Written 29 September 1771, Proved January 1772
In the name of God amen the twentieth Day of September one thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy one Joseph Green of Tryon County and province of North Carolina Planter Being Sick and Weak of body but perfect of mind and memory thanks be to God. Therefore Calling unto mind the Mortality of my body & that it is appointed for all men once to Die do make And ordain this my last Will and testament that is to say Principally and first of all I give and Recommend my Soul into the Hands of God that gave it and for my body I recommend it to the Earth to be buried in a Christian like and Decent manner at the discretion of my Executors Not Doubting but at the General Resurrection I Shall receive the Same Again by the Mighty Power of God and as touching Such Wourdly (sic) Estate Wherewith it Has Pleased God to bless me in this life I give Demise and Dispose of the same in [the following manner & form] First I Give and bequeath to Mary my Dearly Beloved wife the sum of One Hundred Pounds to be raised And levied out of my Estate likewise I Give and bequeath unto William Green my Dearly and Well beloved Son the sum of One Hundred Pounds to be raised And levied out of my Estate likewise I Give and bequeath Unto Anne Green my Dearly and well beloved Daughter the Sum of One Hundred Pounds to be raised And levied out of my Estate likewise I Give and bequeath unto Abraham Green my Dearly and well beloved Son the Sum of One Hundred Pounds to be raised And levied out of my Estate likewise I Give and bequeath unto Isaac Green my Dearly and well beloved Son the Sum of One Hundred Pounds to be raised And levied out of my Estate likewise I Give and bequeath unto Mary Green my Dearly and well beloved Daughter the Sum of One Hundred Pounds to be raised And levied out of my Estate likewise I Give and bequeath unto Jacob Green my Dearly and well beloved Son the Sum of One Hundred Pounds to be raised And levied out of my Estate likewise I Give and bequeath unto Joseph Green my Dearly and well beloved Son the Sum of One Hundred Pounds to be raised And levied out of my Estate Will that Abraham Isaac Jacob Mary & Joseph be sent to School and learnt (sic) to Read and Write a good Commendable Hand and to Cypher so far as the Rule of three and that to be paid out of my Whole Estate be valued and that the sums above mentioned be paid out of lands and tenaments and make and ordain my well beloved wife Mary Green and my Well beloved brother James McEntire my only Executors of this my last Will and testament and I Do Hearby Utterly Disallow Revoke and Disannul All and Every other former Wills and testaments and legacies and bequests & Executors by me in any Ways before this time Named Willed and bequeathed Ratifying and Confirming this and no Other to be my last Will and testament in Witness Whereof I have Hereunto Set my Hand and Seal the Day and year first above Written.
Signed Seales published pronounced and Declared by the sd. Joseph Green as his last Will and testamnet in ye precense of us the Subscribers Viz
Joseph Green (His mark)
Henry Reynolds (His mark)
Alaxander Mcander
Robt McAfee jurrate
Thanks to Barbara Harrel for this below
Minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Tryon Co., NC (Transcribed by Roy Books, P. O. Box 661, Forest City, NC 28043)
The Will of Joseph Green being produced in open court was proved by oaths of Robert McAfee, Henry Reynolds & Alexr. McEntire.
Ordered that Letters Testamentary issue to Mary Green wife and relict of said deceased, and James McEntire, Esqr. for all and singular the goods and chattles, rights and credits of the said deceased. Took oath of Executor.
Ordered that James McEntire, Esquire, be appointed guardian of William Green according to his choice in open court, also guardian of Abraham Green, Isaac Green, Mary Green, Jacob Green and Joseph Green, orphans under the age of fourteen years, children of Joseph Green, deceased. The guardian proposes for seccurity Sam'l Richardson, John Standford and Robert McAfee. Bound in the sum of 1700 pounds proclamation money.
Justices present: Thomas Neel, William Moore and James McEntire, Esquires.
Many thanks to Barbara Harrill who tells us this is a first-hand interview from 1859
DE BOW'S REVIEW, VOLUME XXVII, 1859, page 692-693:About the years 1783 and 1784 many settlers came simultaneously. Among the early settlers who came from abroad was a Mr. Isaac West, who settled the place whereon Mrs. Elizabeth Hughes now lives. He came from York district, and the place from which he removed was about one mile from King's Mountain. He was an active participator in the Revolutionary war. His daugher, MRS. PHOEBE GREEN, mentions among other things that she saw a tory strike him on the head with a sword in his own house. The wound inflicted was very severe, and the room was completely covered with his blood. MRS. GREEN was about nine years old when the battle of King's Mountain was fought, and she heard the firing of the small arms and cannon.
She saw the wives, sisters and mothers of the soldiers who were wounded in that engagement, bearing them off the next day. The scene is represented by her as truly touching; and in relating it, and in speaking of the gloom and sorrow caused by the death of these brave soldiers, her eyes were moistened with tears.
MRS. GREEN gives the following account of an old-fashioned "cotton picking,"which is too good to be lost: In those good old-fashioned times when the high and low, the rich and poor, were alike attired in home spun, made by the industrious and ingenious hand of the busy housewife - when split-bottom chairs, even, was a luxury never dreamed of, and a vehicle, other than a Jersey wagon, an ox-car, or a sled, never contemplated - the neighbors in the various settlements would meet alternately at each other's house to pick the seed out of the cotton and prepare it for the wheel. Those occasions presented a favorable opportunity to "the young folks" to show their preference for each other, and was attended with much merriment. After the evening's labors were finished, they would join in a regular old-fashioned Virginia reel, and keep time with flying feet to the delightful strains of music drawn from a gourd banjo. Thus, the hours flew swiftly on until the rising of the morrow's sun. The supper table teemed under the luxurious meat of bear, deer, and the wild turkey, interspersed invariably with bacon and cabbage, corn-bread and Irish potatoes.
MRS. GREEN regards those days as the happiest of her life, and says that everything in the way of living was plentiful, and all the neighbors were as one family. What a change has since taken place! Mr. Isaac West had for his neighbors when he came ot Greenville, Alexander Glenn, Esq., who settled near where the beautiful and tasteful residence of Dr. Randall Crot now stands; David Leicester, Esq., who settled on the plantation of Dr. O. B. Irvine, two miles east of this town; and James Richie, Esq., who lived upon the place now owned by Mrs. Emily Rowland, two miles from Greenvill C.H., on the road leading to Rutherfordton, N.C. Solomon West, Esq., his brother, settled at the same time the place owned by and upon which Oliver Phillips, Esq., now lives. After all the children of Isaac West, Esq., had grown up and left him, he removed to Tennesee, where he died.
CAPTAIN ISAAC GREEN married MISS PHOEBE WEST (above mentioned) a daughter of Isaac West, Esq., in the year 1790, and settled the place on Mountain Creek now owned by Mrs. Elizabeth Barton, and upon which she now lives.