WILL OF WILLIAM HARDY In the Name of God Amen. I William Hardy of Bertie County in the Province of North Carolina Miller, being weak in body but of perfect mind & Memory. I thank the Almighty God for the same; do make and publish this to be my last Will and Testament, in Manner and form following: that is to say I Recommend my Soul to Almighty God that gave it Believing his most Gracious Acceptance of it, and my Body to the Earth to be Buried in a Christian Burial at the Discretion of my Executors: And as touching my worldly affairs I Order and dispose of them as follows. First, I will & possitively Order that as soon as may be - document appears to be torn at next word - all my Debts may be paid Then as touching such Worldly Estate as it hath Pleased God to Bless me with I desire to dispose of in the following manner (to wit) all my Personal Estate. I will that it all should remain together without any Division for and during the term of ten years after my Decease to raise my Children & school them; But in case my wife marries or dies in this time; If she Marries then to be Divided, one third part to her, & the other two thirds to be equally divided among my Children. But if She dies before the time or before married, then all to be equally Divided among my Six sons as near as Possible according to Value, only contriving it so that my youngest son Benjamin should have the place where the Houses Stands & houses Reserving the use of the shed room of my new house that has a chimney to it to my Daughter Elizabeth till she marries. Let it be remembered that nothing herein contained shall debarr or hinder my wife with the consent of my Executors from lending to any one of my Children that shall marry within the term of ten years any thing they shall stand in need of not excluding what may be thought to be their Divident; And concerning my Land; if any of my Sons should die before they come to the age of one and twenty years or before they have any heirs, then his part of the Land to be divided among my Surviving Sons. At the end of ten years if no division before than all to be divided except my land the one third part to my wife & the rest to be equally divided among my children, each one that has had any thing the same to be allowed for in??? their Legesey Aqreeable to my Books. As to my land I desire that my wife should live upon it with her family during her natural life or Widowhood; and if my mother has a mind at any time in sickness or health to come and live with my wife and family it is my desire she should Carried Over Let it be understood that it is my desire that my Daughters should have a proportionable part of my Estate though they have no land, with to my sons in Consideration of the Land. Item, & Lastly I do Constitute and appoint my Brother Edward Hardy & my Brother Jesse Hardy my son Lamb Hardy & my son William Parrott Hardy Executors & my wife Sarah Hardy Executuix of this my last Will & Testament verifying and confirming this & no other to be my last Will & Testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal this 6th day of December Anno Domino 1783. (signed) Wm Hardy Signed, sealed, declared to pro - smudged - in the presence of us Thomas Johnson Abraham (x) Lee Stephen Lee WILLIAM AND SARAH HARDY 1. He had 6 sons which leaves out Jesse as a son 2. None of his sons appears to have been married and some were under 21. 3. Daughter Elizabeth was not married 4. The way the Will reads, it does not appear any of the children were married although the oldest five Martha, Lamb, Elizabeth, Sarah, and William Parrott were all old enough. Because Elizabeth was singled out to be allowed to live in the house until she married, it is very possible that Martha and Sarah were already married. Certainly in 1782 both Martha and Elizabeth would have been considered to be "old Maids" and Sarah also as she would have been close to 23. 5. There is not a shred of evidence that I have seen that proves the Sarah Hardy who married Ephraim White was the daughter of this William Hardy. Since we know that Sarah was married to a Sutton in 1793 and it is rumored that Ephraim White moved to the midwest, I propose that Sarah was the wife of Benjamin (Oxley) Sutton of Dobbs County. The William and Sarah Sowell Hardy Bible ended up in Lenoir Co with the last entry being the marriage of Jesse and Sarah Sutton Hardy who lived in Lenoir Co. Since Jesse was not a son of William and Sarah and therefore would not have inherited the Bible, it is logical that the Bible traveled to Lenoir Co through one of their female children who married a Sutton and lived in Lenoir County. Logically, that would be Sarah, wife of Benjamin (Oxley) Sutton. The Duplin Deeds fairly well establish that Jesse Hardy married a daughter of Benjamin (Oxley) Sutton and that would make his wife, Sarah the oldest child of Benjamin and Sarah Hardy Sutton. Any comments? Martha