Marriage Contract (Bowen/Wilkins)

On July 18, 1821,  William Parker Bowen, merchant of Savannah, entered into a marriage contract with Ann Elizabeth Wilkins, daughter of Samuel Wilkins and his wife Mary C. Wilkins, both of Liberty County. Because she had inherited substantial property from her uncle’s estate, which had not yet been divided, she turned over her portion of that estate to Samuel Wilkins, James S. Wilkins, Archibald Wilkins and Doctor William Parker to hold in trust for her until the estate should be divided. 

She was said to be entitled to half of the estate of her uncle James Cochran, the other half inherited by her brother James Wilkins. The estate consisted “of fifty three negroes, male and female, of a stock of cattle and hogs, all in Liberty County, of several tracts of land, namely of Limerick plantation, situate, lying and being in the county of Liberty, containing eight hundred and sixty acres,” as well as a 1294-acre tract in Liberty County that had been granted by two grants to James Cochran, another 500-acre tract in Chatham County previously granted to “one Dawson and one Delegal,” a 1000-acre tract on the waters of Black Creek and Great Ogechee in Bulloch County granted to Jonathan Cochran, and whatever natural increase there had been in the estate since James Cochran’s will had been probated in 1809 and recorded in Liberty County on January 3, 1809. It was noted that because Ann Elizabeth Wilkins was not yet 21, her father Samuel Wilkins also gave his consent to this agreement and was serving as a trustee. Witnessed by N.A. Adams, V.S. Mathews. Recorded in Liberty County Superior Court on February 6, 1822.