Item first, I lend to my beloved Wife during her lifetime or widowhood all my plantation and lands whereon I now live consisting of about five hundred and forty two acres more or less with all the buildings thereon with the liberty of having firewood and fencing timber to keep up the same plantation. I also lend unto my said wife, Susannah Kornegay, all the hogs that are on the premises at my death for her own use, also two calves or yearlings. Also one horse or mule to have her own choice. Also two bedsteads and furniture of her choice, all my plows and plow gear, all my weeding and grubbing hoes, all my old plow axes and Ironmade steelyard, all other things to weigh with, one loom and all utensils belonging to said loom, all the poultry of every description thereon, all the Crockery ware, all spoons and flat ware, shoe tools, and leather, all saws, augurs and chisels of any size that may be found, two claw hammers and gimlets, all knives and forks to her Widowhood or lifetime and no longer.

Item 2. I give unto my son Simmons Kornegay five dollars in money to him and his heirs forever.

Item 3. I give unto my son John W. Kornegay five dollars in money to him and his heirs forever.

Item 4. I give unto my two sons Daniel Kornegay and William Kornegay seventy two acres of land joining Daniel Kornegay's Henry R. Kornegay's and Henry J. Wallis' land to be sold and equally divided between them, to them and their heirs forever.

Item 5. I give unto my son Harget Kornegay, Jr. five dollars in money to him and his heirs forever.

Item 6. I give unto my daughter-in-law Martha J. Kornegay, Dudley Kornegay's wife, his being dead, five dollars in money to her and her heirs forever.

Item 7. I give unto my daughter Susannah Smith one bedstead and two sheets, two bed covers, one bolster, and two pillows, and two cows and calves if on the premises at my wife's death or marriage. If they are not then for my Executors to pay her out of my estate twenty dollars in money to her, her heirs and assigns forever.

Item 8. And lastly my wish is that my executors shall sell all the property that I have not given away and pay the money to the heirs that have a small legacy given to them.

Item 9. My wish is that all the property that I have lent unto my wife at her death or marriage shall be sold on a credit of twelve months at public sale for cash according to the judgement of my executors and where collected to be equally divided among my four daughters or heirs or guardians or managers of their mother's estate. Their names are as follows: Peggy Taylor, she is dead, Susannah Smith, Hester E. Westbrook and Francis A. Gooding, widow of Moses Gooding.

Item 10. And lastly, I do hereby nominate and appoint my two sons Simmons Kornegay and John W. Kornegay why whole and sole executors to this my last will and testament. Given under my hand and seal the day and year written above.

August 28, 1875

The application of Simmons Kornegay and John W. Kornegay respectfully showeth to the Court -

1. That Harget Kornegay, Sr., late of said County, died leaving a last will and testament requesting and appointing your petitioning Executors of the same, which said papers writing purporting to be the said will is hereby propounded and affixed for Probate.

2. That the real estate devised in said will is supposed to be worth sixteen hundred dollars. That the personal property devised by said will is supposed to be worth about four hundred dollars; consisting of provisions on hand, one mule, five or six head of cattle, about fifteen head of hogs, household and kitchen furniture. The devisees or legatees are as follows: Susannah Kornegay of Duplin County, John W. Kornegay, Simmons Kornegay, Martha J. Malpass, Daniel Kornegay, William Kornegay, hester E. Westbrook, Susan Smith, Francis A. Smith of Duplin County, Harget Kornegay, David Taylor, Linwood Taylor, Cassie Daugherty, Alice Taylor, Nancy Taylor, Franklin Taylor of Lenoir County - the three last mentioned are minors and without guardians and residing with their father Richard Taylor.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 28 day August 1875.

