Annie O'Neal's Will, Johnston Co., NC 1829

The will of Annie O'Neal

Annie O'Neal was the wife of Zachariah O'Neal who wrote his will in Johnston County, North Carolina in March 1796. Annie wrote her will August 17th, 1829 and it was proved in Johnston County February 1835 court.

I recorded the will of Zachariah O'Neal and his wife Annie because I was looking for the parents of my ancestor Moses O'Neal who wrote his will in Johnston County, North Carolina in 1813. Zachariah O'Neal wrote his will in 1796 which would be an appropriate time for Moses' father to have written his will. Unfortunately, Moses was not mentioned as a child of Zachariah O'Neal.

I have still included Annie's will below with the hopes that it will help another O'Neal researcher. In order to save copying costs, I photographed Annie's will with my iPhone. The transcript is below.

Will of Anna O'Neal, 1835, Johnston Co NC Original Will Records, C.R. 056.801.8, North Carolina State Archives, Photographed by Ginger R. Smith, March 2014; p. 1

Will of Anna O'Neal, 1835, Johnston Co NC Original Will Records, C.R. 056.801.8, North Carolina State Archives, Photographed by Ginger R. Smith, March 2014; p. 2

Will of Anna O'Neal, 1835, Johnston Co NC Original Will Records, C.R. 056.801.8, North Carolina State Archives, Photographed by Ginger R. Smith, March 2014; p. 3

Will of Anna O'Neal, 1835, Johnston Co NC Original Will Records, C.R. 056.801.8, North Carolina State Archives, Photographed by Ginger R. Smith, March 2014; p. 4

The will of Anna O'Neal, written 17 Aug 1829, proved Feb 1835. 

Transcribed by Ginger R Smith, ginger.reney@gmail.com, 28 Sep 2014

In the name of God Amen I Ana Oneal of

the County of Johnston and State of

North Carolina do this 17th day of August

1829 make and ordain this my last 

will and testament in manner and form 

as followith first give and Bequeath to

my son Stephen Oneal fore negros by

the name of Lewis Bransill Charity and Mary

to Him and His Heirs for ever-------

2nd I give and Bequeath to my son Stephen

ONeal all my House hold and kitchen furniture

of every kind and all my stock of every kind

Consisting of Horses Hogs and Cattle and 

all my working tools of every kind. Also two 

Hundred and ninty acres of Land in said

County and adjoining the Lands of Josiah &

Holloman and other for Him and His Heirs

for ever.

3rd I give to my son Micajah Oneal

fifty dollars in money for him and his heirs 

for ever

4th I give to Aley Baley seventy five 

Dollars for she and her heirs for ever

5th I put in the Hands of Stephen ONeal

and Benjamin Haut? my Executors to this

will five negros by the name of Annicka

Gatsey Zilla Terrell and Hennery to be sold 

at _______ of Six Months and when sold

my executors pay the Amount of said bond

into the hands of the guardian of Lurry? 

Haust, Henson Haust, and Willey Haut orphans

of William _ Haust ___ which sum my

daughter Lurry Earp Owes to the above orphans 

to the amount of fore hundred and fifty Dollars

6th my will is that if the said negros over 

pays the sum of fore hundred and fifty 

dollars which my daughter owes to said 

orphan then the residue of said money 

to be equally divided between Lurry

Haust, Hinson Haust, and Willey Haust 

orphan of William _ Haust Est?

7th I appoint my beloved son Stephen

Oneal and Benjamin Haust Executors to 

this my last will and testament in 

witness where I do here unto set

my hand and seal this day and date

above written

              Anna (Her X Mark) ONeal

Attest

Richardson Oneal

A Richardson

State of North Carolina

Johnston County

February Term 1835

Then was the Execution of this deed duly

proven in open court by the oaths of Richardson ONeal one of

the subscribing witness - and Allen Richardson the other ______

witness having been proven to be out of the State his signature 

was duly proven and said will ordered to be recorded. 

          Test Rm Sanders CC

I wasn't sure at first if this Anna was the same Annie, wife of Zachariah O'Neal because Anna only mentioned a couple of the children that Zachariah had mentioned in his will. Did the children die or move away? Or did Anna feel that they had already received their legacies?

