New Jersey Archives, First Series, Vol. XXX (Calendar of Wills, Vol. II, 1730-1750), PDF p. 318 - the will of William Macdonel of Somerset Co., yeoman, dated 19 Sept. 1746 and proved 13 Oct. 1746 (Lib. D, p. 411), with the executors' renunciation of 3 Oct. 1746, the widow's administration bond of 14 Oct. 1746 (Lib. D, p. 413) and the inventory of 3 Oct. 1746.

What this document records

Why this abstract was looked for

[desc] [G.726] t3 asked for a Somerset probate record of BRYAN LEFFERTY, whose gravestone Snell 1881 transcribes at Lamington ("Bryan Lefferty, Esq., 1749, sixty-four", [I.259]) and whom Margaret (Lafferty) Cooper Margaret (Lafferty) Cooper's father: key names - with her own file recording that "Craddock [I.22] entry 202 opens 'Direct evidence for this ancestor is lacking' - Bryan Lefferty's EXISTENCE is his deduction." This is what the search found.

The abstract verbatim

"1746, Sept. 19. Macdonel, William, of Somerset Co., yeoman; will of. Wife, Florrance. Sons - John, William, Daniel, and Richard. All real and personal estate to be sold, one-third to wife and remainder divided among the four sons. Executors - Bryen Lafferty and Daniel McEowne. Witnesses - James Andrew, Jean Gililan, Robt. Levisstone. 'It is ordered by this will that the £50 York money for which Nath. Cooper is bound for me in New York shall be first paid out of my estate.' Proved 13 Oct., 1746. Lib. D, p. 411. 1746, Oct. 3. Renunciation of Bryan Lefferty and Daniel McEowen of the executorship. *1746, Oct. 14. Bond of Florance, widow, as adm'x of the estate of her husband, William Macdonel. Fellow bondsmen - Robert Wilson, John McDaniel. Witnesses - Tinnit Wilson, Wm. McDaniel. Lib. D, p. 413. 1746, Oct. 3. Inventory of personal estate, £173.19.1; made by Daniel McEowen, James McKean*.

What it establishes about bryan lefferty

[desc] He existed, in Somerset County, in 1746, at probate grade - named executor in a proved will and formally renouncing the office a fortnight later. That is the first documentary attestation of him this catalog has held. Until now the catalog's authority was Craddock's deduction and, since [I.259], Snell's reading of a stone. A man trusted with an executorship is an adult of standing, which fits Snell's "Esq." and a death in 1749 aged 64. IT DOES NOT TOUCH HIS CHILDREN, and that is what Margaret (Lafferty) Cooper needs. ⇒ see the null below.

And the null that came with it

[desc] CORRECTED WITHIN THE HOUR - THE NULL BELOW WAS TOO WIDE, AND [A.226] IS THE PROOF.

WHAT I WROTE: that "there is NO will or administration for Bryan Lefferty in the printed New Jersey abstracts for the period covering his death", on the strength of searching four spellings across Vol. XXX (Wills II, 1730-1750) and Vol. XXXII (Wills III, 1751-1760).

WHAT IS WRONG WITH IT: those are two volumes of a long series, and I did not search Vol. XXXIII (Wills IV, 1761-1770). It holds, at PDF p. 246:

"1769, July 20. Leferty, Bryan, of Somerset Co. Int. Adm'x - Mary Leferty, widow of said Bryan. Fellowbondsman - John Gaston, of said place, merchant. Witnesses - William Sickels and Mary Vandeventer. Lib. K, p. 143."

⇒ there IS an administration, it is intestate, it names a widow Mary the catalog had never heard of, and it is dated 1769 - which also opens a conflict with Snell's 1749 stone. All of that is at [A.226].

WHAT SURVIVES OF THE ORIGINAL CLAIM: no will for him appears in Vols XXX or XXXII, and he died intestate per the 1769 administration, so there was never a will to find. The useful residue is that the calendars do not carry an account in the abstracts read so far - and an intestate account is what would name his heirs.

THE LESSON: a negative over a printed series is only as wide as the volumes actually searched, and the original wording did not say which they were in its own summary line. Same shape as this session's CEMETERIES versus BURIAL-PLACES keyword failure.

The cooper in this will and why it is recorded as a question

[desc] "the £50 York money for which Nath. Cooper is bound for me in New York". A Cooper standing bound for a Somerset County yeoman, with the obligation sited in New York, in 1746. A CANDIDATE EXISTS AND IS NOT ASSERTED. Nathan Cooper Nathan Cooper I, b. 9 Jan 1696 Southampton, Suffolk Co., New York, d. 12 Jul 1788 Chester, Morris Co., N.J., would be about fifty in 1746 and his family "settled on Long Island ab. 1700" - so a New York bond is the right shape for him. AGAINST IT: the abstract gives "Nath.", which is Nathaniel as readily as Nathan; Nathan Cooper belongs to [fam.2], which CLAUDE.md names as an out-of-scope confounding line; and nothing in the document places its Cooper in New Jersey at all. ⇒ recorded as a possible identification and nothing more, and no p: row is written for him.

And it is a document of the lamington community

[desc] Two of the names in this abstract are on the Lamington churchyard roster [G.726] read the same day: the witness James Andrew against James Andrew, 1714 - 15 Sep 1755 (memorial 54566267), and - from the same ground's 1740-1820 window - Samuel Barclay, whose "unknown - Jan 1750" memorial matches Snell's transcribed "Samuel Barclay, January, 1750". With Lafferty, McEowen, McKean, McDaniel and Wilson in the same instrument, this is a document of the Ulster-Scots Presbyterian community seated at Lamington - the one Snell says was deeded its churchyard in March 1743.