     The foregoing paper writing purporting to be the last will and testament of Harget Kornegay, deceased, is this day exhibited in open Court for probate by Simmons Kornegay and John W. Kornegay, the executors therein named, and the due execution of the said paper writing by the said Harget Kornegay is proven by the oath and examination of H. J. Wallis and I. O. Graddy the subscribing witnesses thereto, who being duly sworn, say that they saw Harget Kornegay sign said paper writing declaring it to be his last will and testament, that they attested it in his presence and at his request and at the time of the execution of the said paper writing by the said Harget Kornegay, they believed he was of sound and disposing mind and memory. It is therefore considered by the said Court that the Paper Writing and every part and clause thereof is the last will and testament of the said Harget Kornegay, deceased, and the same is ordered to be recorded and filed. And therefore the said Simmons Kornegay and John W. Kornegay, Executors as aforesaid, duly qualified as such by taking the Oath prescribed by law.

Commentary:

The word "Viz" in the heading is the Latin abbreviation for "namely"

I am puzzled by the fact that Harget left so much to Susannah in Item 1 and yet five years later, she appears in the 1880 Federal census as keeping house for one of her young grandsons. What happened to the 542 acre plantation? Susannah herself did not leave a will.

A "steelyard", mentioned in Item 1 in Harget's bequest to Susannah, is a balance consisting of a scaled arm suspended off center, a hook at the shorter end of which to hang the object being weighed, and a counterbalance at the longer end that can be moved to find the weight.

Items 2, 3, and 5 are interesting in that Simmons, John, and Harget, Jr. only received five dollars each as a bequest. We know that Harget and Susannah deeded land to Daniel Kornegay in 1867 (Book 26, page 131, Duplin County, NC Land Records), so I am sure that Harget and Susannah had already deeded land to Simmons and John and Harget, Jr. before Harget, Sr. made his will.

Item 4 confirms that Daniel Kornegay already had land. I do not know its location.

Item 6 refers to Martha J. Howell, Dudley Kornegay's (Harget's fourth son) widow. Although I do not have a death date for Dudley, it must have been before Harget signed his will in 1869. (I think I remember reading somewhere that Dudley died in a Union POW camp.)

Item 7 puzzles me. This is a lot to give to one daughter and leave nothing to two others - Hester and Francis. Harget's daughter Penelope died in 1855 and according to the will, Peggy died before 1869. Yet he makes no separate provision for either Hester or Frances. They are mentioned in Item 9, but only in passing. Perhaps Susannah was a favorite daughter - either that or Hester and Frances had married wealthy men and didn't need Harget's help and Susannah did.

I find Item 9 interesting in that Harget left his possessions to his wife for as long remained a widow or until she died. Apparently if she remarried she would lose everything. Harget was 76 years old when he wrote his will in 1869 and Susannah was 70 so he must have at least thought that her marriage was a possibility. This was either very succinct legal jargon or an incredible compliment to a 70 year old woman. And they'd been married for 50 years plus at the time. In either event - her remarriage or death, he had already made plans for the division of his estate and leaves her no need (or recourse) to make her own will.

H. J. Wallis, one of the two witnesses to the will must have been a neighbor as he is also mentioned in Item 4 in connection with Daniel Kornegay's land. The other witness, I. O. Graddy, is unknown but must have been Harget's contemporary, neighbor, and friend.

The second item in the probate application lists the devisees and legatees of the will. Martha J. Malpass may be Dudley Kornegay's widow's name by her second marriage. As she is listed as daughter-in-law, Martha J. Kornegay in Item 6 of Harget's will and Martha J. Malpass in probate may indicate that she remarried after the will was signed in 1869. I can only guess at the Taylor children listed. I am assuming that David and Linwood are adults. Cassie Daugherty may be a married Taylor child. I do not have an exact birth date for Peggy Kornegay Taylor, but it was sometime between 1828 (known birth date for Harget, Jr.) and 1836 (known birth date for Hester Kornegay). If Peggy Kornegay married Richard Taylor at 20 years of age, her oldest could conceivable be in his early 20's in 1875. Alice, Nancy, and Franklin Taylor - all living in Lenoir County were minors. I do not know what "without guardian" means; especially since the probate court's comments indicated that they lived with their father, Peggy Kornegay's husband.

Imagine that a 542 acre plantation was considered to be worth only $1600 in 1875 money and that personal property was valued at only $400. This was just ten years after the Civil War ended. I guess Harget and Susannah were lucky they still had a plantation at all.