3
Item. I give and bequeath onto my son
Thomas James all my right and title of a lot of lease land that I now live on
containing one hundred acres with the buildings and appurtenances thereunto
belonging to him, his heirs, and assigns, he yielding and paying his mother
yearly and every year during her natural life or the expiration of the above
lease which ever first, the sum of two pounds Virginia currency. I also give and bequeath my said son Thomas my
little mare and colt, saddle and bridle, one gun, and tackle.
4th
Item. I give and bequeath onto my son, Isaac James all my right and title of my
other lot of lease land containing one hundred and two acres with all the buildings
and appurtenances thereunto belonging to him his heir and assigns, he yielding
and paying his mother yearly and every year during her natural life or ‘til the
expiration of the lease which ever first, the sum of two pounds Virginia currency.
In the 1700s it was not uncommon for leases to last for 50
years, for the life of the tenant, for 100 years, or practically in
perpetuity. Many landholders did not
live in the colonies and either leased the land out to someone with the
understanding that he would pass it on to his son, or landholders would simply
hire and agent who did the same thing.
It’s much easier to simply sign a rental agreement and walk away than to
mess around with paperwork every year.
And given the fact that land was plentiful, most landowners owned
thousands, even tens of thousands of acres, and that all the improvements to
the land (such as clearing forests for farmland, building houses, digging
wells) all belonged to the landholder, there was no need to try to gather every
penny possible from the current tenant.
Rather, land would be leased for extended periods of time, the monies
collected quarterly or annually, and the lease passed on from generation to
generation, all the while the landholder’s property was growing in value. (Weren’t they shocked and unhappily surprised
when the colonists won the Revolutionary War and all of their land became that
of their former tenants?)
Thus it was that Elias could pass on his leased lands to
his sons. Thomas was to receive the
100-acre parcel on which Elias lived, and presumably had his cooperage, since
there is no mention of property, eased or owned, in any town. Isaac received a 102 acre parcel of land,
with buildings and other improvements.
The only stipulation was that each son was to provide his mother with a
cash payment of two pounds Virginia currency each year until her death.
So how much was the four pounds that Anne received each
year? This was a difficult question to
answer. First I had to determine what
the value of a Virginia pound was in relation to a British pound sterling. Of course it all depends on the year, and
sometimes even the month, but ultimately I settled on oone pound Viringia
equaled 85% of oone pound sterling. Then
determine the dolar value of a pound sterling. Now calculate the value in today’s dollars. Do the math, and voila! Anne received the 2012 equivalent of $3550
from each son every year.
But $7100 does not seem like much when it comes to an
annual income. True. And Anne does not appear to have received any
land or house on which to live. But this
was a time and place where any one of her children would have taken her in to
live with them. Thomas might do so since
his new home was already her home. If
Isaac did not have a wife, he might ask his mother to stay with him. And there would have been no expectation of
Anne paying rent to her sons for her room and board. It was merely their filial duty to provide
her with a place to live.
Or I should say Anne, and Hannah, and James, and Elias
Jr. Because Elias’ will tells us that
there were still three children at home who needed to be cared for.
5th
Item. I give and bequeath unto James Nichols married to my daughter Ann, she
being since deceased, one dollar and one third.
This is a nice little gesture. James is Elias’ son-in-law and apparently
there are no children from the marriage of James to young Ann. Perhaps both Ann and the child died in
childbirth. It was not uncommon in those
days. And while Elias has no obligation
to make a bequest to James, he does so, to the tune of $519 in 2012 money.
6th
Item. I give and bequeath onto my daughter Hannah James one feather bed, bedstead
and bedding, one cherry bed, bedstead and bedding, one wool wheel, one flax
wheel, one check reel, one large trunk, one small walnut box, one iron pot, one
flatiron, one pair wool cards, the new velvet side saddle, and a Bridle, also
all the dresser furniture, tea and coffee-ware except above excepted for her
mother, also the big looking glass with all the drinking bowls and
glasses.
It
looks, on first glance, as though Hannah Jane is getting the lions’ share of
goodies. Even more things than her
mother – two different beds, various spinning wheels (and no, I have no idea
what a “check reel” is unless Elias was throwing in a fishing reel with all of
the household goods!), various other household goods, a new velvet side saddle,
and drinking bowls and glasses.
But in actuality, most of these were things
Hannah Jane would need to set up housekeeping when she got married. Granted, two beds is a bit of a luxury, but I
assume that Anne got the best bedroom set of the lot and Hannah Jane got the
left overs. The items for spinning would
be important to a young housewife since
all the clothes had to be handmade and fabric that was bought cost more than
fabric that was woven from threads that were spun from fibers that were grown
right at home. And a young married
couple would be more likely to use the big looking glass and the drinking bowls
(think teacups with no handle) and glasses than would Anne.
As for the saddle, who do you think
Elias bought it for? Remember, Hannah
Jane could not own anything while she was under her father’s house. So even though everyone “knew” the saddle and
bridle were for her use, if Elias didn’t specify that it was hers, it would
have fallen into the “all that I shall hereafter in anywisesoever possess”
category mentioned below.
You will notice that Hannah Jane
received neither money nor lands from her father. Just the sort of “hope chest” things that a
young woman would need upon her marriage.
7th
Item. I will that all my wearing apparel be equally divided between my two sons,
Thomas and Isaac, and all my books of divinity be equally divided among all my
children and the younger ones then to [be] carefully preserved ‘til they come
of age.
While it may seem odd to us to think of inheriting our dead
parents’ clothes, remember the time and effort that was put into making these
things. (And Elias could have been a bit
of a dresser, with some fancy clothes to go along with his work clothes.) So receiving an extra set of clothes or two
would have been a very valuable bequest.
But I most enjoy the knowledge that the James’ have always
been a bookish lot. Elias has enough
books in his home that each child will receive at least one book, and since he
did not specific which child received which book, it is probably a safe
assumption that there was a large enough library of divinity books in the James
household that each of the six children would be taking home two or more
books. Notice that even the younger
children were to receive their share of the books, with theirs being safely put
away until they were old enough to appreciate them.
This little bequest tells us several things about the Elias
James family. One, that religion was
important to Elias (he was a Quaker) and he at least assumed that it was also
important to his children. Two, all of
the James children were able to read.
Why give books to illiterates?
But beyond being simply able to sound out words, they were educated well
enough to understand and appreciate the subtleties and difficulties of
religious books of the 18th century.
And finally, I wonder if Anne, out of the entire household, was unable
to read? If she could read, why were
there no books given to her? Since there
is no specific mention of her requiring care after Elias’ death, she was
probably not blind nor infirm in any other way.
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