Our Raney Ancestors' Last Wills & Testaments

Much can be gleaned from a man's will. It's all about land, tobacco, livestock and featherbeds. Yes, the featherbed - the original duvet - was the most precious item inside the home in the 18th century, the filling plucked from the breasts of living geese, it took a lot of pluckings to make one.

Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Our earliest ancestor's American-made will I've found was composed in 1698 by Capt. Henry Hanslap, our 8th great-grandfather, an Anglican, probably born  c.1635 at Aynho Parish, Northampton, England, who arrived in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in 1676, embarking from London on the Hound. He paid for the transport of 11 other persons, so was able to claim a lot of land - 50 acres per passage. He was a lawyer, mentioning his collection of law books in his will; also a captain of militia; Coroner of Anne Arundel County in 1678; Clerk of that county court 1682 -1685; and then Sheriff of the county until about 1688. He owned Hanslaps Advantage (300 acres); Aynho, named for his English parish, (400 acres); Dodo Situate (500 acres); and Hickory Hills (100 acres). His inventory included several horses, pigs and cows; four "Negroes," one servant boy and one woman servant, the last two  indentured [which had value, too]. He requested to be buried at the east end of the All Hallows Parish grounds.

All Hallows Parish Church cemetery

He died that same year of 1698; his wife Elizabeth and possibly a daughter Elizabeth died in 1702, as did his only son Joseph Hanslap, our 7th great-grandfather, perhaps due to an epidemic. 

I lived in Anne Arundel County and occasionally drove past this church, never dreaming I had ancestors buried there.

Joseph Hanslap (1674 England-1702 Anne Arundel Co.), our 7th great-grandfather, lived long enough to father our 6th great-grandmother, Frances Hanslap (1701-1797), mother of Henry Warman (b.1726 Anne Arundel Co.), father of Elizabeth Warman (1770 MD-1825 KY), who was the mother of William Hill Dyson (1801 MD-1870 Warrick Co, IN), our 3rd great-grandfather.

Inside of All Hallows Parish Church. rebuilt1730, where Henry Hanslap's descendants, our ancestors, worshiped.

Charles County, Maryland

In the Name of God Amen. I Thomas Dyson of Charles Co., seeing I am in a very low and weak condition, but in perfect memory, thanks be to God, I do Desire that all my Debts be fully satisfied and my funeral Charges and also my body I bequest to be Decently buried and my Soul to my Saviour Jesus Christ. - Item - I give and bequeath to my loving son Thomas Dyson fifty-five acres of Land lying within a tract of land called St. John's and a part of that land called Disons Chance to be Divided by a branch that is called the Spring Branch to the North line of Swan Hill.-Item- I give my son John Dyson one hundred acres of Land called Swan Hill and the remaining part of Dysons Chance both lying in Charles County. - Item- I do constitute my Dear and Loving wife Ann Dyson to be my full and whole executrix of all my goods and Chattels whatsoever During her life - after her Decease what moveables there is to be equally Divided between my two Sons Thomas and John. This Being my Last Will and Testament this thirtieth Day of October 1702.

Thomas Dyson, another 8th great-grandfather, born 1657, possibly in Worcestershire, England, didn't die until 1709. He'd arrived with wife Ann and two sons in 1694, which gave him little time to acquire a substantial estate before his demise.  I've wondered how he acquired Swan Hill, which had belonged to an earlier comer, our 9th great-grandfather Edward Swann (1630 Kent, England -1699 Eagleston Plantation, Maryland). Thomas Dyson Sr. didn't marry into the Swann family, so he  must have purchased it. Thomas Dyson, Jr., our 8th great-grandfather (1688 England - 1759 MD), did marry Sarah Swann (b.1688 Charles Co, MD), granddaughter of Edward Swann in 1708.

Thomas Dyson, Jr. purchased another part of Swann Hill in 1732 from Samuel Amery and part of Nevit's Desire (25 acres) for 8000 pounds of tobacco and in his will of 20 Nov 1758, since his son Thomas (our 7th great-grandfather) had expired the previous year, he left Swann Hill and Nevit's Desire to his grandson Maddox Dyson, our 6th great-grandfather, then but 16. This was convenient because Maddox, his numerous siblings, and his widowed mother, Mary Ann Maddox Dyson, were living there. They sold off Swann Hill in 1766.


