The Division of John Carter's Lands and Property

 

Photo by Patrick Jones from Spotsylvania Court Records.

The extensive records on the estate of John Carter of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, can be found in a few places - at the Spotsylvania County Courthouse, on FamilySearch, and on Ancestry. I think the images on FamilySearch and Ancestry are fairly poor photocopies, with text bleeding in the from back of the pages. The copies that I made when visiting the court many years ago seem to be a bit easier to read. Above is taken from my phone, but this same image can be found on image 395 (page 721) of Will Book E for Spotsylvania County.

Page 725 shows the portion of the estate granted to William Heslop and Ann (Anne Carter, daughter of John). Unfortunately, slaves were also conveyed from John's estate to William and Ann.

Photo by Patrick Jones.

The division above names the following slaves:

- Amey and Bridget

- Frank, Alie and Daphney

William and Ann were given 50 acres in the northern plot marked No. 8 on the map, and 1/7th interest in the "low ground tract", along with a cow and calf. They were also given a bed and furniture (either previously given or "received of your fathers" may mean this furniture came from John Carter's father, I'm not sure).

There is much more in the records on the names of Anne's siblings, which I'll save for the next post.