Curtis to Carter

 

Spotsylvania Deed Book L, P. 486.

Last month I covered the children of John Carter and his various wives, tracking all but one of them. I am now picking up the case on Francis Carter Curtis, wife of Rice Curtis (3rd). Frances is a sister of William Carter, who married Francis Curtis, a half-sister of Rice Curtis in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. In the indenture above, Rice and Frances, along with Ann, John, Sarah and Elizabeth Curtis, sold 433 acres to William Carter on 18 April 1788.

Rice's father, Rice Curtis 2nd, transferred 350 acres to him in Spotsylvania County on 16 Nov 1761 in exchange for 5 shillings. William Carter was a witness to that land transfer.

According to an entry on Ancestry, in August 1779 Rice Curtis was about to enter Continental service as a soldier. He named his children as beneficiaries: "Nancy, John, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, Frances, Margaret, George Bartemeus, and James Curtis."

It appears that Rice and Francis moved from Virginia to Davidson County, Tennessee. A will for Rice Curtis was entered into probate in 1798. The following March, Francis appointed her son George B. Curtis as her representative and power of attorney for land holdings in Spotsylvania County (see below from 19 March 1799).

Spotsylvania Deed Book P. P. 283.

Spotsylvania Deed Book P. P. 284.

Thanks to the wonders of the FamilySearch Labs tool, I was able to locate the will of Rice Carter in Davidson County, Tennessee (from 29 November 1798). He appointed Francis and son George as executors.

Francis died in Davidson County, Tennessee in 1827.