Will of Paul Pritchard — closing, executors, witnesses, and probate (page 4 of 4)
Book 4, Page 6 ·1791
Transcription
The page is headed Will of Paul Pritchard Page 4 at top center; it is paginated as p. 966 of the source volume.
towards making up the deficiency, and in Case there should be any Overplus arising from the Debts due to me after paying my Debts and the said Legacies, it is my Will it be equally divided amongst them. Lastly I do appoint my Sons William and Paul, my Son in Law Christopher Fitzsimons and my Friend Thomas Winstanly Executors of this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking all former Wills by me made. In Witnefs whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal The Tenth day of November One thousand Seven hundred and Ninety One.
Paul Pritchard (L.S.)
Signed, Sealed published, pronounced and declared by the Testator to be his last Will and Testament in the presence of us, who in his presence & in the presence of each other have at his request, signed our Names hereto as Witnefses. The fourth line & part of the fifth in this page being first struck out.
Brian Cape Edward Legge Jeremiah Brower
Proved before Charles Lining Esquire O.C.T.D. December 14, 1791.
At same Time qualified Christopher Fitzsimons and Thomas Winstanley Executors.
December 19, 1791. Qualified William Pritchard Executor.
Examined } C.L. 61 14 Co. Sh. }
Recorded in Will book ‘B’ 1786-93 Page 613
Source: Charleston, South Carolina probate Will Book B, 1786-1793, page 613. Typewritten transcription reproduced from FamilySearch image 939L-J49Y-KX, in the public domain.
AI Notes
Closing portion of the November 10, 1791 will of Paul Pritchard. Names four executors: sons William and Paul, son-in-law Christopher Fitzsimons, and friend Thomas Winstanley. Three witnesses: Brian Cape (also named in the body as an arbitrator), Edward Legge, and Jeremiah Brower. Will proved before Charles Lining O.C.T.D. on December 14, 1791; Christopher Fitzsimons and Thomas Winstanley qualified as executors the same day; William Pritchard qualified five days later, on December 19, 1791. Recorded in Will Book ‘B’ 1786-93, page 613.
Two of this page’s facts decide questions the bound albums had left half-answered. First, Christopher Fitzsimons qualified as a Pritchard executor on the same day the will was proved (14 December 1791) — placing him in Charleston and engaged in family business roughly three years after his 1788 marriage to Catharine Pritchard. Second, the witness Brian Cape is the same man Paul names earlier in the will as an arbitrator for the Pritchard Hamilton & Company partnership — a notable trust placement, since one usually does not appoint the same person both as a witness to one’s will and as the arbitrator of one’s outstanding business. The probate official Charles Lining, O.C.T.D., is the same officer who proved the 1782 will of Christopher FitzSimons the bachelor uncle (document 2) eight years earlier. The 14 December 1791 probate date matches verbatim the citation given in the album’s typescript memorandum on page 024.