Here's the way I think it is: William4 Vestal (John3/William2/William 1 Sr. and Alice Glover) was the oldest son of John3 Vestal and Ann Potts. As such, he was the heir of John Vestal. He died about 1783; his heir was his son William5. William5 was referred to in Deed book 17, Berkeley Co., VA; page 105; February 3, 1801 "Suit of chancery by John Potts and Elizabeth Ozborn against William Vestall, heir at law of William Vestall, decd., who was heir at law to John Vestal decd...." This makes the heir of John referred to in William3's(William2/William1 Sr. and Alice Glover)will to be William5 (William4/John3/William2/William1) Vestal, grandson of John Vestal, recognized by law as John's heir. William5 mentioned in William3's will would have been a youngster at the time of William3's will (Are all these Williams confusing, or what!!). And the John who signed William3's will? Of the five known sons of William Vestal JR and Elizabeth Mercer [William, John, Thomas, James Sr. and David, three [John, Thomas and James] are known to have sons named John. John Vestal's John was born about 1756; Thomas Vestal's John was born in 1770; James Sr's John was born about 1771. To have signed William3's will, John Vestal would have had to be at least 18 [I think!]--born 1769 or before. This would leave John4 (John3/William2/William1) as a possibility - did he leave Berkeley Co., VA and travel to NC to be there in time to sign his uncle's will? In 1787, he was listed on the Berkeley Co. Tax rolls. John4(Thomas3/William2/William1) would have been 17 years old (his DOB is known to be 2 Aug 1770). John4(James3/William2/William1) may have been about 16 years old. Anyway, those are my musings on the subject. .... Ginny At 10:23 AM 3/1/99 EST, you wrote: >Hey Ginny >The will of William Vestal (1723/1787),the brother of John,Thomas,James Sr. >and David would lead you to believe that John had another son.Quote from 1787 >will. > >" I give and devise unto the heir of John Vestal, dec'd estate the sum of five >shillings" > >William Vestal,son of John would have been dead at least 3 or 4 years by this >date. >If John had more than one son living at this time,why was he not named? > >Also,there was a John Vestal who signed as a witness to the will. > > >==== VESTAL Mailing List ==== >Please Help Support Rootsweb! By becoming a member, your donation will continue to have this great surname e-mail list, and the new surname boards on a website at Rootsweb! Your donations are the only thing that keep them going! Just go to: http://www.rootsweb.com/ >Please Help Support Rootsweb! By becoming a member, your donation will continue to have this great surname e-mail list, and the new surname boards on a website at Rootsweb! Your donations are the only thing that keep them going! Just go to: http://www.rootsweb.com/ >