d. 8 January 1820
Marriage | | Mary Beattie married David Beattie, son of John Beattie and Elinor Gilmore.3,2 |
| | They were first cousins.3 |
Land-Buy | 10 Nov 1786 | In Nov. 1876 David bought 473 acres of land in Washington County, Virginia from [his father] John Beatie. The land was part of the larger tract John Beatie purchased from James Woods. The land sat adjacent to the patent line and land belonging to Mathew Ryburn [which had also originally been part of John Beatie's tract].4 |
Legatee | 17 Sep 1789 | Mary's father wrote his will on September 17th, 1789. His plantation and the majority of his personal estate were left to his daughter Rosannah Stewart and her husband John. Francis left his daughter Mary Beatie a cow.5 |
Widowed | Apr 1814 | Mary was widowed when David died in 1814. His will, written in 1805, specifically left her several Negroes: Joe, Rachel and Milley. The dwelling house and all its furnishings were left in the care of his "well beloved wife Mary" for the benefit of herself and the children.6 |
| | In the years that passed between the time that David wrote his will and the time he died several additional slaves were born on the plantation. But David did not alter his will to devise them. Therefore, in August 1814, Mary and her children met at her home to discuss the division of the additional 6 slaves. It was agreed that Mary would receive a share equal to that of each of her children. The value of each slave had already been determined as part of the probate process so 6 people received a slave while one person received cash. In addition, each person who received a slave also either paid or received cash to make their share equal to the others. Mary received a young female slave named Delilah.7 |
Will | | Mary Beatie wrote at least 2 wills. The first one was drawn for her by John Stewart [her brother-in-law]. Mary desired to devise Delilah and believed that it was her right to do so, but John Stewart expressed the opinion that Delilah was not Mary's property to devise. This upset Mary greatly and moved her to tears. She told Rosannah Stewart [her sister and the wife of John Stewart] that she had intended to give Delilah to Polly [Mary's daughter], the wife of John Clark as she had gotten "none of the land."8,9 |
Will | 17 Oct 1818 | Later Mary decided to have Thomas Edmiston draw up a new will for her which he did on Oct. 17, 1818. Mary spent the previous night at his home as well. She and Thomas's wife Margaret [who was Mary's first cousin once removed and also her niece by marriage] sat up talking after the rest of the family had retired. Mary stated that she intended to give Polly Beaty (the daughter of James Beaty) and Polly Beaty (the daughter of David Beaty) each a Negro, but she did not understand their names, but "Lilah" was one of them. However the next day when Thomas began to draw the will he told Mary that in his opinion she only had a life interest in Delilah and therefore could not devise her.10,11 |
| | The will, as finally written, did not mention Delilah. It did mention Mary's daughter Mary Clark, and her sons William, James and David. And it remembered her niece [sic] Mary Beatie, daughter of David, and her niece [sic] Mary Beatie, daughter of James Beatie. She mentioned her son Armstrong only once, leaving him $1.00 and she asked that her "negro man Joe and Rachel his wife be emancipated" on her death. Mary named her son James as her executor and signed the will in the presence of Thomas Edmiston and Robert B. Edmiston.12 |
Death | 8 Jan 1820 | Mary died on 8 Jan 1820.13 |
Probate Recd | 15 Feb 1820 | Mary's appraisal listed Negroes named Joe, Rachel, Milley, Delila and Jean. It also listed a variety of household furnishings. In addition she held notes on neighborhood people such as David Beatie, Zachariah Shugart, John Clark, Armstrong Beattie and William Allison.14 |
Probate Recd | 18 Jun 1823 | On September 20th, 1820 John Clark, David Beatie and William Beatie signed a document ceritfying that they had each received of James Beatie, executor for Mary Beatie, their respective parts of Mary's estate with the exception of the price of a Negro girl named Liley. A second document, dated June 18th, 1823, acknowledged the receipt of the additional proceeds and released the estate of James Beatie (then deceased) from further liability.15 |