the hart family of franklin county, missouri - mosga journal vol xxxvi no 2 pp111-9 2016.pdf

9

Upload: independent

Post on 10-Dec-2023

0 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

1

THE HART FAMILY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY, MISSOURIa Gregory Alan Vautb

ARMSTRONG2 HART (Epenetus1) moved to Washington Township (Twp.), Franklin Co., Missouri (Mo.) in 1821 or 1822 from Farmington, Ontario Co., New York (N.Y.). In Franklin Co., he married ca 1822/3 as his second wife Mrs. Nancy (Todd) Murphy,c daughter of Joseph and Anna Maria (Crouse\Grose) TODD,d and widow of Isaac Murphy. Nancy was born circa 1790e in North Carolinaf and died sometime after June 1870, probably in Franklin Co., Mo.g ARMSTRONG2 and Nancy lived in Franklin Co. the rest of their lives and raised a family of six children: three from their marriage and three from Nancy’s first marriage to Isaac Murphy.h

The children of ARMSTRONG2 and Nancy (Todd) (Murphy) HART:

i. Albert Gallatin3 Hart (Armstrong2, Epenetus1). He was born 28 March 1824 at St. Johns Twp., Franklin Co.i He died 17 Aug. 1884j near Warrensburg, Center View Twp., Johnson Co., Mo.k He married 25 May 1848 at Franklin Co. Catherine McKeehan.l She was born 28 Sept. 1825m at Tenn.n and died 25 July 1884 at Johnson Co.o They were both buried at Lea Cemetery, Johnson Co.a The

a This article is the first of three, tracing the roots of ARMSTRONG2 HART (Epenetus1). This series of articles

adds new information about the life and lineage of ARMSTRONG2 before his arrival in Mo., starting with his parents in Pennsylvania (Penn.) in the decades prior to the American Revolution and in N.Y. prior to his moving to Mo. ca 1821/2. This article is drawn from a more extensive study, Such Lives as These: A Chronicle of the Armstrong, Hart, Howard, McLean, and Trimmer Families in Pennsylvania, New York and Westward ca 1751 – ca 1855, available at https://www.academia.edu/25888123/SUCH_LIVES_AS_THESE. Additional details on the Hart family research are available at www.acvancestors.com.

b The author lives in South Burlington, VT and may be contacted at [email protected]. c Minch, Patricia Murphy. Email message to the Author, "Isaac Murphy Information". 1 Nov 2004. Hereinafter

cited as Minch [2004]. d Paxton, W. M., Annals of Platte County, Missouri, From its Exploration Down to June 1, 1897; with

Genealogies of Its Noted Families and Sketches of Its Pioneers and Distinguished People. (Kansas City, Mo.: Hudson-Kimberly Publishing Co., 1897). p. 129.

e 1850 U. S. Census, Missouri, Franklin County, District 31, Roll: M432_399; Image: 149. Digital images. Ancestry.com http://www.ancestry.com. p. 73-A, lines 8-12. Hereinafter cited as 1850Dist31.

f According to the 1790 and 1800 U. S. censuses, her parents, Joseph Todd and Anna Maria Crouse/Grose, were living in N.C., around the time she was born. 1790 U. S. Census, North Carolina, Rowan County. Series: M637; Roll: 7; Image 258; p. 340, line 9. 1800 U. S. Census, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County, Salisbury Twp., Roll: 33; p. 533, line 16.

g Nancy was living in the household of her son Joseph Todd3 Hart on 28 June at the time of the 1870 census. 1870 U. S. Census, Missouri, Franklin County, Washington Township, Roll: M593_676; Image: 749; p. 373, lines 12-18.

h For further details on the children and sources see http://www.acvancestors.com/g0/p107.htm#i3193. i www.findagrave.com Memorial #83786968. Hereinafter cited as FAG.com. j Date of death from FAG.com Memorial #83786968. k Place of death from “Missouri Death Records, 1834-1910”, Database. Ancestry.com.

http://www.ancestry.com : 2008. l “Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002.” Database. Ancestry.com. at http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-

bin/sse.dll?viewrecord=1&r=an&db=MOmarriages&indiv=try&h=11136853. Hereinafter cited as MOMarriages. m Date of birth from FAG.com Memorial #83787357. n Place of birth from 1850Dist31, p. 73A, lines 8-12. Also 1860 U. S. Census, Missouri, Johnson County,

Washington Twp., Roll: M653_626; p. 874, lines 8-16. o FAG.com Memorial #83787357.

