Jacob Wood was originally from Liberty County, Georgia, but moved to McIntosh County, where he was a judge, state senator, co-founder of the Bank of Darien, and a planter and slaveowner. His 1844 will was found in Boston, Massachusetts probate records. It names some of the many people he enslaved, but also directs that the people held enslaved by him at his death should be sent to Haiti. In fact, they were freed and went to Liberia. For their names, see this record. Note that individuals on that list were said to have been in Wood’s family for many years; his family’s probate documents, naming enslaved people, are found on this site. For more information on Jacob Wood, see this post.
Enslaved people named in this will: James, Priscilla & her three children, Jane, Robert & James; Will; William; Frances & Charlotte her mother & Louis [or Paris] the son of William.
[Begin transcript (Note: divided into paragraphs to improve readability)]
Georgia, McIntosh County. In the name of God, Amen. I, Jacob Wood, of Darien, being of sound & disposing mind, & being desirous of settling my worldly affairs, do make & publicize this, my last will & testament, hereby revoking & making void after this is duly executed, all former wills by me, at any time heretofore made. And first, I surrender my soul to my God & my body, I direct to be placed in my vault in the Savannah Burying Ground.
And as to such worldly estate as it has pleased God to give me, I dispose of the same as herein directed. I direct all my just & legal debts to be paid. All my estate, both real & personal, I do hereby give, devise & bequeath unto Doctor Charles West, Senior, of Houston County, Elias Reed, Esqr of Savannah, Doctor James Troup, of McIntosh County & their heirs & assigns & to the survivors of them & their heirs & assigns: to & upon & for the uses, trusts, interests & purposes & with & subject to the powers, provisions, conditions & limitations hereafter mentioned & expressed of & concerning the same: that is to say: to have & to hold all & every part & parcel thereof in trust, to carry into effect the following intentions & objects, viz.
By the sale of my real & personal estate (all my negro slaves, expressly excepted) to raise the sum of fifty thousand dollars; ?but? this is to be done with as little sacrifice as possible; & if all my other real & personal estate (my negro slaves excepted) will not complete that sum & any balance that may not yet be invested in Boston real estate, in my lifetime; then all my plantation slaves are to continue to plant corn & cotton on my two tracts of land on Big Creek in Pulasky & Dooley Counties as bought of Collins & Scarborough; until by their annual labor a sufficient sum is raised to make up the aforesaid sum of fifty thousand dollars; & when that sum or any balance that I may leave myself, uninvested, is under the control of my said Trustees, I do give, devise & bequeath unto my granddaughter, Sarah Frances T. Pierce, all the annual interest therein for & during her natural life: subject, however, to the conditions hereinafter named, free & clear of the control or debts of any husband or husbands that she may hereafter marry: to be paid to her, annually, & the principal, after the decease of the said Sarah Frances T. Pierce, I further will & devise to such child or children, as she, the said Sarah Frances T. Pierce, may have: to him, her & them, & to their heirs, forever.
And I will & direct that the aforesaid capital sum of fifty thousand dollars to be raised, if possible, from my other real & personal estate (my negro slaves excepted): but if that amount cannot be raised from my other real & personal estate (my negro slaves excepted), then I will & direct that the balance be made up by the annual labor of my negro slaves in manner as before mentioned, & until the aforesaid capital sum of fifty thousand dollars is raised in manner as aforesaid I give & devise to the said Sarah Frances T. Pierce the sum of eight hundred dollars a year, until she arrives at the age of eighteen years, or marriage: to be paid her semi-annually out of the proceeds of the labor of my Negro slaves at Big Creek, as aforesaid, for her maintenance & support & for her education: which I desire may be of a religious, useful & elegant character; & I further devise to her all my plate, during her life & after her decease to go to her children; & after the aforesaid sum of fifty thousand dollars is raised & laid out at interest my will is that so much of the balance of the interest arising therefrom as shall accrue after my said granddaughter’s annuity is paid & I will & devise may annually be laid out at interest; & I further will & devise to my said granddaughter Sarah Frances T. Pierce for & during her natural life, all the annual interest accruing on the aforesaid capital of fifty thousand dollars, on her, my said granddaughter’s arriving at the age of eighteen years or marriage, but to be free & clear of & from the control or debts of any husband or husbands that she may marry; and after the decease of my said granddaughter Sarah Frances T. Pierce, I will & devise the whole of the capital of fifty thousand dollars & all other accumulating sums to such child or children as she the said Sarah Frances T. Pierce may have to him, her & them: & to their heirs forever.
But in case any such child or children should die during the life of its mother, leaving issue of their body, such issue shall, in such case, represent the parent. And, for the purpose of carrying out the aforesaid trust into execution, I do hereby vest in my aforesaid Trustee or Trustees, for the time being, full force and absolute authority to dispose of all my real & personal estate (my negro slaves & all their issue expressly excepted) together, or in parcels, by public or private contract, as shall be most judicious, for the best prices, for money or in a reasonable credit, not over three years on legal interests, securing the payment by bond, personal security & mortgages; & respectively to execute all necessary deeds for the conveyance of the same.
