Will of Elijah Herndon
On December 29, 1847, Elijah Herndon of Washington Trace Road
near Carthage, made a will naming his wife Catherine and three minor
children, Fletcher, Demarious and Margaret. Also named were grandson
Elijah, son of eldest son John; James, executor; George and daughters Isabel
Rusk, Eliza Dicken, Frances Dameron, Susan Lancaster, Eveline Young and Mary
Bryan. Fletcher was to have the home place. He freed 1 slave, Ben
and four others, Sofia, Mortimer, Robert and Elzina were to remain together with
the children. He gave one enslaved girl named Hester to Susan, and one
girl named Amy to Evaline. The other four were to be freed when all
children reached 21. An appendix was added on July 8, 1849 to sell some
land to pay debts on newly purchased land.
Elijah died on July 26, 1849 and his will was
recorded on August 27, 1849. He was buried in the Mt. Gilead ME Church
Cemetery. The bill of sale of some of his belongings was recorded March 25,
1850. The enslaved man, Ben was never freed because he died on June 14,
1849 and his death was recorded in the Herndon Family Bible. It is likely that
Ben was buried in the Mt. Gilead Methodist Evangelical Church Cemetery section
that was reserved for enslaved people.