2

nine children of Albert Gallatin3 and Catherine (McKeehan) Hart were: Samuel A.4 (1849-unknown), Nancy A. 4 (ca 1851-unk.), Mariah/Maria J.4 (1853-1947), Alice 4 (ca 1855-unk.), Orilla Alice 4 (1856-1938), John J.4 (ca 1858-unk.), Jesse L.4 (1859-1934), Francis 4 (ca 1865-unk.), and Eugene 4 (1869-unk.).

ii. Epenetus B. 3 Hart. He was born in 1826 at Franklin Co., Missouri and died 1 Jan. 1895 at Montrose Twp., Henry Co., Mo. b He married on 22 March 1848 at Franklin Co. Prudence Allison Todd.c She was born 19 May 1833 at Franklin Co. and died 2 May 1908 at Clinton Twp., Henry Co. They were both buried at Montrose Cemetery, Montrose Twp., Henry Co. The six children of Epenetus B. 3 and Prudence Allison (Todd) Hart were: Julius T.4 (1851-1889), Edward Everett4 (1853-1914), Charles Theodore4 “Todd” (1855-1931), Henry H.4 (ca 1859-unk.), Anna Elizabeth4 (1862-1916), and Cora Lee4 (1866-1737).

iii. Joseph Todd3 Hart. He was born 27 July 1829 at St. Johns Twp., Franklin Co. and died 31 May 1913 at Clinton Twp.d He married 17 March 1852 at Franklin Co. Margaret A. Orilla\Rilla Todd.e She was born 30 Dec. 1834 at Franklin Co. and died 25 March 1914 at Clinton Twp.f They are both buried at Englewood Cemetery, Clinton Twp.g The two children of Joseph Todd3 and Margaret A. Orilla\Rilla (Todd) Hart were: Francis M. 4 “Frank” (1856-1935) and John Edwin4 (1859-1939).

The children of Isaac and Nancy (Todd) Murphy:

iv. Isaiah Todd Murphy. He was born 19 Nov. 1815 h probably at Franklin Co. and died 21 Dec. 1898 at Dixon, Pulaski Co., Mo. i He married on 26 Aug. 1837 at Franklin Co. Rebecca Jane Clark.j She was born 7 Jan. 1819 and died 11 Sept. 1899 at Dixon, Pulaski Co., Mo. k They were both buried at Dixon Cemetery at Dixon. l The ten children of Isaiah Todd and Rebecca Jane (Clark) Murphy were: Isaac Liburn (1841-3), Thomas A. (1842-1918), William Hugh (1844-1901), Rebecca Jane (1845-ca 1846), Farrar (1846-1900), Anvill Milton (1849-1883), Frank Wesley (1851-1923), Mary (1853-bef 1870), Emma (1856-73), and Robert Campbell (1859-1932).

a FAG.com Memorials #83786968 and #83787357. b FAG.com Memorial #99600905. c Prudence and Epenetus B.3were first cousins once removed. Prudence was the grandniece of Nancy (Todd)

(Murphy) HART, Epenetus B.3’s mother, granddaughter of Nancy’s older brother Isaiah Todd. From Franklin Co., Missouri Marriage Book, 1828, p. 68.

d Dates and places of birth and death from Missouri Death certificate no. 16350, dated June 1, 1913 from “Missouri Death Certificates, 1910 – 1964.” Database. Missouri Digital Heritage. http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/. 20007-2014.

e Margaret A. Orilla\Rilla Todd and Joseph Todd3 Hart were first cousins, once removed. Margaret was also the grandniece of Nancy (Todd) (Murphy) Hart, her other-in-law (granddaughter of her older brother Isaiah Todd). MOMarriages at http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=MOmarriages&h=11137320&tid=68721256&pid=42186594063&usePUB=true&rhSource=7843.

f Dates and places of birth and death from FAG.com Memorial #87243888. g FAG.com Memorials # 127695879 and # 87243888. h Minch [2004]. Date of birth also inscribed on grave marker at FAG.com Memorial #64511085. i Date of death inscribed on grave marker at FAG.com Memorial #64511085. j “MOMarriages, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-

bin/sse.dll?viewrecord=1&r=an&db=MOmarriages&indiv=try&h=11133593. k Dates of birth and death inscribed on grave marker at FAG.com Memorial #64568999. l FAG.com Memorials #64511085 and #64568999