Children mentioned in Zachariah's Will (1796):
1. Thomas
2. Winney
3. Creasey
4. Edee
5. Lodowick
6. Stephen
7. Micajah
8. Aley Houst

Children mentioned in Annie's Will (1829):
1. Stephen
2. Micajah
3. Aley Baley (is this the same as Aley Houst above? - the Haust orphans are mentioned)
4. Laurie Earp?

Also, Zachariah willed several negros to his wife Anna named Dick, Peter, and Jinnie. However, in Annie's will, she mentioned negros Lewis, Bransill, Charity, and Mary to go to her son Stephen; and Annicka, Gatsey, Zilla, Ferrell, and Hennery to be sold. What happened to Dick, Peter, and Jinnie? Were they redistributed to Annie's children prior to her writing her will? Did they die? Were they sold or given away to others?

If I were to continue researching this family, these are the steps I would take:

1. Review the Johnston Co Deed records to determine family relationships 
2. Research the 8 children of Zachariah O'Neal to determine why they were not mentioned in their mother Annie's will of 1829 - did they die or did they move away ?
3. Research Aley Houst, Aley Baley, and Laurey Earp and determine their connection to the Houst orphans

AncestryDNA Post 3 - Doing a Surname Search

In Part 1 of my series of posts about my AncestryDNA test, I wrote about one of my closest relative matches and in Part 2, I wrote about those Shaky Leafs you see in your results when AncestryDNA has found a connection in the family tree of you and your match. In Part 3 of my series, I will discuss how I found a connection by using the Surname Search function in AncestryDNA. This can be especially important when trying to narrow down a person as your ancestor or in adding sons and daughters to your ancestral couple. 

I became interested in the CREEKMORE surname while working with an adoptee who had several DNA matches with Jasper Newton Campbell and Dinah Creekmore of Whitley County, Kentucky as their ancestors. I, too, descend from this couple. They were my 5th great-grandparents. 

My goal is to find all my Creekmore matches, evaluate their trees and determine which matches are legit, or, in other words, which matches might share a Creekmore ancestor with me. 

1.  Log in to your Ancestry.com account 

2.  Hover your mouse over the DNA link and when the drop down box appears, click on "View Your DNA Results" - The next page will list your matches in order of relationship - your closest relatives are listed at the top. Any known family members will be listed at the top 

3.  Click the "Search Matches" box in the top right of your match list

4.  Type "Creekmore" into the Search Box. Leave the "Search by location" search box empty for now. Click the Search Button

5.  There are 11 distant cousin matches with "Creekmore" in their trees

6.  Click on the first person's name. This will bring up the pedigree for this match and a list of direct ancestor surnames that appear in both your tree and your match's tree

7.  To find ancestors associated with the Creekmore surname, click on the name in the shared ancestors (yellow) box or scroll down the list of names and click on Creekmore. 

Clicking on the name in the yellow box will bring up a box with your match's list of direct Creekmore ancestors on the left and your list of direct Creekmore ancestors on the right. 

This match has Nancy Ann Creekmore, born 1760 in Grayson, VA and died 1836 in Whitley, KY as his direct ancestor. I have 3 direct Creekmore ancestors – Robert, Ballentine, and Dinah. Ballentine, the oldest, was born in Norfolk Co., VA in 1784. Grayson Co., VA did not form until 1793, but its original county was Orange which eventually was split up into parts of Kentucky and West Virginia. It is possible that our two ancestors descend from a common ancestor, but who that common ancestor is not apparent at this time.

Clicking on the surname in the list below brings up information about that ancestor, including their parents’ names and their list of children. 

8. Click on the “View Full Tree” button to view their ancestor in their online tree. 

9.  Once the match and surname is reviewed, add a note and mark the match as a “favorite” by clicking on the star to the left of the match’s photo. 

I will file this match away as a possible cousin and their ancestor Nancy Ann Creekmore as a possible connection. I am still looking for more solid matches. Let's look at the next match. 

Clicking on the 2nd match provides a Shared Ancestor Hint (aka Shaky Leaf). It suggests that my match and I are connected via our shared ancestors, Ballentine Creekmore and his wife, Mary Lemon Brown. 

According to this "hint," my 5th great-grandmother, Dinah Green Creekmore and my match's 4th great grandfather, Duane Green Berry Creekmore, were siblings and their parents were Ballentine Batchelor Creekmore and Mary Lemon Brown. This makes my match and I 6th cousins 1x removed. According to AncestryDNA, we are predicted as Distant Cousins, with a possible range of 5th to 8th and a low confidence. Our actual relationship of 6th cousins 1x removed fits in with the predicted relationship of 5th to 8th cousins. 

My next step is to see if this match has uploaded their AncestryDNA results to Gedmatch.com. If so, then I can compare their DNA results to my father and grandfather, who are also direct descendants of Ballentine Creekmore and Mary Lemon Brown. If they have not yet uploaded to Gedmatch.com, then I will encourage them to do so. AncestryDNA does not give us access to our chromosome data, so Gedmatch is a good tool to use to view our chromosome data with and to compare to people who tested with other companies. 

I can also compare the chromosome segments that I share with this match to those that I share with another Creekmore descendant who tested with ftDNA. A positive match will help confirm that the Creekmore surname is the connection that I have with this AncestryDNA match. I had always suspected that Duane Creekmore was also the child of Ballentine Creekmore and Mary Lemon Brown, but I was not sure. An autosomal DNA match between me, a descendant of Dinah Creekmore, and my match, a descendant of Duane Creekmore, provides evidence that supports this suspicion. 

I will communicate with this match with the hopes of exchanging information and photos and stories. I will also add their direct line ancestry to my family tree file, thus building out my family tree further.  

Have YOU tested with AncestryDNA? And if so, what connections have you found? Tell us about them in a comment below or email me. 

Additional Reading: 

Working with my Closest Matches - How I found a new cousin on my King side (Part 1)

Those Shaky Leafs - The Shaky Leaf and How I found my Next Match (Part 2)

How my AncestryDNA stands up in Gedmatch - A tale about why it's important to have access to our chromosome data because it's not always what it looks like!

Leaping Into the Unknown - Why Take a DNA test by Judy Russell

Amanuensis Monday: Zachariah O'Neal of Johnston County, North Carolina, 1796

Transylvanian Dutch blog author John Newmark started the Monday blog theme called Amanuensis Monday. According to John, “amanuensis” means:  "A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

For this week's Amanuensis Monday post, I have focused on the will of ZACHARIAH O'NEAL of Johnston County, North Carolina, written 20 March 1796. [1] Zachariah was a farmer, as you will be able to tell from the 400 Acres of Land, stock (animals), and working tools listed in his will below. 

He had a wife named Annie and at least eight children: 

1) Thomas Oneale

2) Winney Oneale

3) Creasey Oneale

4) Edee Oneale

5) Lodowick Oneale

6) Stephen Oneale

7) Micajah Oneale

8) Aley Houst

I like this particular will because it contains information about the land that Zachariah owned and where he got it from and the 3 negros he owned by name - Dick, Jinny, & Peter. Details like this help us to track and prove his children in subsequent generations. 

A little bit more about Zachariah O'Neal: 

He was listed in Captain Houlder's Company in Johnston County, North Carolina in 1787 as having 1 male 21-60 years old, 2 males under 21 and above 60, 5 white females, and 1 black between the age of 12 and 50. [2]

He was also listed on the 1790 Johnston County, North Carolina census with 4 white males under 16 years old, 2 white males over 16 years old, 6 white females, and 1 slave. 

Zachariah wrote his will on March 20th, 1796, giving most everything to his wife, Annie, and then after her death, to his children. 

I do not know when his will was proved. But his wife Annie wrote her will on August 17th, 1829 and it was proved Feb 1835. Annie only mentioned 2 or 3 of her children in her will; I'm guessing that her older children moved away from the area and that is why they were not mentioned in her will. 

Here are the images of Zachariah O'Neal's will. You can click on the image to make it bigger. A transcript of the entire will is below. 

