Daniel Moore, of Washington County, MD, in his will dated January 1, 1792, bequeathed conditionally (in part) to “ my Daughter Nancy now the wife of John Griffith my said Land containing One Hundred & thirty-Eight Acres as aforesaid & with all its Appurtenances to be entered upon by my said Daughter Nancy after my said Wifes Decease . . . .” [Washington County, Maryland Register of Wills, Will Book A, pp. 279-280].
I wanted to learn of Nancy’s life-path, about where exactly the land lay, and the land’s ownership history.
Just one Daniel Moore was enumerated for 1790 in Washington County, MD. As a land owner, my ancestor probably was the one enumerated here as head of household. The 1783 tax assessment roll for Washington Co., MD also lists just one Daniel Moore. An index to this assessment provided by the Maryland Archives also lists only one Daniel Moore (as “More”). the index states he was assessed on 128 acres in Lower Antietam and Sharpsburg Hundred, on a tract called “More’s Delight.” A Richard More was assessed on 50 acres of a tract, “Hunting the Hare” [Assessment of 1783, Index, MSA S-1437 http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/stagser/s1400/s1437/html/1437wa.html]
A Washington Co., MD deed entry shows Daniel Moore and Mary, his wife, of Washington County, selling 50 acres, part of a tract called “Hunting the Hare,” on April 10, 1790, acknowledged by Daniel and dower released by Mary on the same day [Washington County, Maryland Deeds G-7, pp. 44-46]. This deed is the second, chronologically, giving “Mary” as the wife of this Daniel Moore. No marriage record has yet been found for this Daniel Moore, and no known record states who the mother(s) of Daniel’s children was or were. But at least with these land records we have a first name for Daniel’s wife. Since the name matches the wife’s name in the 1792 will “my loving & faithfull Wife Mary”, the data in this deed is some evidence that it was the same Daniel who died testate within a few months of writing his will. While a wife’s death and Daniel’s remarriage between April 1790 and Jan. 1792 are not impossible, spousal information in Deeds is very useful.
Daniel Moore’s immediate neighbors in the 1790 US Federal Census, as the enumerator’s list runs, were John Hyatt, Richard Moore, Daniel Keedy and Elizabeth Rulett [National Archives, Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, Washington County, Maryland; National Archives Micropublication 637, Roll 3, Page 2, Image 375]. As “Daniel Gueting” in German script, this neighbor Daniel Keedy appears to have been a witness to Daniel Moore’s will. Ah, another helpful correlation.
But there is no John Griffith listed here or elsewhere in the County, nor nearby in MD or PA for 1790. Possibly he lived in northern VA (for which no Census survives until 1810) or elsewhere.
The 1800 US Federal Census enumeration is more fruitful. A John Griffith was head of household in Lower Antietam Hundred, Washington Co. Listed just before him was Mary Moore (the eldest female in her household aged 45+ years), and following John Griffith’s listing after three Hoffman households was Daniel Getigh, the possible will witness. [National Archives, Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives Micropublication M32, Lower Anteatam Hundred, Washington County, Maryland, Roll 12, Page 134 (stamped; written pp. 40 and 630), Image 143]. John’s household included 1 male under 10, 1 male aged 26-44 and one female aged 26-44.
John Griffith is not listed as head of household in the 1810 U. S. Federal Census enumeration for this part of Maryland. However, the Washington County, Maryland Regional Library has posted images and transcripts of the 1803-1804 Tax Assessment roll, and John Griffith is listed in Lower Antietam Hundred. He is not assessed on land in the County, but on 2 horses, 4 cattle and 7 sheep [Washington County Taxes, 1803-1804, Lower Antietam Hundred, p. 18; http://www.whilbr.org/itemdetail.aspx?idEntry=5151&dtPointer=8, accessed September 10, 2010]. On the next page, Mary Moore is listed as assessed on a tract of 138 acres called “Moore’s Delight.” This tax list is arranged alphabetically by surname initial, so closeup information on neighborhood populations can not be recovered.
One John Griffith was listed head of household in the 1810 enumeration for Kanawha County, (West) Virginia. While this could be Nancy Moore’s husband, I want to continue searching in Western Maryland.
On June 16, 1801, Richard Moore, of Allegany County, Maryland, signed a Power of Attorney to his “well beloved son Daniel Moore, of Washington County” to recover Richard’s interest in the estate of “my father Daniel Moore . . . deceased of Washington County.” The deed was acknowledged the same day by Richard in Washington Co., and brought for recording by Daniel Moore July 3, 1801 [Washington County, MD Deeds N-13:547]. This suggests the possibility that John and Nancy Griffith also may have moved to or bought land in Allegany County.
A search of Allegany County land documents turned up a treasure trove, which will be described in the next chapter of this saga.
