Document A.16 · probate abstract · transcription: verbatim
Honeyman, Calendar of New Jersey Wills Vol. II 1730–1750 (NJ Archives 1st Series Vol. XXX), p. 495 — the published abstract of Elias Van Court's 1750 will, naming "brother-in-law Daniell Cooper" an executor.
- repository
- Published archival abstract
- collection
- Honeyman, A. Van Doren, ed., Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Administrations, etc., Volume II 1730-1750 = New Jersey Archives, First Series, Volume XXX. New Jersey Historical Society, Newark.
- identifier
- p. 495
- date
- 1750-04-04
What is transcribed: The complete Van Court entry on p. 495, plus the 1750 inventory line that follows it. The neighbouring 1731 inventory fragment and the 1745 Van Culin entry are transcribed only as far as the image shows, purely as page context.
People named
| As written | Role | Identified as | What this document says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Van Court, Elias | testator | Elias Van Court Sr | residence: Piscataway, Middlesex Co., New Jersey occupation: cordwainer probate: 23 Aug 1750 |
| Ann | spouse | Anne (Cooper) Van Court ?–1779 | |
| Daniell Cooper | executor | Daniel Cooper Sr 1695–1795 probable | |
| Moses | child | ||
| Eliass | child | Elias Van Court Jr 1719 | |
| Daniell | child | ||
| Agness | child | ||
| Jane | child | ||
| Ann | child | ||
| Elizabeth | child | ||
| Thomas | child | ||
| Samuel | child | Samuel Van Court 1730–1777 | |
| John | child | ||
| Michael | child | Michael Van Court | |
| Benjamin Runyon | witness | ||
| Jare Sebring | witness | ||
| Edward Willmott | witness | ||
| John Vail | appraiser | ||
| Peter Williamson | appraiser |
What this document records
It is an abstract not the will
THREE RENDERINGS OF ONE WILL EXIST, AND THIS IS THE LEAST AUTHORITATIVE. [A.68] is the loose-paper ORIGINAL (NJSA File 2413-2421L, delivered 2026-05-26) and carries Daniel Cooper's actual autograph; [A.12] is the bound Liber E recorded copy (pp. 449-451); this entry is Honeyman's printed abstract of the same instrument. ⇒ cite [A.68]. This entry is worth citing for what the published abstract asserts — which is what other researchers have been reading for a century.
It corrected a 12
THIS ABSTRACT CAUGHT FOUR ERRORS IN [A.12]'s ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPTION, which is why it is kept rather than discarded as merely derivative: [A.12] had read a child as "Phebe (?)" where the name is Moses; had the adult sons with portions as "John and Daniel" where they are Eliass and Daniell; had them holding "lands not mentioned" rather than "had their portions"; and dated the inventory 1759 rather than 1750. Those readings were removed from [A.12] when it was gutted on 2026-07-11 and must not be resurrected from git.
The brother in law phrase
"brother-in-law" IS IN THE WILL BODY, NOT HONEYMAN'S EDITORIAL VOICE — verified 2026-05-03 against a high-resolution crop of the [A.12] register scan, which reads "my Son Moses VanCourt and my brother in Law Daniel Cooper". ⇒ the kinship is attested by the document itself and does not depend on any signature-comparison work. What the phrase MEANS, and WHICH Daniel Cooper it is, are separate questions — argued on Anne (Cooper) Van Court and Daniel Cooper Sr, not here.
The moses problem
HONEYMAN CALLS NINE CHILDREN "all under age" AND AT LEAST TWO OF THEM WERE NOT. Against Monnette's birth dates from the Van Court family French Testament Bible ([I.30] p. 635), Moses was ~29 and Agnes ~24 in 1750. And Abram (b. 1732) is not mentioned at all. Recorded as a discrepancy between two sources, not resolved here — the argument is on Elias Van Court Sr. Resolution needs the loose original, [A.68].
The witness name
Honeyman genuinely prints "Jare Sebring" — confirmed 2026-09-01 from the volume PDF itself, not the screenshot; [A.12]'s earlier reading was "Jane Sebring". Both recorded; neither adopted. [A.68] governs.
Transcription and notes
Provenance, the three-rendering hierarchy, the four errors this abstract corrected in [A.12],
the "all under age" discrepancy and the Jare/Jane witness reading are all in the source: and
coverage: headers and are not repeated here. What the "brother-in-law" phrase means, and
which Daniel Cooper it names, are argued on [p.3], [p.25] and [p.1].
Verbatim transcription (per user-supplied image 2026-05-03)
1731, Sept. 20. Inventory (amount lacking); made by Isaac Stelle and
___.
1750, April 4. Van Court, Elias, of Piscataway, Middlesex Co.,
cordwainer; will of. Wife, Ann, all real and personal estate as long
as she lives. Children—Agness, Jane, Ann, Elizabeth, Moses, Thomas,
Samuel, John and Michael, all under age. Sons, Eliass and Daniell,
have had their portions. Executors—wife, son Moses, and brother-in-
law Daniell Cooper. Witnesses—Benjamin Runyon, Jare Sebring,
Edward Willmott. Proved Aug. 23, 1750. Lib. E, p. 449.
1750, Aug. 24. Inventory, £258.16.1; made by John Vail and Peter
Williamson.
1745, July 22. Van Culin, Jacobus, of Salem Co., yeoman; will of. ...