Isaac Young's Last Will and Testament

Isaac Young Jr. whose last will and testament follows, was born in 1736. He was the first in our family to be born on American soil. He married Martha Bradley in 1755 at the age of nineteen. On 10 October, 1766 he had his will witnessed by three men that we presume to be friends or neighbors.
Isaac must have been ill for some time because he lived 33 years after he had the will registered. At the beginning of the will he describes himself as being “…sick but of sound mind and memory…” His daughter Elizabeth was two years old when this will was made legal. She was born in 1764. His daughter Mary had only been alive for a couple of months when the will was made.
A couple of odd facts come to light knowing what we do know of Isaac and Martha Bradley Young. To wit, his daughter Elizabeth was married or had her hand already promised to marry Benjamin Weddell. We know this because her name was already Elizabeth Weddell. The inheritance she was left was “…the negro wench, Pheby, and her children, now in possession of BENJAMIN WEDDELL, to her and her heirs forever.”
Her inheritance was in the hands of the man she would marry someday. Indeed Elizabeth did marry Benjamin Weddell in 1778 when she was 14 years old. Benjamin Weddell was 29 years old at the time. He lived only three years after they were married and Elizabeth lived to be 94 and stands today as our longest living ancestor.
Arranged marriages were not uncommon at all, however aside from my great-great-grandmother Cora Edna (Big Mama) Elizabeth Young’s was the only arranged marriage that we have evidence of taking place.
It was common in colonial Georgia to own slaves. They were as property to their owners. From all census reports and other documents, my ancestors owned a lot of slaves. Remer Young, my great uncle five times removed owned better than a hundred slaves according to the 1850 Census and Slave Schedule.
When my ancestors migrated from Ireland to the Georgia Colony, slaves were not allowed. Nor was rum or any kind of “Spiritous Liquor.” It wasn’t until 1754 when James Oglethorpe left the country for good (to tell King George II that taming the new wilderness with pioneers from Great Britain simply would not work. “ that the colonists made their own law which allowed the ownership of slaves. Otherwise they could not have cleared the land and built the lives they did.

Note: This is a Ttanscript of the original document located in The Department of Archives : State of Georgia

Last Will and Testament

ISAAC YOUNG

I, ISAAC YOUNG of Christ Church Parish, Province of Georgia, being sick, but of sound mind and memory, do make this my last will and testament, in manner following:

First, I give and bequeath to my son WILLIAM the sum of 300 pounds, sterling to be paid by my executor when he shall arrive at the age of twenty-one years, out of my estate as herein after diirected.

Secondly, I give to my son ISAAC the like sum, 300 pounds as aforesaid.

Thirdly, I give to my THOMAS the like sum, 300 pounds as aforesaid.

Fourthly, I give to my daughter MARY the sum of 300 pounds to be paid at the day of marriage, or her arrival at the age of 21.

And it is further my will, that in case any of my said children should die before they be entitled to recieve, possess and enjoy their legacies repectively, that the legacy or legacies of such child or children, so dying, shall be equally divided among the survivors.

Fifthly, to my daughter ELIZABETH WEDDELL, I give and bequeath the negro wench, Pheby, and her children, now in possession of BENJAMIN WEDDELL, to her and her heirs forever.

Sixthly, I give and bequeath and devise unto my loving wife, MARTHA YOUNG, all my other estate, both real and personal, subject to the payment of the above legacies of 1200 pounds, and moreover, it is my will that the maintenance and education of my children, or any of them, shall not on any pretense be deducted from, or out of their respective legacies of 300 pounds.

And lastly, I do hereby constitute and appoint my said wife, Martha Young, whole and sole Executor of this, my last Will and Testament, all former and other wills by me made.

Witness my hand this 11th day of October, 1766

(Signed).................ISAAC YOUNG

witnesses:
John Patton
John Breason
Frederick Churchwell

NO DATE OF PROBATE

Transcribed by James Wade Bishop 10 September, 2001

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