3

v. Elijah Wesley Murphy. He was born 5 Nov. 1817 at Franklin Co. and died 22 Sept. 1895 at Dixon.a He married on 13 Aug. 1840 at Franklin Co. as his first wife Dolley E. Dobbins. b She was born 19 March 1825 and died 2 Oct. 1855 at Washington Twp. c They were both buried at Wildey Cemetery, Washington Twp.d He married on 14 Jan. 1858 at St Louis Co., Mo. as his second wife Mary Falls. She was born ca 1833 in Delawaree and died sometime after 1880.f The seven children of Elijah Wesley and Dolley E. (Dobbins) Murphy were: Edward Berry (1841-1925), Frances Ann I (ca 1843-48), Julius (1848-1851), Alice Coleman (ca 1852-1887), Frances Ann II (ca 1861-unk.), Ida M. (ca 1863-unk.), and Eva Winona (aft 1870-77).

vi. Mary Ann Murphy. She was born 8 Feb. 1821 at St. Johns Twp. and died 2 Jan. 1892 at Washington Twp. g She married 9 March 1837 at Franklin Co. Joseph R. Hardin. He was born in 1810 in Maryland (Md.) and died 7 Jan. 1851 at Washington Twp.h They were both buried at Wildey Cemetery.i The six children of Joseph R. and Mary Ann (Murphy) Hardin were: Nancy (ca 1838-unk.), Susan (ca 1840-unk.), Eliza (ca 1842-unk.), Elijah W. (ca 1843-1851), Fenton (ca 1847-1852), and Virginia (1849-1863).

Recent research shows that ARMSTRONG2 HART was the son of EPENETUS1 and Mary (Armstrong) HART. The family started in (now) Juniata Co., Penn (where Armstrong was born); and moved to (now) Yates Co., N.Y. ca 1793/4.j Of the seven named childrenk of EPENETUS1 and Mary (Armstrong) HART, four (BETSY2, AMY2, JONATHAN2, and MARY2) are recorded as having definitely died in N.Y. Only one member of this Hart family, ARMSTRONG2, is known to have migrated westward. There is no record of the fate of the other two sons, EPENETUS2 and THOMAS2.

ARMSTRONG2 HART was a widower when he arrived in Mo., having had a first marriage earlier ca 1798 in (now) Yates Co. to Susan Riggs (ca 1778-ca 1820), which produced four daughters: Emma/Emmy3 Hart (1799-aft 1829); Susan Ann3 Hart (1801-1851); Mary/Mariah3 Hart (1804-1897); and Elizabeth3 Hart (ca 1805-1900). After his first wife’s death ca 1820,l he left their four daughters in N.Y. and migrated to Mo. to start a new life and a new family. No explanation has been found for his decision to leave his daughters behind and move westward.

a FAG.com Memorial #64960508. b MOMarriages at http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-

bin/sse.dll?viewrecord=1&r=an&db=MOmarriages&indiv=try&h=11136853. c FAG.com Memorial #64960505. d FAG.com Memorials #64960508 and #64960505. e Year and state of birth based on 1860 U.S. Census, St. Johns Twp., Franklin Co., Mo., p. 351, line 8 (aged

27); and 1870 U.S. Census, Bridgeport Twp., Warren Co., Mo., p. 695-B, line 6 (aged 37). f Mary (Falls) Murphy appears in the 1880 Census with her husband. There is no record of her after that. See

1880 U.S. Census, Missouri, Pulaski Co., Union Twp., p. 420-C, lines 13-14. g FAG.com Memorial #44097770. h FAG.com Memorial #64889314. i FAG.com Memorials #64889314 and #44097770. j The genealogy and history of the family’s years in N.Y. and Penn. will be covered in forthcoming articles. k There may have been up to nine children, but the names of two are unknown. See 1790 U.S. Census,

Pennsylvania, Mifflin County. Series: M637; Roll: 9. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com. Family History Library Film: 0568149, p. 105, line 9.

l Cleveland, Stafford Canning and Jemima Wilkinson. History and Directory of Yates County, New York: Containing a Sketch of its Original Settlement by the Public Universal Friends, the Lessee Company and Others, with an Account of Individual Pioneers; also of other Leading Citizens. 2 Volumes. Chronicle Office, Penn Yan, New York: S. C. Cleveland, 1873 (1976 Reprint), vol. 1, p. 222.

