Will Summary (published 1964)
Richard Cooper of Liberty County. Last Will and Testament dated February 5, 1802. No date of probate. Gives to wife Mary and child with which she is pregnant, together with their children Susannah, Mary, Hester, William, Martha Carter, Charles Chesterfield, Robert and Hester Sallens. To son-in-law Robert Sallens he gives 400 acres on the Canoochee River. To sons, William and Charles Chesterfield Cooper he gives his homeplace and land on Harris’ Neck in McIntosh County that he bought from John Dawson. Said children to receive their parts as they become of age. Executors: Wife Mary, and James Nephew and William Anderson. Witnesses: James Carter, John Peacock, P. Munroe. A Codicil dated February 5, 180-, added no further legatees; same witnesses.
Slave names left out of the original summary:
To his wife: “five negros; to wit; a negro man named Bram, for & during her life, or widowhood, at her death or marriage the said Bram shall become a part of my estate and applied to the benefit of the heirs thereof, the remaining four; to wit; Lucy, her two children Phillis [alt: Phyllis] & Phebee [alt: Phebe] & a boy named Cain, to be at the disposal of her, my said wife, and her heirs forever; the aforesaid negro Lucy being now in a state of pregnancy which renders her life precarious, it is therefore my will, that should the aforesaid Lucy decease in consequence of her present state of pregnancy, that my said wife shall have the wench Betty, in place of the said deceased…”
….”and that my said beloved wife Mary, shall be at liberty to live on either of my plantations, and equally enjoy & possess a part of my land and buildings, during her life, or widowhood & be it remembered that should the aforesaid Lucy recover after being delivered of the child with which she is now pregnant, my said wife shall have no claim to the beforementioned Betty, who shall in that case become a part of my estate, and with the residue after bequeathing to each of my daughters one negro girl in lieu of their part of my real estate, to wit, to Susannah I bequeath the girl Pricilla, to Mary the girl Charlotte, to Martha C. the girl Kate, To Hesther [or Heather] the girl Rose …”
…”do further will & desire that should the child with which the before mentioned Lucy is now pregnant be born alive it shall be deemed as part of my estate and divided at the general division between my children…”
Find the original (complete) will online at:
Ancestry.com:
FamilySearch.org:
“Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L93L-P986?cc=1999178&wc=9SYT-PT5%3A267679901%2C268032901 : 20 May 2014), Liberty > Wills, appraisements and bonds 1790-1850 vol B > image 74 of 689; county probate courthouses, Georgia.
1964 Summaries From: “Georgia Court-House Records – Liberty County,” 1964 quarterly issues of The Georgia Genealogical Magazine, Folks Huxford, Editor. Published Under the Auspices of The Wiregrass Georgia Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution.