Document A.54 · probate abstract · transcription: verbatim
Will of Cornelius Ludlow of Morris Co., written 27 October 1795, proved 13 January 1813 — File 1492N, abstracted in NJ Archives Vol. 41.
- repository
- Published archival abstract
- collection
- New Jersey Archives, First Series, Volume 41 — Abstracts of Wills 1810-1813
- identifier
- The Ludlow, Cornelius entry; the abstract cites File 1492 N
- date
- 1795-10-27
What is transcribed: The complete Cornelius Ludlow entry. The underlying loose file 1492N has not been pulled.
People named
| As written | Role | Identified as | What this document says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ludlow, Cornelius | testator | Lt Col Cornelius Ludlow | residence: Morris Co., New Jersey probate: 13 Jan 1813 |
| Polly | spouse | ||
| Benjamin | child | ||
| Israel | child | ||
| John | child | ||
| William | child | ||
| Martha Ramsden | child | ||
| Elizabeth Day | child | ||
| Polly Pierson | grandchild | ||
| Sineus Pierson | grandchild | ||
| Betsey Pierson | grandchild | ||
| John Roll | witness | ||
| Henry Rogers | witness | ||
| Ludlow Squier | witness | ||
| [an unnamed girl] | enslaved |
What this document records
Seventeen years between
WRITTEN 1795, PROVED 1813 — SEVENTEEN YEARS, AND IT CHANGES HOW THE WILL READS. The dispositions describe his family as it stood in 1795, not at his death. The clearest consequence: son Israel takes £100 in a will written nine years before Israel died in 1804 — so a legacy to a man who predeceased the testator stands unamended in the proved text. ⇒ do not read the beneficiary list as a list of survivors.
The children
The will enumerates the children, which is what makes it valuable: sons Benjamin (residuary heir and executor), Israel, John and William; daughters Martha Ramsden and Elizabeth Day; and three grandchildren Polly, Sineus and Betsey Pierson sharing £200 ⇒ implying a deceased Pierson daughter the will does not name.
The wife
Wife "Polly" is alive in 1795 and takes £200, the household goods and "the negro girl she brought to my home", expressly IN LIEU OF DOWER. A bequest in lieu of dower is a bargain, not a gift — she is being offered these instead of her legal third.
William already portioned
Son William "has already received lands or property" ⇒ portioned in the testator's lifetime, so his absence from the money bequests is not disinheritance.
A person enslaved
"the negro girl she brought to my home" — an unnamed enslaved girl, treated as property brought into the marriage. Recorded because the catalog records what documents say.
Transcription and notes
Provenance, the seventeen-year gap between writing and proving, the children's enumeration
and the in-lieu-of-dower bargain are all in the source: and coverage: headers and are not
repeated here. The family reconstruction is on [p.52].
Verbatim — abstract entry from NJ Archives Vol 41 (Abstracts of Wills 1810-1813)
1795, Oct. 27. Ludlow, Cornelius, of Morris Co.; will of. Wife, Polly, £200, all the household goods and the negro girl she brought to my home, in lieu of dower. Two daughters, Martha Ramsden, and Elizabeth Day, each £200. Three grandchildren, Polly, Sineus, and Betsey Pierson, £200, to be divided between them. Son, Israel, £100. Son, John, an obligation for £104, hereby discharging him from the same. Son, William, has already received lands or property. All residue of all estate to son, Benjamin. Executor — son, Benjamin. Witnesses — John Roll, Henry Rogers, Ludlow Squier. Proved Jan. 13, 1813. File 1492 N.