Zachariah O'Neal's will, Johnston Co., NC, 1796, p. 1

Zachariah O'Neal's will, Johnston Co., NC, 1796, p. 2

Zachariah O'Neal's will, Johnston Co., NC, 1796, p. 3

Zachariah O'Neal's will, Johnston Co., NC, 1796, p. 4

The last will and testament of Zacharias O'Neal, Johnston Co., NC [1]

Written 20 Mar 1796

In the name of God Amen the 20th day of March 1796

I Zacharias Oneale of Johnston County in the

State of North Carolina being very sick and weak

in Body but of perfect mind and memory thanks

be given to God for the same and calling to mind

the mortality of my body and knowing that I 

have once to die do make and ordain this my last

will and testament as touching my worldly Estate

wherewith it hath pleased god to bless me with 

in this life I give and demise in the following

manner and form...

Impremis. I give and Bequeath to my loving

son Thomas Oneale four hundred acres of land

in this county being the land I purchased of

Meed Gulley and took a title in my said son 

Thomas Oneals name for the same I give to him

his heirs and assigns for ever he first paying and 

taking up my obligation of one Hundred Dollars

given Meed Gulley for a last payment of said 

land also I give to my said son Thomas Oneal

one Maire of a Sorrel collar and one shot 

gun also the household furniture that I have

given him heretofore in his possession. 

Item, I give and bequeath to my loving friend John 

Ogbon one Sorrel Mair with a saddle and bridle

Item, I give to my loving wife three worke horses

two saddles and bridles also six cows and 

their calves also four head of sheep also one

feather bed and furniture during her life time

Item, I give and bequeath to my loving daughter

Winn Oneale, two cows and calves two head of sheep

also one feather bed and furniture also six heads of 

hogs freely to be by her possessed.

Item, I give and bequeath to my loving daughter

Creasey Oneale two cows and yearlings one

feather bed and furniture six head of 

hogs two sheep freely by her to be possessed

Item, I give and bequeath to my loving daughter 

Edee Oneale two cows and yearlings one feather

bed and furniture six head of hogs two sheep 

freely to be by her to be possessed. 

Item, I give and bequeath to my loving son Lodowick 

Oneale my lower land and plantation on

Little River in this county being the land & 

Plantation I purchased of Stephen Young to

him his heirs and assigns forever also two cows

and yearlings freely by him to be possessed. 

Item, I give to my aforesaid wife, Anne, all the

remainder of my stock of hogs besides that is not

heretofore willed also I give her all my corn and 

meete now laid up for her use to support my 

family on so long as the same will serve her also 

I give to my said wife Anney my negro man

named Dick during the time of her life time

or being my widow and after her death or marriage

I give the said Negro man Dick to my loving son 

Stephen Oneale to him and his heirs and assigns

forever...

Item, I give to my beloved wife Anne the use and 

service of my negro man Peter and negro woman

Jinney during the time of her natural life and 

after my said wifes death I give and bequeath 

to my loving son Micajah Oneale my aforesaid 

negroman Peter to him and his heirs and assigns 

forever. 

Item, I give and bequeath to my loving son Lodowick

Oneale after the death of said wife, my said negro

woman named Jinny to him and his heirs and assigns forever. 

Item, I give to my said wife Anney the use and Privilege

of my lands and plantation whereon we now live

during her natural life time and after the 

death of my said wife I give and bequeath the 

said land and plantation whereon we now live to 

my loving son Micajah Oneal to him his heirs and assigns forever. 

I also give to my said son Micajah Oneale two 

cows and yearlings freely to be by him possessed

I give to my loving wife Anney all the remainder

part of my cattle not before willed also I give 

to my said wife all my dwelling houses and 

kitchen furniture that I have not before 

willed to her during her natural life and 

after her death to be all except one feather bed 

and furniture to be equally to be divided between my 

daughters herenamed that is to say Aley Houst

Winney Oneale, Creasey Oneale, and Edee Oneale

freely to be by them possessed

Item, I give & bequeath to my loving son Stephen

Oneale after the death of my wife on feather bed and furniture

Item, I give and bequeath to my loving son Thomas 

Oneale, one cart and wheeles freeley to be by him possessed. 

Item, I give to my loving wife one cart and wheeles

I also give to my said wife all my working

tooles of every nature with all the residue of

my Estate

I also constitute and appoint my loving wife 

Anney Oneale and my loving son Thomas Oneale 

Execuutrix and Executor of this my last will 

testament revoking and disallowing other and

Former will or wills Executors or Executrixs ratifying

and confirming this and no other to be my 

last will and testament. 

