Will of Christopher Fitz Simons — closing, witnesses, and probate (page 2 of 2)
Book 4, Page 2 ·1782–1785
Transcription
The page is headed WILL OF CHRISTOPHER FITZ SIMONS PAGE 2 at top center; it is paginated as p. 199 of the source volume.
hereby revoking all former Wills by me made. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal at Charles town aforesaid, the twenty third day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty two.
Christopher Fitz Simons (L.S.)
Signed, Sealed, Published, Pronounced and Declared by the Testator, Christopher Fitz Simons to be his last Will and Testament in the Presence of us, who, at his Request, in his Presence, and in the Presence of each other, have subscribed our Names as Witnesses, hereto.
James Wright William Davis Malcom Brown
Proved before Charles Lining Esqr. O.C.T.D. July 10, 1783. At same time qualified Christopher Fits Simons Exor. ------
March 11, 1785 qualified Thomas Fuller, the younger, Exor.
Examined } C.L. 5 Co.Sh }
MISSING PARTS OF THIS WILL DESTROYED IN ORIGINAL WILL BOOK RECORDED IN WILL BOOK A 1783-86 Page 166
Source: Charleston, South Carolina probate Will Book A, 1783-1786, page 166. Typewritten transcription reproduced from FamilySearch image 939L-JXS1-B7, in the public domain.
AI Notes
Closing portion of the September 23, 1782 will of Christopher Fitz Simons of Charles Town. Includes the testator’s signature, the three witnesses, the probate dates (the testator’s nephew Christopher qualified as executor July 10, 1783, immediately after probate; Thomas Fuller the younger qualified March 11, 1785), and the note that the original handwritten will was partly destroyed before being copied. The lower half of the page begins an unrelated will (Peter Bocquet the elder) and is not transcribed here.
The bottom half of the same source-volume page begins an unrelated will (the testator is Peter Bocquet the elder of Charles Town); it has no bearing on this document and is not reproduced here.
Two facts on this page resolve points referenced but never spelled out in the bound albums. First, the nephew Christopher Fitz Simons qualified as executor on July 10, 1783 — the same day the will was proved. The W. Huger memorandum on page 003 and the album record on page 023 both place the nephew’s arrival at Charleston in 1783; this probate date is consistent with — and likely the immediate occasion of — that arrival. Second, the marker “MISSING PARTS OF THIS WILL DESTROYED IN ORIGINAL WILL BOOK” explains the family memoranda’s vague references (“part destroyed”, on page 025) and clarifies that the typewritten copy preserved here is not a clean retranscription of an intact original but a partial recovery from a damaged probate-book entry. The three witnesses — James Wright, William Davis, Malcom Brown — are named verbatim on page 025’s abstract.