And no Trustee shall be liable for the acts of the others, but for his own individual receipts; & that all monies which shall arise by or from such sales as aforesaid shall be deemed as part of my personal estate & be applied as heretofore or hereafter directed; & that all investments thereupon shall be made on clear unencumbered real estate in the City of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts; I mean on loan, security, bond & mortgage on real estate, made at one fourth less than its appraised value with such interest as can be obtained; & not an investment by fee simple purchase, especially the aforesaid specific sum of fifty thousand dollars & agreeable to the Laws of that State. After my said Trustee or Trustees have realized the sum of twenty five thousand dollars & as soon as possible have invested the same in real estate in Boston, as aforesaid, & have five thousand dollars, in cash, on hand, & other twenty five thousand dollars or any amount over that same in secured debts that can reasonably be depended upon to make up the aforesaid capital sum of fifty thousand dollars & drawing interest thereon, here & in Boston, so that my said granddaughter Sarah Frances T. Pierce may receive her annuity, as aforesaid, then I will, devise & positively direct that all my negro slaves, together with all their future issue & increase, that I may own at the time of my death be shipped & sent to the northeast side of the Island of Hayti [Haiti] (San Domingo) to occupy, cultivate & plant for any use, land that I have bought at a place between Puerto di Punta (Port of Plata) & the harbour of [looks like Curbordie but probably meant to be Cabaret] near the residence of Mr. George Kinglsey; & I do hereby will & devise the sum of five thousand dollars to pay the expenses of their removal; and I do hereby nominate Mr. Zess Kingsley of Florida to aid in superintending & directing their removal.
And I do hereby bequeath & devise to the acting Trustee the sum of one thousand dollars & to each of the other Trustees under this, my will, the sum of five hundred dollars, to be paid upon the departure of my negro slaves to Hayti, as aforesaid, and not till then. In case my said granddaughter Sara Frances T. Pierce shall depart this life leaving no issue of her body, or such issue die leaving no issue, before the interest, aforesaid, devised to her vests & before my negro slaves have been sent to Hayti, as aforesaid, then I will, devise & positively direct that all my negro slaves together with all their future issue & increase, be immediately shipped & sent to the Island of Hayti, in manner before directed.
In such case I then give, devise & bequeath the residue of all my estate (my negro slaves & their issue & increase excepted) to the President & Trustees of Franklin College, in the State of Georgia, & their successors in office, on the following special trusts, as follows, viz: that the interest on one half of the said residue of my estate is annually & steadily applied to the creation, erection & maintenance in said College of a “Professorship of Law & Political Economy” & forever be continued to that purpose & further, I will that the interest on the other half of the said residue of my estate be expressly invested & annually, to the erection & maintenance of a “Manual Labor School, for the benefit, expressly of the poor children of the Counties of McIntosh, Wayne & Liberty: & that the said Manual Labor School site shall be selected in a healthy situation, in the upper sand hills of McIntosh County & that the care of its erection, establishment & superintendence be confided to the President & Trustees of said Franklin College & their successors in office; they are required to cause annual exhibits of its situation & details to be laid before the Senatus Academus [sic, Academicus] of this State annually & that the said President & trustees when the said residue of my estate becomes vested in them do cause the same to be laid out in some permanent fund, on which the interest can be relied on: to be paid in gold or silver.
When such bequest falls to them I will my Trustees pay it, accordingly, to them. And I do constitute the Judge of the Superior Court of the Eastern District & the Justices of the Inferior Court of the Counties of McIntosh, Wayne & Liberty & their successors in office, the permanent visitors of said Manual Labor School. And I further impose it as a duty of the gentleman who may occupy the chair of the Professorship, for the time being, annually to inquire into & report to the Governor of the State & his successors in office, the situation, standing, & administration of said Manual Labor School.
Further, it is my will & pleasure that my said Trustee or Trustees shall with the consent of my said granddaughter & the approbation of the Judge of the Eastern District have the power of appointing other Trustee or Trustees in the place of those who may either die or resign or remove & that each Trustee shall only be liable for his own acts in the premises. And it is further my will that the acting Trustees, for carrying into full effect, the provisions of this, my will, & the duties imposed on it, be allowed ten per cent on the legal commission allowed by Law.
I further will that on my death the following house servants be not put in the field, but at a reasonable rate be allowed to hire their own time: to wit, James, Priscilla & her three children, Jane, Robert & James; Will; William; Frances & Charlotte her mother & Louis [or Paris] the son of William & all monies & property not above mentioned I will shall follow all the provisions & devises of the aforenamed fifty thousand dollars.
