What Estate Records Reveal About Our Ancestors

Estate Inventory for Abel Carter,  p. 1
FamilySearch.org:
North Carolina Estate Files, 1663-1964 

Once I located the estate records of my husband's ancestors, I began transcribing them and soon discovered that I needed to create a dictionary for many of the items recorded in these pages. 

Below is a transcription of the items listed. Those printed in bold face must be defined. NOTE:  I have omitted the names of buyers and valuations. I have also maintained the original spellings.

Estate of Abel Carter Deceased June 13, 1807 the Count of Sail

1 case with bottles, 11 pewter spoons, 1 case and 1 vial, 1 hackle and mouse trap, 2 slays and guears, 1 adds and howel, 1 plain and drawing knife, 1 peck, 1 pail and kealer, 1 tub and pail, 1 gun, 1 earthen pot, 1 wedge, 3 hoes, 3 razors and shaving box, 1 hat, wooling wheel without rim, 1 pail of trumpery, 2 pot trammels, 1 spider, 2 mugs, 1 cup, 1 earthen bole, Lot of crockery wair, spice mortar, 1 barrel, 1 hammer, 1 ax, 1 hatchet, 1 dish and 3 plates, 1 cagg, 1 bason, 1 case and other things, 1 jug, 1 chest and all that is in it, 3 powder horns, 2 pair kneedles, knives and forks, 1 cagg, 1 case and trumpery, 1 pot, 3 bottles, fish hooks, cagg of trumpery, grind stone, 1 Bible, 1 cagg and trumpery, 1 hand saw, 1 bed.

Altogether, the items sold for

24 pounds, 17 dollars and 2 shillings. 

The amounts owed to eleven creditors, however, 

totaled 31 pounds, 18 dollars.

Definitions of these items appears to be more difficult to come by than expected. 

If you remember, a spider had been defined as a skillet with legs that would be set over the coals of a fire. Below is a good photo of a hearth and implements. The spider skillet is setting in the foreground:

Mountain Geologists

The next item I had any success with was a drawing knife. The Nabb Research Center defines it as: 

Drawing knife (Draw knife, Drawknife) - an edged tool with a blade and a handle on each end, which was used by pulling the tool towards the user; such as a chair bodger, a cooper, a carpenter, a wheelwright, a rake maker, a basket maker, or a gate hurtle maker, e.g., "a drawknife and chisel were mentioned in Stephen's inventory, which suggests that he worked a lot with wood."

After this successful search, I decided to check on some of the other items in the inventory in their Illustrated Dictionary of Colonial Times. This dictionary, however, seems to be completed only to the letter "F", and the only other definition and photo I could find were for: 

Adze - An implement of varying sizes with varying blades, used to hollow out wood. Usually belonging to a skilled craftsman and not a carpenter, e.g., "'To an ould adze' was written in the cabinet maker's inventory."  

According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, trumpery is defined as: "trivial or useless articles." The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as: "showy but useless finery: bric-a-brac." So much for that. I wonder, how much of what I own could fall under the category of trumpery?

What kind of needles come in pairs. . . other than perhaps knitting needles?

I was able to find a definition and photo of a pot trammel from, of all places, Old Deerfield, Massachusetts. . .the home of some of my KING and NEWTON ancestors. 

The word "trammel" means adjustable. This fireplace gadget allowed the cook to raise and lower a pot, hanging from the hook, to five different positions, which was much easier than constantly adjusting the intensity of the fire. It is made in two parts of wrought iron by a blacksmith and is an improvement over the simple "S" hook.

 The other items are still a mystery. Perhaps if I were to contact Tryon Palace, I might be able to find someone there who could explain what those items were. Or, if any of you might have an idea, please feel free to share your expertise.

So, until then . . .

Treasure Chest Thursday -- Beginning an inventory, Part 3

Not everything in my Dad's dresser drawers belonged to him, personally. I was amazed to find two very special certificates originally belonging to my maternal grandmother, Abby Simmons (King) Silverman.

[Item 3]

 [Transcription]
Certificate of Baptism
This Certifies That
Abby Simmons King
Child of Mr. Andrew T. King
And Geneva E. Mosher (King)
Born at Jamestown, R.I.
July 17, 1908
was by me
BAPTIZED
in St. Paul's Luth Ch on the
Twenty-fourth day of March
in The Year of Our Lord One Thousand
Nine Hundred and Eighteen
W.A. Dickson

G.E. (King) Behringer, Sponsor
G. Harold Kinard, Pastor

[Item 4]

GO YE THEREFORE
AND TEACH ALL
NATIONS
BAPTIZING THEM
IN THE NAME OF
THE FATHER AND
OF THE SON, AND            
OF THE
HOLY GHOST
MATT. 28:19

The second item was my grandmother's confirmation certificate.
[Transcription]
Remembrance
of the Day of
Confirmation
Memorial Verse.
The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call
upon him.                              Rom. 10, 12

O Thou from whom all goodness flows,

I lift my heart to thee; 

In all my sorrows, conflicts, woes,

Dear Lord remember me.

Abby Simmons King

born July 17, 1908, Jamestown, R.I.

confirmed Palm Sunday, April 5, 1925,

in St. Paul's Ev Lutheran Church,

South Side, Easton, Pa.

Rev. William Paul Reumann, Pastor

Abby Simmons King, sister Almy
and father, Capt. Andrew Thomas King

Preserving Family Legacies, No. 1, Part 1

Letters from Aunt Helen, Part 1

On 17 November 1990 my grand aunt, Helen Gertrude (NEWTON) BEERS, daughter of George Ulysses and Gertrude Ellen (WALTER) NEWTON, and the widow of Ralph Loren BEERS, died in Garden Grove, California at the age of 89. She had been the NEWTON family historian since about 1930. Before she died she had her family history archive divided between my Dad, her oldest brother's oldest son, and my Dad's cousin Doris, the oldest child of Aunt Helen's only surviving sister. 

Dad had no interest in family history, so he passed the information on to his younger brother, David. Eighteen years later, on March 1, 2008, Uncle David and Aunt Sue stopped by our apartment in Asheville, NC to hand-deliver to me the legacy my Dad had forsaken.

Among the file boxes of handwritten and typed family group sheets and notes was a West Easy Clasp File marked, LETTERS. The spine of the file is imprinted:

Frank A. West Co., Inc.

Office Equipment and Supplies

130 State Street

Binghamton, N. Y.

Unlatching the metal clasp, the front opens to reveal a typed carbon copy of the first three pages of the NEWTON genealogy, followed by twenty pages of originals, beginning with "Nahum Newton, born Oct. 25, 1795 . . . " The next  item was a cream colored booklet entitled "Church Membership," which is displayed here.

The poem following a photograph of First Baptist Church in Johnson City, NY, and entitled, "The Church," by Timothy Dwight holds great interest for me. 

The Rev. Timothy Dwight (14 May 1752 - 11 Jan 1817) was the son of Timothy and Mary (EDWARDS) DWIGHT, the grandson of the Rev. Jonathan EDWARDS; the grandson of Col. Timothy and Experience (KING) DWIGHT. He was a Congregational minister, born in Northampton, MA. He led a very distinguished career, his credits including an appointment by the U. S. Congress to the chaplaincy of the Connecticut Continental Brigade, and president of Yale. 

It was believed by some that he was an ancestor of mine . . . a cousin through the KING family tree. However, a family legend yet unproved may show that we may not be linked to this distinguished Northampton family. I had spent the better of three years documenting the KING family history, and one day hope to complete the volume from Capt. John King down through this past generation. 

In any event, it seems remarkable that my Northern Baptist grand aunt's baptismal record of 24 March 1918 includes Dwight's poem, with the exclusion of two stanzas:

             *  *  *  *  

If e'er to bless thy sons
My voice or hands deny,
These hands let useful skill forsake,
This voice in silence die.

             *  *  *  * 

Jesus, thou friend divine,
Our Saviour and our King,
Thy hand from every snare and foe
Shall great deliverance bring.

Happy 56th Wedding Anniversary Mom & Dad

Set up on a blind date...

               ...it was love at first sight.

My parents' story is one of obstacles overcome...a testimony that true love does exist and that it can last until death do us part.

Richard Allen Newton was born on April 10, 1933 in Binghamton, NY to Francis & Harriet (JONES) NEWTON, their first-born. His father was the son of an English farmer of Binghamton, NY, and his mother the daughter of a Welsh coal miner of Scranton, PA.  Dad always said that it was his mother who had encouraged his talents by providing art instruction and drum lessons. About a year or so after his graduation from Johnson City High School, Dad enlisted as a Certified Regimental Drummer in the Air Force Drum and Bugle Corps. http://usafdrumcorps.us/pages/historymain.html

Doris Shirley Silverman was born on June 15, 1930 in Easton, PA to Mark & Abbie Simmons (KING) SILVERMAN, their first-born. Her father was the son of Orthodox Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire (now Lithuania), and her mother was the daughter of English parents from Rhode Island. Her paternal great grandfathers, David Silverman (the first Cantor and acting Rabbi) and Wolf Weisfield were among the founders of Bnai Abraham Synagogue in Easton, PA. http://www.bnaiabraham.org/history.html Following graduation from Easton High School, Mom pursued her goal of becoming a career woman as a proofreader of technical journals at Mack Printing. 

Two of Mom's school chums had married, relocated, and were stationed at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, DC, where my Dad was stationed. Dad and Donald became friends, and at their urging, Dad agreed to come home with them to Easton on their next furlough to meet a girl they thought would be just right for him. 

It was love at first sight.

When Dad went to her house to pick her up for their double date to the Boy Scout Jamboree, Mom said she thought he was so cute that she forgot her name! And Dad got so flustered that when my grandfather came in with the dry cleaning in his hand, he offered to take the garments from him, thinking he was the delivery man from the cleaners! In spite of their initial reactions...or perhaps because of them...they were soon to discover that their destiny was sealed.

When my grandfather found out that her beau was only 19-years-old, she being 2 years and 10 months older, he told them that they could no longer see each other until that young man was 21. He was afraid that the white slavery laws of the time might interfere with his daughter's well-being, and he wasn't taking any chances. Mom said, 

Dick was such a little guy, and Daddy was a big, strapping laborer who had worked hard all his life; but your Dad told him, "Mr. Silverman, I'm going to keep seeing your daughter until she tells me otherwise." So Daddy said that if we agreed that we could see each other in our living room

until your Dad turned 21.

So Dad would hitch-hike from D.C. to Easton every furlough he got just to spend time with Mom, and every date thereafter took place in her living room...with the exception of one anniversary dinner...and was chaperoned by her father.

There was just one more obstacle to overcome before they could be married. Although Dad was raised in a Baptist home and accepted Christ in the Primitive Methodist Church, in the service he had become a practicing Catholic [that's another story]. Mom agreed to convert to Catholicism, but when the priests told her that she would have to declare that the Catholic Church was the one true church and denounce her parents, she could not find it in her heart to do that. Dad asked her if she wanted him to become Jewish, and she said no. Ever since she was a child and had heard the song, Jesus Loves Me, she had wanted to know more about Him but never wanted to break her Daddy's heart. They decided to visit Wesley Methodist Church in Phillipsburg, NJ. Even her father liked the Reverand Mabry.

When Mom's friends and co-workers heard that she would be leaving her well-paid job at Mack Printing to move to Washington, DC, they thought she was crazy. But love will do things to you like that. 

And they lived happily ever after.

I'm not saying that there weren't difficult times ahead. They faced many obstacles together, but they were always content so long as they were together. 

Dad died two months before their 50th Wedding Anniversary of metastatic optic melanoma, yet the family history project continues. He is missed, but never forgotten. We love you, Dad! 

Happy 56th Wedding Anniversary!!!