Sunday, June 20, 2010

Tarry Milbourn / Torry Milbourn / Milburn

Tarry Milbourn was enslaved by Nathan Milbourn, Jr. but in his will (819/1836 - Monroe County) he ordered that his entire estate except "my slave Tarry" be sold and that Tarry "have a comfortable support out of my estate so long as she lives and the privilege of choosing a house to live at if the same may be decreed by my executor". He continues "Any of my estate that may be left after supporting Tarry I desire to be equally divided between my brothers and sisters". This man's father's will was dated 7/22/1808 and shows no enslaved individuals. Tarry shows up at 100 y.o. in the 1850 Census in Monroe County. At this time she is a Free Inhabitant. (her name looks like Fanny Milburn - however, she is the ONLY Black Milbourn/Milburn entry that I have and I am confident that it is the same person). She appears again at 110y old in 1860 as a Free Inhabitant in MC with Ann Hargo. See the case of Hinton v. Millburn's Executors, 23 W. Va. 166 (12/08/1883) which is relative to the Will of Nathan Milburn where he disposes of his property "my slave Torry excepted". The Will was sadmitted to probate in the County of Monroe on 9/19/1836. Tarry/Torry outlived practically all of the Milburn heirs. The lawsuit indicates that she died in 2/1862 and was over 100 years old.

1 comment:

V. Sutphin said...

Nathan Milbourn is my 3rd great granduncle. I am very interested in knowing more about the lawsuit "Hinton v. Melbourne's Executors, 23 WVa 166". In searching for my 3rd Ggrandfather's will, it was discovered that the envelope is at the courthouse, but the contents were missing. I suspect that Mr. Hinton "borrowed" the document at some point to use in the suit. I'm trying to disprove some misinformation published in a book and the will would be of interest to me. Perhaps the suit itself would help me.
I'm also very interested in finding more information on Tarry Milbourn. I'm very proud of Nathan Milbourn for taking care of someone who meant a lot to him, not to mention her having lived to 110!