Parish: not stated, but likely St. John parish (see summary of will below)
Deceased: Spencer, Richard
Inventory Date: 1767-07-27
Appraisers: Benj. [Benjamin] Andrew, Wm. [William] Graves, John Bacon
Estate Administrator: not stated
Date Recorded: 1767-10-08
Total Value of Property Appraised: 1142.01.07
Value of enslaved persons: 615.00.00
Comments: All value amounts are in pounds. Only the enslaved people in the inventory are listed below. Please see the original for other parts of the inventory.
Richard Spencer “of the parish of St. Johns and province of Georgia planter being indisposed in Body but of Sound Mind Memory and understanding” wrote his will on February 16, 1767. He empowered his executors, if needed for the payment of his debts, to sell his tract of land in Saint Andrews parish and most of his stock of cattle. ”Also as the land I live on is very Hazardous by means of which I have some seasons past sustained considerable Loss in my Crop” he empowered the executors to sell the plantation, if they thought best, after the current crop was prepared for market, and to buy some better land for his family “thereon to settle another plantation and employ all my Slaves together and Improve my estate for the advantage of my heirs.” He said that he had two daughters (not named) who were not yet 18, and willed that when one or either married or became 18, “the whole of the remainder of my Estate real and personal shall be equally divided among my Loving wife and all my children then Surviving Each of my Daughters to receive and be in actual possession of their Dividend of my Estate at the day of Marriage or at the age of Eighteen Years and my sons to receive their Dividend at the age of Twnety years…” He also willed that his wife, if she thought best, “continue her part or Dividend of my Slaves on my plantation and yearly to share a Just proportion of the produce of the Same According to the Number of her Slaves during her natural life and at her death the whole of her Dividend of my Estate to be Equally divided among my Children then surviving her…” He appointed his wife, who he named as Sarah Spencer, as executrix and his friends John Stewart and Nicholas Baker executors. The will was witnessed by James Andrew, Thomas Bacon, and William Bacon. It was probated by Thomas Bacon “of the parish of Saint John” and John Stewart was qualified as executor on June 30, 1767 before James Wright, Governor of the Province of Georgia, who instructed Parmenas Way and John Martin to administer the oath of Executor to Sarah Spencer, widow, and Richard Baker. John Martin administered the oath to them on July 9, 1767. The will was recorded on July 14, 1767. [See sourcing below]
| Enslaved Person Named | Value | Description |
| Mingo | 65 | |
| Titus | 65 | |
| Jo | 25 | |
| Dick | 50 | |
| Tom | 40 | |
| Sambo | 45 | |
| Sam | 50 | |
| Rose | 50 | |
| Nancy | 30 | |
| Lucy | 20 | |
| Silvy | 50 | |
| Mingo | 0 | “Old Mingo” |
| Judy | 30 | |
| Sandy | 30 | |
| Abraham | 30 | |
| Jack | 20 | |
| Titus | 20 | “Little Titus” |
Source: Ancestry.com, “Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992,” -> “All Counties” -> “Inventories of Estates, Vol F, 1754-1770.” Pages 290-1, Images #166-7 of 292. Accessed on 5/15/2021 at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8635/images/007701186_00166.
Source: Ancestry.com, “Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992,” -> “All Counties” -> “Wills, Vol A, 1754-1772.” Pages 218-221, Image #136-7 of 257. Accessed on 5/15/2021 at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8635/images/007701184_00137.