I hereby appoint my estimable friend, Nathaniel Goddard, Esqr. Of Boston & his executors, the guardian of my said granddaughter to educate & take the sole care of her person, until she arrives at the age of fourteen years & I further wish her to continue the appointment until she is twenty one years of age, or until marriage. If the laws of Massachusetts will not allow me to do the first, or both, in such case, I then suspend all pecuniary advances for her education & support, until Mr. Goddard is allowed to act, until my granddaughter arrives at the age of twenty one or marriage.
This provision is made to prevent any of her father’s relations having anything to do with my money or her education. I further appoint my estimable friend, the said Nathaniel Goddard Esqr as the agent & trustee to receive & disburse to my granddaughter semi-annually under this my will her said allowance for support & education until she arrives at the age of eighteen years or marriage & should a case occur under this my will to ascertain who are the heirs of Mrs. P.C.C. Pierce or her daughter Sarah Frances T. Pierce & those of their bodies failing I nominate Mrs. Kitty Crawford, wife of William H. Crawford & her brother Mr. Redding, of Middletown in the State of Delaware & their children as such heirs they being my blood kin & also of my daughter & granddaughter on my side; & further it is my will & I do hereby forever exclude all & every of the connections, relatives & heirs in any shape of Marcus J. Pierce from ever inheriting or receiving or claiming or controlling any property or estate of my granddaughter, Sarah Frances T. Pierce, & who may claim the same as next of kin, on her father’s side & also of any right to control or manage her person during her minority as it is my will & fixed purpose that all such property as my granddaughter shall & may receive by this will or through her mother’s blood in case she shall die without heirs of her body, as aforesaid, shall only go to & be inherited by her mother’s heirs, as above designated.
And further, it is my will that should the laws of Massachusetts give the care of her person & the education of my said granddaughter to the nearest of kin on the part of her father: in such case, I hereby suspend all pecuniary support, either for education or maintenance, until she is married, or twenty one years of age & give the aforesaid allotted amount to Mrs. Crawford Mr. Redding, as above, until her education & person is confided to the friend above named.
Placing the greatest reliance on their friendship, character & uprightness, I hereby nominate constitute & appoint my Trustees aforenamed executors of this, my last will & testament & may the Great God prosper the acts. In witness whereof I, Jacob Wood, have to this my last will & testament, contained in two sheets of paper & written on this & six preceding pages, in manner following, that is to say, to the first six pages in the margins of each page I have set my hand by subscribing the same with my name and have set my hand & seal to the bottom of this last page, this eleventh day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand and eight hundred & forty four.
[signed] Jacob Wood
Signed, sealed, published & declared by the above named Jacob Wood as & for his last will & testament, in the presence of us, who, at his request, & in his presence, have subscribed our names, as witnesses thereunto, as we have likewise done to a duplicate of the above written will, at the same time.
Francis [name] — J.C. Townsend – P’de Le Chartier J.I.C.M.C. State of Georgia, McIntosh County, Court of Ordinary, March 1, 1847. In open Court personally appeared D. Le Chartier, a subscribing witness to the within last will & testament of Jacob Wood, who being duly sworn, deposeth & saith that he was present & saw the said Jacob Wood sign seal publish & declare the within to be his last will & testament: & that he, this deponent, together with Francis [name] & J.C. Townsend, signed the same, as witnesses, in the presence of the said testator, & in the presence of each other. Sworn to, before us, in open Court, this 1st day of March 1847. P’de Le Chartier.
Alexander Mitchel, J.I.C.M.C. John F. Green J.I.C.Mc C – P’de [Placide] Le Chartier J.I.C.Mc C. Approved of in open Court & ordered to be recorded March 1, 1847. Recorded 24th Sept 1847. P’de Le Chartier J.I.C.Mc C. J.C. Townsend Alex. Mitchel J.I.C.Mc.C. John F. Green J.I.C. Mc.C.
State of Georgia, McIntosh County. I Edmund M Blount, Clerk of the Court of Ordinary of said State & County do hereby certify that the above & foregoing contains a true & exact copy of the last will & testament of Jacob Wood, deceased, as the same was admitted to probate & record in said Court as appears in the records of wills in my office. Given under my hand & seal of office this 29th day of January eighteen hundred & forty nine.
[signed] Edmund M. Blount Clerk, Court of Ordinary of said County & State
[End transcript]
[Alexander Mitchell, justice of the Inferior Court of McIntosh County, which contained the powers of the Court of Ordinary, certified that Blount had the power to make the aforegoing statement. ]
[The will was probated on March 26, 1849, in a Suffolk County probate court session held in Boston, Massachusetts, letters of administration for the estate were given to Henry W. Pickering of Roxbury in the County of Norfolk. ]
Source: Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, 1636-1899, Probate Records, Vol 147, 1848-1849. Digital image: Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9069/images/007703195_00136?pId=580475, accessed 6/14/2021.)