4

ARMSTRONG2’s presence in N.Y. is last documented in 1815 in a newspaper announcement for Hart & Jones Hatters.a Around 1821-22, at about 46 to 49 years old and roughly thirty years after he and his family had moved from Penn. to N.Y., ARMSTRONG2 left his four daughters and moved to Washington Twp., Franklin, Co., Missouri.

ARMSTRONG2’s presence in Mo. is not actually recorded until 10 Aug. 1828 when he certified a wedding as a Justice of the Peace in Franklin Co.b However, he was undoubtedly in Missouri at least by 28 March 1824 when his first son by his second marriage, Albert Gallatin3 Hart, was born in St. John’s Twp.,c and quite probably by June 1823 – nine months before Albert Gallatin3’s birth and by which date he had presumably married Albert Gallatin3’s mother, Nancy (Todd) Murphy.d

Figure 1: Migration of ARMSTRONG2 HART (Epenetus1) from Benton Twp., (now) Yates Co., N.Y. to Franklin Co., Mo. ca 1822-1823e

ARMSTRONG2 took over the business of his new wife’s dead husband, Isaac Murphy (d. 1821), a as a ferryman on the Missouri River at St. John’s Twp.

a The Geneva Gazette. Geneva, New York, 11 January 1815, p. 3. Seen on 7 Nov 2015 at http://www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn83031109/1815-01-11/ed-1/seq-3/.

b MOMarriages, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=MOmarriages&h=11133318&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt&ssrc=pt_t1227730_p-1968652179_kpidz0q3d-1968652179z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid.

c His date of birth is calculated from his grave marker which was engraved with “Died 18 Aug 1884, aged 60 ys 4 mo 20 ds.” FAG.com Memorial #83786968.

d The names “Albert” and “Gallatin” aren’t found in either Nancy (Todd) (Murphy)’s or ARMSTRONG2’s families, while the names of their next two sons, Epenetus B.3 and Joseph Todd3, are the names of ARMSTRONG2’s and Nancy’s fathers, respectively. However, there was a fairly renowned statesman and diplomat, Albert Gallatin (1761-1849), who in 1823 returned to the U. S. from serving as Minister to France and was nominated as the Vice Presidential candidate of the Democratic-republican Congressional caucus.

e Map Source: Miller, Theodore R. Graphic History of the Americas, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1969., p. 24.

5

According to Gregory [2010:7]:b

Between the early settlements of La Charette and St. John's a licensed ferry was established in 1814. Early court records of St. Louis, St. Charles and Franklin counties mention the ferries of Daugherty, Murphy, Hart, Caldwell, Smith and Owens. . The ferry of Isaac Murphy in 1815 consisted of two large canoes with a platform on top, which had to be oared and poled across."

Owning a ferry was a bit of a family occupation for the Hart family and its relations. The “Murphy” listed by Gregory is Isaac Murphy, the first husband of ARMSTRONG2’S wife Nancy (Todd) Murphy Hart. ARMSTRONG2 is the “Hart” he lists. “Caldwell” may well be the Kinkead Caldwell mentioned in the marriage certificate cited below. Joseph R. Harden, Nancy (Todd) Murphy Hart’s son-in-law (married Mary Ann Murphy, daughter of Nancy and Isaac Murphy), was also a ferry operator.c

ARMSTRONG2 HART also served as a Justice of the Peace for Franklin Co.d He certified a number of marriages during his relatively short life in Missouri (ca 1822-1829). One marriage certified by ARMSTRONG2 on 10 August 1828 was between Kinkead Caldwell and Polly Cantty/Cantly. e

Additional documentary evidence of ARMSTRONG2 HART’s presence is the registration on 1 April 1829 of land he purchased with Bennoni Sappington in the year ARMSTRONG2 died: 160 acres of public land, described as Section 20 Twp. 44N Range 1W, Franklin County.f It appears that this plot of land would have been located on the western edge of what became Washington Twp. The location of Section 20 is shown in Figure 2. The land they obtained would have amounted to one quarter of Section 20, as shown in Figure 2.g

a Ancestry.com, “Missouri, Wills and Probate Records, 1766-1988.” Database.

http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9071. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. b Gregory, Ralph, A History of Washington, Missouri”, Washington Preservation, Inc. and Washington

Historical Society, Washington, MO. Second printing March 2010, p. 7. c Minch, Patricia, “Murphy Buffum et al” Family Tree “Public Member Trees.” Database. Ancestry.com.