I've wondered what's become of Swann Hill. The name still exists in Charles County. There's a Swann Hill development with condos and a golf course. And this old photo may have come from Swann Hill. Who knows, perhaps it's where Maddox, his father Thomas, and his mother Mary Ann lived.

Maddox Dyson had four children by his first wife, Jean Turner, our 5th great-grandmother, widow of another Swann, but when she died, he up and married a woman named Elizabeth and moved down to York County, South Carolina. She gave him three children and when he made out his will in 1814, he left everything to those three youngest children. "It is my will and desire that my four Children that I had by a former Wife shall have no part of what I leave behind . . . My will and desire is that if my Wife shall marry again that the Land is to be sold and the money to be for the three aforesaid children and that my Wife to have no part of it . . ." Decreeing that the widow be cut off from any support upon remarriage was common. It's possible Maddox's four older children, by now adults, had been provided for when they came of age. One of those children was our 4th great-grandfather, Bennett Dyson, who died after 1840 in Union County, Kentucky.

Union County, Kentucky

 Once our ancestors crossed the Appalachians they seldom left a will, for death found them unprepared or they had little to bequeath.

Dorchester County, Maryland

Solomon Turpin (1673 Somerset, MD-1741 Dorchester Co., MD), our 7th great-grandfather, was a child when his father William died young. Because William Turpin had been transported from England as an indentured servant in 1661 at age 21, he was granted but 50 acres at the end of his seven-year indenture. Solomon had seven children with Elizabeth Beauchamp, and when he made out his will in 1741, he had become a man of some property. It's thought he was involved in the mercantile business with his wife's family, shipping tobacco to Britain and Europe and importing goods to Maryland.  To his youngest son Solomon (our 6th great-grandfather) he bequeathed the land the son then lived upon called Cannons Finiss [or so the 250 year-old handwriting appears to read] and 4 shillings and one shilling sterling to be raised from the father's estate after his decease. He had already settled his three other sons on land, which he bequeathed to them. To his unmarried daughters, he left each seven pounds to be taken from his appraised estate, which indicates how much a dowry for their class was at that time. The married daughters were granted a shilling each. Son Solomon moved to Augusta County, Virginia, which eventually became Monroe County, West Virginia in 1862.

Monroe County, West Virginia

He was possessed of 400 acres when he died in 1775. Eventually, his heirs moved on, including son Moses Turpin, our 5th great-grandfather, who died in 1816 in Pulaski County, Kentucky.

Randolph County, North Carolina

Down in Randolph County, North Carolina, Col. Edward Sharp, our 6th great-grandfather, made out his will in 1789. Born 1744 in Paxtang, Pennsylvania, to Edward and Sarah McNeely Sharp, who had immigrated from Ulster in 1738 and then to North Carolina by 1763, Edward was only 45. He had actively served with the North Carolina militia during the American Revolutionary War and had given his daughter Hannah in marriage to Col. James Dougan, our 5th great-grandfather. Edward was Presbyterian, as were the Dougans.

In the name of God Amen. I, Edward Sharp of the County of Randolph and State of North Carolina being of sound and perfect mind and memory, Blessed by God, do this first day of April in the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine make and publish this my last will and testament in manner following that is to say--

First I give and bequeath to Mary [Graham Sharp] my Beloved wife my Riding horse the little bay her saddle [,] bed and Furniture. Together with the use and benefit of the home plantation for the support of her and the children during [their] continuance with her and their good behavior whilst she remains my widow. I give and bequeath to my Eldest son Michael Sharp the two new tracts of land next to the Court house [in Asheboro] as also the house and lot at the Court house as soon as the time is up that it is Leased for. I give and bequeath to son Samuel my home plantation as soon as he arrives to the years of maturity provided that both my sons do find and maintain their mother in a peaceable and decent maintenance during her widowhood.