In witness whereof I have herunto set my 

hand and seal the day and year above written

Signed sealed and pronounced to be the last 

will and testament of Zacharius Oneales in the presents of us

T Hollemon

Etheldred Price (his mark)

Sam Oneale (his mark)

                                                    Zacharius Oneale (his mark & seal)

If you descend from this family, I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below or email me directly. 

I have not yet determined if there is a connection between this Zachariah O'Neal and my Moses O'Neal who wrote a will in Johnston County in 1813. I would like to know more information about this Zachariah O'Neal. 

Additional Posts: 

Will of Annie O'Neal, Johnston Co., NC 1829, Wife of Zachariah O'Neal

Sources: 

[1] Johnston County, North Carolina, Original Will Records, Zacharias O'Neal, 1796, C.R. 056.801.8; North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina, copied March 2014. 

[2] "State Census of North Carolina, 1784-1787," Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Sep 2014), Zachariah O'Neal under Capt Houlder's Company, 1787. 

[3] 1790 US Federal Census, Johnston County, North Carolina, population schedule, Zachariah O'Neal; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Sep 2014); NARA Film M637, Roll 7.

Two William Godwins

DNA is a wonderful thing. Family Tree DNA is for the self-starter who isn't afraid to get their hands dirty. AncestryDNA on the other hand, is geared more towards folks who want all the tiny leaves of their family tree to just fall into their lap. No shovel required.

This is fine and dandy, but some of those leaves are falling from the wrong tree if you get my drift.

One of the issues that my Godwin surname project is having is trying to go through page after page of matches to Godwins from the South East, particularly, GA, FL, and AL. We're talking upwards of three to four hundred matches, just on the Godwins alone. It seems this SE group of Godwins were a prolific bunch! Oh, and guess what? They liked to marry their cousins too, making it even more difficult to sort through their matches.

But, I digress. As I was saying... If you have taken the AncestryDNA test, then you know that many of your matches have a tree uploaded to their profile that you, as their match, have access to. Unfortunately, as you are probably aware if you've ever tried to do any research with Ancestry.com, many of those trees are WRONG!

The two biggest errors I am finding in these Godwins trees are:

1. Everyone descends from James Godwin and Mary Parker - who IS this couple anyways? There were several message board posts and articles written in the "Huckleberry Historian" AKA the Sampson Co., NC newsletter that said so and so Godwin was the son of this couple, reference X deed. Let me tell you, this X deed does NOT exist. When I queried the author of these articles and posts, he could not procure the deed. I actually found a copy of the deed he cited and there is absolutely NO reference to any family members at all whatsoever. When I queried him further about the deed he stopped answering my emails. Typical.

2. William Godwin who married Pheriby and died in Conecuh Co., AL between 1840-1850 and William Godwin who married Winnefred and died in Johnston Co., NC in 1845 are one in the same person and they both are the sons of James Godwin and Elizabeth Dawson. This is the problem I would like to address in this post.

There are actually two William Godwins. 

Any genealogist would know this if they did the research.

William Godwin # 1:
There is a William Godwin who lives in GA and AL who is married to a woman named Pheriby. No one knows her last name. That's ok. This William Godwin died in Conecuh Co (now Escambia Co) Alabama in the mid 1840s. His parents are UNKNOWN at this time. We are trying to use DNA analysis to determine who his parents might have been.

William Godwin # 2:
There is also a William Godwin who lives in Johnston Co., NC who is married to a woman name Winnefred. Again, no one knows her last name either. That's ok too. This William Godwin died in Johnston Co., NC on 24 Jul 1845 (actually I'm not sure where this date came from, but it's "accepted."). This William Godwin did not leave a will, but there are estate files pertaining to his death on file in Johnston Co., NC from 1847. His parents were James Godwin and Elizabeth _____ [Dawson?].

If you descend from either of these two families, please correct your trees with the above information. I would like to prevent this mistake from being copied over and over again. If we can set the record straight, then maybe the CORRECT information will start to be copied.

If you would like documentation for the above information, please email me.