My ancestor Daniel Moore (died about February 1792) wrote a will, in which he mainly allocated rights to his land. It was dated January 1, 1792 and proved March 24, 1792 in Washington County, Maryland [Washington Co., MD Wills A:279-280]. Here is what it said:In the Name of God Amen. I Daniel Moore of Washington County, Maryland, being in an advanced stage of life & infirm of body, but of sound & disposing mind and memory & being desirous to settle all my worldly affairs while my Judgment is sound, do hereby make and ordain this my last Will & Testament in manner following In the first place I give and Bequeath unto my loving & faithfull Wife Mary the whole of my Land and Plantation on which I now live, Containing One Hundred and thirty-Eight Acres together with all my personal Estate of every sort & Denomination during her natural life, she paying my Just Debts & funeral Charges. Secondly I Will and devise unto my Daughter Nancy now the wife of John Griffith my said Land containing One Hundred & thirty-Eight Acres as aforesaid & with all its Appurtenances to be entered upon by my said Daughter Nancy after my said Wifes Decease to be by her held and enjoyed, as her perfect Estate in fee Simple, not subject to the contract or disposal of her said Husband or of any other, but with this express proviso, that she the said Nancy shall pay unto my Son Richard the sum of Seventy pounds Current Money of Maryland, within One year After my said Wifes Decease, or in case of her failure of the said payment, or at her Option she shall cause to be laid off in some part of the said Land thirty Eight acres for the said Richard & in that case I hereby Will & devise the said thirty-Eight acres to my said Son Richard in fee simple forever. Thirdly I Will and ordain that in case my said Daughter Nancy shall depart this life before my said Wife in that case my Land shall be sold After my said Wifes Death and the money arising therefrom equally divided among all my Children or their Representatives. Lastly I hereby Constitute Appoint & ordain my said Wife Mary my Sole and only Executrix of this my Last Will & Testament. In Testimony that this is my only last Will & Testament, I have hereunto set my hand and Seal this First Day of January One thousand Seven hundred & ninety two in presence of the
undersigned Witnesses
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . her . . . . . . . . . . . . her . . . . . . .) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . his
Daniel Gueting & Rachel N Benson Mary // Gueting .) . . . . . . Daniel D M Moore { seal }
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .mark . . . . . . . . . . mark . . . . . . ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .mark
On the Back of the Original Will of the aforesaid Daniel Moore are the following Endorsements to wit, Washington County Ss: On the 24th day of March 1792 Came Mary Moore and made Oath &c. that the Within Instrument of Writing is the true and whole Will & Testament of Daniel Moore late of said County Deceased, that hath come to her hand or possession and that she doth not know of any other. And at the same time came Daniel Gueting & Rachel Benson, two of the Subscribing Witnesses to the within last Will & Testament of Daniel Moore late of said County Deceased & made Oath on the Holy Evangels of Almighty God, that they did see the Testator herein Named Sign & Seal the Will, that they heard him publish, announce and declare the same to be his last Will & Testament, and that to the best of their Apprehension he was at the time of his so doing of sound and disposing mind, memory, and understanding, and that they respectively subscribed their names as Witnesses to this Will in the presence and at the request of the Testator, and in the presence of each other and that they saw Mary Gueting the other Subscribing Witness do the same. Recorded 24th day of March 1792 Certified by
(6 sides). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thomas Belt, Reg'r.
On the face of it, that’s clear enough. Daughter Nancy, wife of John Griffith, and son Richard Moore were to have provisional rights to the land, except if Nancy did not outlive widow Mary.
This Richard Moore had been candidate for my ancestor who arrived in Harrison County, WV about the year 1801, when one of his daughters married there. He bought land there by a deed recorded in 1802. Two of his children’s 1850 and 1860 US Census enumerations stated they were born in Maryland – one in about 1777 and the other about 1780.
Among the MD heads of household for the 1790 enumeration was a Richard Moore in Lower Antietam Hundred, Washington County, Maryland. And was the same one enumerated for 1800 in Georges Creek Hundred, Allegany County, Maryland?
A deed was found in Washington Co., MD, where Richard Moore, of Allegany County, MD, made a Power of Attorney to son Daniel Moore of Washington County, MD to recover Richard's interest in the estate of Richard’s father, Daniel Moore dec'd. [Washington Co., MD Deeds N-13:547, recorded 3 Jul 1801 by Daniel Moore].
So evidence found in the enumerations and this 1801 Power of Attorney pointed to the Richard Moore named in Daniel Moore’s 1792 will. Was the land disposed of by heirs? How was the will implemented? No accounting or other administrative records were found concerning the estate of that Daniel Moore. But deeds again had answers.
The first deed was dated April 19, 1812, by Richard Moore of Harrison County Virginia “Son of Daniel Moore formerly of Washington County....and Margaret, his wife,” who sold to Solomon Dedie Richard’s interest in 138 acres of said Daniel Moore, for $300. The deed was proved May 6, 1812 in the Harrison County, (West) VA Superior Court of Law by the deed’s witnesses, Benjamin Reeder, Richard Moore and Joseph Cunningham, and certified by Benjamin Wilson Junior, Clerk of Court and by Daniel Smith, Judge of General Courts (attesting to Wilson’s identity and authority) [Washington County, Maryland Deeds Y-19:217, recorded May 29, 1812 at the request of Solomon Dedie]. The certification was also recorded on May 29 in the Superior Ct. of Law Order Book 1:178 [Harrison County, West Virginia County Clerk’s Office, Clarksburg, WV]. The Superior Court proceeding was required because the deed’s grantors, Richard and Margaret Moore, lived in a different State from that in which the instrument was to be recorded.
This deed was very useful. It was indexed under the Moore surname as grantor, and I already knew that a Richard Moore was possibly involved in selling the land of Daniel Moore; it gave Richard’s residence in Harrison County and the name of his wife; it gave an approximate date around which other heirs’ deeds would be made, and – most important – it gave the name of the grantee. That meant I could look in the Washington County Deeds Index to find who else had been involved in selling Daniel Moore’s land.
Under Solomon Dedie’s name were several entries:
~To Be Continued in Sarah’s Surprise Part 2~