Furthermore I order and allow that plantation joining William Bell to be sold together with all the movable property except what is first mentioned and the money arising from the sale together with that of bonds, notes and book debt accounts after paying all my just debts to be divided in manner following[,] that is to say be it observed that my daughter Isabel is to have five pounds of the money arising from the sale and no more [you might wonder how she offended her father]. I also allow ten pounds apiece to my three youngest children to give them education over and above their share and the remaining part to be equally divided between my wife and all my children and I hereby make and ordain my loving wife Mary Sharp, William Gray and William Bell executors of this my last will and testament in witness whereof I the said Edward Sharp have to this my last will and testament set my hand and seal the day and year above mentioned.

Short and to the point, although he omitted the large veteran's land bounty of 5000 acres the grateful state of North Carolina granted him in what became Dyer County, Tennessee, way out on the Mississippi River. That was settled up later when the land acquired value as American migration pushed westward. Colonel James Dougan was given a similar grant in the same place. You'll recall that North Carolina claimed what became Tennessee and Virginia claimed what became Kentucky.

When his widow, Mary Graham Sharp, died in 1809 at age 74, her two sons were deceased, and a Graham relative administered her estate. When the inventory was done in August of 1809, she had cash on hand of $10.25; had lent money to three individuals, whose debts were being called in for a total of $158.81. She possessed: 1 mare, 1 saddle & bridle, 2 feather beds, 1 bolster, 3 pillows, 2 sheets, 1 counterpane, 2 blankets, 1 rug, 1 bedstead and cord [cords were laced under the tick mattress],1 tow tick, some ginger, 1 nutmeg, some cloves, 1 fine comb, 3 yards of red flannel, 5 yards of durants [perhaps a heavy durable cloth], 5 phials, 1 snuff bottle half-full of snuff, one pair of scissors, 5 yds blue durants, 7 yds purple camblet [but auctioned as Bumbeazet, which might have been bombazine - a woven cloth of silk and wool], 1 padlock, a pair of spectacles and case . . . 7 yds of sinew [perhaps dried gut for closing wounds or other uses], 1 trunk, 2 small boxes, 18 old books, yarn & thread, 5 saucers and cups, 1 sugar dish, 1 cream jug, 6 delph plates, 6 knives & forks, 1 tea canister, 6 spoons, 1 teapot, 1 pewter teapot, 2 pewter dishes, 1 pewter basin,1 pair brass scales, 1 chain and her wearing apparel. By the time of the sale a year later, the mare had had a colt and a chair and a hair brush had appeared. No mention of candlesticks or lanterns.  Everything was purchased by her daughters and her extended Graham family, which raised 52 pound sterling, 11 shillings [Americans still sometimes used British terminology for money transactions].

Merchants Hope, Brandon Parish, Prince George Co., Virginia

As for our Rainey ancestors, I'm pretty certain William Rainey (1666 Antrim, Ulster -1722 Brandon Parish, Prince George, VA) was a direct ancestor, so here's William's will: 

Prince George County, Virginia

In the Name of God, Amen. I William Ranye of Brandon Parrish,Prince George County, being very Sick and weak, but of perfect mind & memory do make and ordain this my Last Will and Testament in manner & form following.- Imprimis. I give and bequeath my Soul to Almighty God that gave it,trusting in the mercy and merits of my blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for pardon and remission of all my sins in general, my Body to the Earth to be decently Int'r. after the manner of the Church of England, my Worldly Estate my Debts being first paid as follows. Item- I give my Land to my Son John and his Lawful heirs of his Body,for want of such heirs the said Land to my Son Roger Ranye and his heirs for ever. I give my Son John my horse called Mettle, 1 small Iron pot, one Little feather bed & furniture.-Item. I give my Daughter Susannah my Bed and furniture that I now Lye on, my Black Calf, the Biggest brass kettle, four gall. Iron pot and pot hooks, 1 pewter Dish, 1 Basin, 1 smoothing Iron and heaters, my side saddle. Item - I give to my son William one brass kettle[of] about twelve gallons,and the Debts that James Gretion owes me.-Item. I give to my Daughter Elizabeth one gown & Petticoat, one young Cow. Item - I give to my Son Roger two Cows.-Item. I give to my Daughter Sarah my great Iron pot.-Item. I give my new Bed and furniture to my Daughter Rebecca, 1 Dish,one Iron pot, 1 heifer.-Item. I give my son Richard three Ells of Ozenbriggs [a basic cloth for sheets and work clothing].-Item. I give all the rest of my Estate to be equally divided between my Son Roger, my Son John, my Daughter Rebecca, and my Daughter Susanna,she having her first choice.-   Feby. the 12th 1721/22. William Ranye Teste. 