(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 November 2015). No date. d Goodspeed Publishers, History of Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Crawford & Gasconade Counties,

Missouri, Original: Goodspeed Publisher, 1888. Reprint: Ramfre Publishers, Cape Girardeau, Missouri. 1958, p. 287.

e MOMarriages (accessed 3 November 2015): entry for Kinkead Caldwell, marriage record, 10 August 1828. Original data: Missouri Marriage Records. Jefferson City, Mo.: Missouri State Archives. Microfilm. From Franklin Co., Missouri Marriage Book – 1828.

f United States. Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records. Automated Records Project; Federal Land Patents, State Volumes. http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/. Springfield, Virginia: Bureau of Land Management, Eastern States, 2007. Also seen at “U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907,” database, Ancestry.com, http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1246.

g A standard Section is one mile square and contains 640 acres of land.

6

Figure 2: Map of Twp. 44-N, Range 1-W, Section 20, Franklin Co., Missouri (1901) a

ARMSTRONG2 HART died in Franklin Co. on 24 Dec. 1829: "16 Jan. 1830-Died at his residence in Franklin Co., Mo., on 24 December 1829, of a tedious pulmonary complaint, Armstrong Hart, Esq., formerly of Geneva, New York. He was a kind husband, an affectionate father and a warm friend."b He left a will dated 26 Nov. 1829, leaving his estate to his wife and bequests to his three sons in Mo. (“Albert, Epenetus, and Joseph”) and four daughters in N.Y., (“Maria, Eliza, Emmy and Susan Ann”).c Bennoni Sappington and ARMSTRONG2’s brother-in-law, Isaiah Todd witnessed the will. Bennoni Sappington and William G. Owens were names as executors. Armstrong opens by acknowledging that he is “in a low state of health.” He died less than one month later. The probate of ARMSTRONG2 HART’s estate was recorded on 3 May 1830 in Franklin Co., Mo.d

a Map Source: Standard Atlas of Franklin County, Missouri. George A. Ogle & Co. Publishers, Chicago, 1919.

Image copyrighted by Historic Map Works, http://www.historicmapworks.com/. b The Beacon Newspaper, 16 January 1830. Transcribed for publication in the 1984 St. Louis Genealogical

Society Quarterly, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 115-116; Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 15-17. c Franklin Co., Mo., Will Book A, Pages 66-70. d Franklin Co., Missouri Probate Records Register, 1822-1844, Surnames Beginning with H.

7

Figure 3: Transcription of Will of ARMSTRONG2 HART of Franklin Co., Missouri, Dated 26 November 1829 and Proved 3 May 1830 a

In the name of God Amen I Armstrong Hart of the County of Franklin in the State of Missouri, being in a low state of health and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die and believing it very probable that the disease under which I now labor will prove fatal, but feeling assured that my mind is unimpaired and that I now possess a disposing memory, I do make the following my last will and testament.

First: I wish that my body should receive at the hands of my friends and executors a decent burial.

