My great great grandfather, Anderson Chick, and his mother, Eliza were owned by Pettus Chick in Union County, South Carolina. I was able to trace Anderson back to 1870 with the help of living grandchildren.
In 1870 and 1880, Anderson and his mother, Eliza lived next to Pettus and his wife Sarah. I found a great nephew of Pettus who said that according to the oral history, Pettus and Sarah never had children. Pettus supposedly had a child outside of this marriage with a slave woman.
Will of Pettus Chick
I discovered a transcript to a will for Pettus at the Union County Public Library recorded on March 19, 1897:
I, Pettus W. Chick, planter, do make and declare the following pages of writing to be my last will and testament, hereby revoking any and all wills by me heretofore made, to wit:
First--I do nominate and appoint my well beloved wife, Sarah E. Chick, and my friends, Robert McLaughlin and Young Pope, as executors of this my last will and testament--and I direct my said executors to pay all my just debts as soon after my death as practicable.
Second--I give unto my neice, Martha Catharine, daughter of my brother, William Chick, deceased, absolutely the sum of five hundred dollars to be paid to her at the death of my said wife, Sarah E. Chick but without interest until after the death of my said wife.
Third--I direct my said executors to present to my neice, Mrs. Sallie H. F. Pope as an absolute gift, my silver pitcher.
Fourth--I do give and bequeath unto my wife, Sarah E. Chick, absolutely all my household and kitchen furniture and all my silver plates and gold watch and also my stock in the Memphis and Charleston Railroad Company.
Fifth--I do give, grant devise, and bequeath unto my said wife, Sarah E. Chick, all the balance of my estate both real and personal for and during her natural life.--with the power to sell any of my personal property including stocks and bonds, but with the proviso that my said wife shall account for any and all personal property she may so sell but without any interest thereon during her natural life.
Sixth--At the death of my said wife, Sarah E. Chick, I do give, devise, and bequeath unto Eliza, commonly called Little Eliza, (my cook) and Myra Dawkins, share and share alike, each during her natural life, that portion of my estate, starting where the Charleston road crossed the old Avery Ferry road to the gate--thence down the Mill Road across the Caldwell Spring branch to the lands owned by the State of South Carolina, thence down to a Rock Corner on the Mill Road--thence to John Oxner's land--thence up the Charleston Road to the stating point, containing one hundred and fifty acres more or less, situated in the County of Newberry in the State of South Carolina. The share herein given to Eliza, commonly called Little Eliza, (my cook) for her life, shall at her death vest in fee simple in her two children: Anderson and Pettus, And the share herein given to Myra Dawkins, for her life, shall at her death vest in her in fee simple per stiepes.
Seventh--I do give and bequesth unto John A. Henderson, son of James M? Henderson, deceased, the sum of five hundred dollars, to be paid at the death of my said wife but without interest.
Eighth--I do will and direct that after the termination of the life of my said wife in my estate as declared in the fifth clause of this my last will and testament--one half of all my estate both real and personal, left by me, excepting the bequeaths subscribed in the second, third, fourth, and seventh clauses of this my last will and testament--shall go to vest in fee simple in whomsoever, my wife the said Sarah E. Chick shall by deed or will direct the remaining one half of my whole estate, with the exceptions already in this the eighth clause described, shall go to vest, in my two sisters, Mrs. Louise Farr and Mrs. Wilhemina Chapin in equal shares, to be by them enjoyed during their natural lives and the share of ech of them after death shall vest in fee simple in their respective ipm per ssteipes, But it is expressly provided that either Louisa or the said Wilhelmina, or any of their ipm, should or shall bring suit of any kind against the estate or seek to defeat the expressed objects of this my last will and testament, by the institute of legal proceedings so instituted by either of the said Louisa or Wilhelmina or both of them, or any one or all of their respective ipm, shall operate to forfeit any and all rights, interest, and estate under this my last will and testament, so forfeited shall vest in and be distributable amongst my heirs at law, next of kin and distributed according to the Statutes in the State aforesaid regulating the distribution of the interstates estate--expecting from any share thereunder the person or persons who shall have instituted such a suit or legal proceedings hereinbefore referred to.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal as this the 4th day of AUGUST IN THE YEAR OF LORD, 1877.
Signed, sealed and declared to be the last will and testament by Pettus W. Chick in our presence as the subscribing witnesses and we have his presence and in the presence of each other signed our names hereto.
B. Hillaybin, W. D. Hardy, J. E. Renwick
CODICIL
I bequeath all I have to Sallie Pope all the right I have in a judgement I held against W. Y. Fair forever, this 11th day of August 1873 1877
E. H. Whitney, L. Shelton, L. L. Henderson
Pettus W. Chick (LS)
Recorded in willbook D pages 152, 153, 154
Box 68 package 1
Recorded March 19th 1897
David Johnson (P. J.)
Anderson Chick
Pettus wills land to Eliza and her two children, Anderson and Pettus, upon the death of his wife, Sarah. I was intrigued by the fact that Pettus included Eliza and her children in the will with the stipulation that if his sisters sue them after his death, they would forfeit their portions. The stipulations in this record among other observations lead me to believe there may be a connection between Anderson and the former slave owner, Pettus.
Therefore, I have been careful to also research Pettus and his ancestors further in case other clues exist. I was able to find a will at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History which links Pettus to his father, Burwell Chick. Burwell migrated from Hanover County, Virginia according to a biography I discovered at Heritage Quest.
This has extended the pedigree for Pettus as follows:
Pettus Chick
Burwell Chick (father)
William Chick and Jean Ragland Chick (b. 1755)
The book I discovered on Heritage Quest is entitled:
Genealogy of the Ragland families : and numerous other families of prominence in America with whom they have intermarried, by Miriam Margaret Strong, 1928.
The author descended from General Pettus Ragland of Hanover County. I am fortunate that she included the Chick line. Next, I will find historical documentation for each generation back to William Chick.
Wiki Contribution
I went to the FamilySearch Wiki article: Hanover County, Virginia Genealogy to discover that neither the Ragland nor the Chick surnames were listed in that. I added this resource here:
Hanover County, Virginia Genealogy, and I added the surnames Chick and Ragland since Burwell Chick migrated from the same place.
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Will of Pettus W. Chick, Union County, South Carolina Wills Recorded in Book "D" 1848-1900, Recorded in will book D pages 152, 153, 154, Union County Public Library.
Genealogy of the Ragland families : and numerous other families of prominence in America with whom they have intermarried, St. Louis, Mo.: unknown, 1928, 129 pgs, pg 44, Heritage Quest:
http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/hqoweb/library/do/books/results/image?urn=urn:proquest:US;glhbooks;Genealogy-glh12579716;52;-1;&polarity=&scale= Date accessed: Jan 24, 2011.