All right, not very interesting, but it does reveal how simply our ancestors lived. Every handmade utilitarian item was used, passed down, and re-used. I'll end this with what I consider a very interesting will; indeed,it gives insight into the complicated moral life of a plantation owner. Frederick Rainey (1753-1803) was the great-grandson of the above William Ranye.He married Mary Ann Morgan in 1775 in Mecklenburg County and she outlived him by seven years. We might not be directly descended from Frederick, but rest assured, he was our kin, probably an uncle to some degree.

Mecklenburg County, Virginia

Frederick Rainey's will, dated 14 Dec 1802. After the preliminaries: First, I give to my wife Mary Ann the land where I now live on Great Creek, three negroes - Bob, Ester, and Jim. I also lend her the use of a boy, Amos, born 25 Mar 1786, until he is 25 then he will go free. I also give her 2 horses, Snip and Nancy, 10 head of cattle, 10 head of sheep, and 4 head of hogs. Second, I give to my children Frederick, Reuben, Betsy, Francis, John, and Phillip one bed and furniture when they come of age. Third, I give to my sons Smith, Frederick, Reuben M., and Francis the tract of land beginning along Bozmans path at Thomas Rogers Line, then along this line to Berryman Jones line, then along this line to Stephen Jones line then along this line to Great Creek, then along Great Creek to Rocky Spring Branch, then along Rocky Spring Branch to Thomas Rogers line. Williamson Rainey, Lewis Williams, Thomas Rogers and James Meacham should divide this tract equally among these four sons. Fourth, I lend to my son Smith Rainey the use of a girl, Lucy, born 14 Mar 1788, until she is 25 then she will go free along with her future increases. Fifth, I lend to my son Frederick the use of a boy, Jack, born 1 Jan 1791, until he is 25 then he will go free. Sixth, I lend to my son Reuben M. the use of a boy, Henry, born 2 Feb 1793, until he is 25 then he will go free. I also give to my son Reuben M. the sum of five pounds.

Seventh, I give to my daughter Betsey the tract of land northeast of Presimmon [Persimmon] Branch and lend her the use of a girl, Agnes, Born 11 Apr 1795, until she is 25 then she will go free along with her increase. Eight, I lend to my son Francis the use of a boy, Stephen, born 17 Apr 1797, until he is 25 then he will go free. I also give him a colt, Buckskin, the sum of five pounds and five months of schooling [for the horse]. Ninth, I give to my son John the parcel of land on the east side of Great Branch along widow Roberts line to Thomas Rogers line. I also lend him the use of a boy, Isaac, born 3 Apr 1800, until he is 25 then he will go free. I also give him the horse Jolly Fare and five months schooling. Tenth, I give to my son Phillip, at my wifes death or marriage, the tract mentioned in the dower, less Johns tract and the colt, Brittain, and two years schooling. I also lend him the use of a boy, Abraham until he is 25 then he will go free. Eleventh, I appoint my sons Smith and Reuben M. as Executors. Dated 14 Dec 1802. Signed Frederick Rainey. Witnessed by Williamson Rainey. Will proved 12 Dec 1803 with bond set at $10,000

I suspect all those children he intended to free were his children by Ester or another enslaved woman, by then dead. Were these children actually freed? In 1806 the Virginia Assembly passed a law to suppress the manumissions of slaves by tying the emancipation with deportation. Those who remained in the state for a year after being freed could be put on trial and, if found guilty, would forfeit their right to freedom and be sold, the proceeds going into the state treasury. Most of Frederick's sons and his daughter Elizabeth Rainey King emigrated down to Georgia about 1812, taking their slaves with them.