Secondly: It is my wish that all my just debts be paid and for that purpose it is my will that my executors sell at private or public sale as they may find most expedient so much of my personal estate as will raise a sum sufficient to pay them. If, however, my executors should think it would be more to the advantage of my estate to pay my debts out of the rents that may be coming to me from the letting of my interest in the grist and saw mills which I now own, then it is my will that my debts be so paid and my personal property be disposed of as hereinafter mentioned. If my executors should settle my debts out of the rents of the mills, then it is my wish that my wife take and keep during her widowhood the whole of my personal estate to be by her used for the support and maintenance of the family, and if my executors should sell a part of my personal estate, then it is my will that the remaining part and the rents of my mills be given to my wife so long as she remains single to be used by her as aforesaid. It is my desire that my wife remain on the plantation where I now live and cultivate the farm, but if in her opinion and in the opinion of my executors it would be more to her interest that the farm and ferry should be leased, together with the negro man Paul, then it is my will that they be let out and the profits be given to my wife for the support of the family. My wife received out of the estate of Isaac Murphy at the appraised value the negro man named Paul that is now in the family. Whether by the laws of the country this negro is my property, I am not advised. If it should so turn out that he is not mine and those who have now or should hereafter have the management of said Isaac Murphy's estate should claim off of my estate the hire of said negro, then in that case I wish my executors to charge the estate of said Murphy with the raising and schooling of the heirs of said Murphy. If my wife should think proper to marry again, I wish for my executors then to dispose of all the personal property, after she has taken her share, and the amount raised by such sale and the hire of my negro girl Louisa and the rent of my mills to be then applied to the schooling and maintenance of my three sons, Albert, Epenetus and Joseph. After my three sons are raised and become of age, I will to them and my four daughters in New York, to wit, Maria, Eliza, Emmy and Susan Ann, my interest in the tract of land upon which my mills are built and my interest in those mills, my negro girl named Louisa and her increase, the negro man Paul (if he should be my property) and indeed all and everything that may at that day be a part of my estate. It is my desire, however, that my girls should receive their shares of my estate at an earlier period than the time before mentioned, and if my executors after a lapse of some three or four years after my decease should be enabled to make an estimate of my estate and should find that it will [not] injure the estate to sell so much thereof as will pay them their shares, it is then my will it be so arranged.

a Transcription of the original will by the present author. References to names of family members are underlined

by the transcriber. Hart, Armstrong. “Will of Armstrong Hart of Franklin Co., Missouri”, dated 26 November 1829. Franklin Co., Missouri, Will Book A, pp. 66-70.

8

I constitute and appoint Bennoni Sappington and William G. Owens executors to this my last will and testament. In testimony of all which I hereunto set my hand and seal the twenty-sixth of November in the year 1829.

Signed and acknowledged in the presence of B. Sappington and Isaiah Todd

/s/ Armstrong Hart (Seal)

Recorded this 3rd of May 1830

State of Missouri ) I, William G. Owens, Clerk of the County Court within and for the County of Franklin in the State of County of Franklin ) Missouri, to all to whom these presents shall come greeting. Whereas Armstrong Hart, late of the County of Franklin, deceased, died leaving his last will and testament and Bennoni Sappington, the executor therein named, having given sufficient security, I do therefore give and grant unto you the said Bennoni Sappington full power and authority to administer (with the will annexed and according to the tenor thereof) all and singular the goods, chattels, rights and credits of the said deceased lying and being in the said county of Franklin and to demand, collect and in a legal manner require and receive any and all manner of debt and debts due and owing to the said deceased and well and faithfully to dispose of the same according to law. And lastly I do hereby constitute and appoint the said Bennoni Sappington administrator with the will annexed of all and singular the goods, chattels, rights and credits of the said deceased. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and private seal, there being no seal of office yet provided, this third day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty. Wm G. Owens, Clerk.

Recorded 5th of May 1830

State of Missouri, County of Franklin

By the tenor of these presents I William G. Owens, Clerk of the County Court in and for the county aforesaid, by law authorized to take the proof of wills, grant letters of administration and letters testamentary, do make known to all men that on the _____ of ________ in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty in open court was proved, approved and insinuate the last will and testament of Armstrong Hart, deceased, a true copy whereof is to these (illegible) annexed, having whilst he lived and at the time of his death diverse goods, chattels, rights and credits within the said County of Franklin by reason whereof the approbation and insinuation of the said last will and testament and committing of the administration of all and singular the goods, chattels, rights and credits which were of the said deceased to me are manifestly known to belong and the administration of all and singular the goods chattels, rights and credits of the said deceased in any way concerning the said last will and testament was committed to Bennoni Sappington in the said last will and testament of the said Armstrong Hart, deceased, by him named and having been first sworn well and truly to administer the goods, chattels, rights and credits of the said deceased and to make a true and perfect inventory thereof and exhibit the same into the aforesaid clerk's office when thereto required and to render a just and true account of the executorship when thereunto lawfully required, in testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and private seal (there being no seal of office yet provided) at Union this third day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty. Wm G. Owens, Clerk.

Recorded this 3rd day of May 1830