
Elizabeth Jefferson;
Martha Washington Randolph Carr;
Peter Field Jefferson, Jr.;
Unnamed Son of Peter Jefferson;
Lucy Lewis;
Anna Marks (Jefferson) and
Randolph Jefferson.
Brother of
Judith Farrar;
Thomas Jefferson, III;
Field Jefferson;
Mary Nicholls Turpin;
Martha Field Goode; and
Alice Jefferson.
