Document A.106 · will register copy · transcription: verbatim
Will of Elizabeth Gaines of Scott Co., Kentucky, dated 1 January 1878 — Scott Co. Will Book pp. 54–55. Leaves “all the land which I inherited from my father” to her husband for life, then to her own relatives.
- repository
- Scott County, Kentucky — county Will Book
- identifier
- Recorded at pp. 54-55; margin annotation "Pr 113."
- date
- 1878-01-01
What is transcribed: The complete will. No inventory or probate act is captured.
People named
| As written | Role | Identified as | What this document says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Gaines | testator | Elizabeth (Cooper) Gaines 1813–1878 | residence: Scott Co., Kentucky death: 1878 |
| William Gaines | spouse | ||
| [her father] | referenced | Daniel Cooper 1779–1850 | |
| [Rachel A. (Cooper) Downing] | referenced | Rachel A (Cooper) Downing 1826–1877 | |
| Geo. W. Downing | witness | ||
| Jno. R. Hall | witness |
What this document records
It is duplicated at a110
[A.110] IS THE SAME WILL, FROM THE SAME IMAGE FILE, catalogued 2026-07-12 — five days after this entry — by a sweep that did not find this one. Neither is deleted; each carries something the other lacks. [A.110] supplies the volume designation (Scott Co. Will Book Vol. R-S, 1874-1896), which this entry gives only as “Will Book”. And the duplication runs deeper: A.110 assigns the testatrix to RETIRED where this entry assigns her to Elizabeth (Cooper) Gaines — two person files for one woman. Tracked at [A.110].
The phrase that does the work
"All the land which I inherited from my father." That is the will's whole genealogical value: it says she inherited land from her father, in Scott Co., Kentucky. It does not name him. The catalog reads her as a daughter of Daniel Cooper Daniel Cooper III, a Scott Co. landowner, on [L.4] plus the family cluster — argued at Elizabeth (Cooper) Gaines, not here.
She had no children
The land goes to her husband for life, and then "to such heirs as may be living, of my own relatives" — collaterals, not issue. ⇒ no children, which matches [L.4]'s "0 desc." A devise to collaterals is strong evidence of childlessness and is not a statement of it.
The witness is family
Geo. W. Downing, one of the two witnesses, is the husband of her sister Rachel A. Cooper Rachel A (Cooper) Downing — and it was at Downing's residence that Elizabeth married in 1853 ([C.65]). The will says none of that; it is a catalog observation about who was in the room.
It dates her
Will dated 1 January 1878, "being of sound mind but in feeble health", probated the same year ⇒ consistent with [L.4]'s July 1878 death.
Transcription and notes
Provenance, the inherited-from-my-father phrase and what it does and does not say, her
childlessness, and the family witness are all in the source: and coverage: headers and are not
repeated here.
Data from the record [verbatim]
- Testatrix: Elizabeth Gaines.
- Preamble: "I, Elizabeth Gaines, being of sound mind but in feeble health, desire to make this my last Will and testament."
- First: "I desire after my death that all the land which I inherited from my father, and all personal property of which I am possessed at the time of my death, shall go to my husband William Gaines. The land he is to have the use and benefit of during his natural life."
- Second: "After his death … the land is to be divided, or the proceeds of the sale of said land, and given to such heirs as may be living, of my own relatives; any personal property of which I may be possessed at the time of my death I give to my husband Wm. Gaines to have and to hold forever."
- Dated: January 1st, 1878.
- Signature: Elizabeth Gaines.
- Witnesses: Geo. W. Downing, Jno. R. Hall.