Amanuensis Monday: 1806 Will of James Combs of Upper Freehold, New Jersey

WILL OF JAMES COMBS

Of Upper Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey

Signed March 19, 1806

Proved March 23, 1813

Monmouth County Wills, Volume A, pages 579-582

I, James Combs, of the township of upper freehold In the County of Monmouth and State of New Jersey, Being of Sound mind And memory, Do make and Publish this for my last will and Testament.

First my Will is I Do Direct and Impower my Executors Herein after named to Sell and Dispose of all my Lands of Every Discription in the way that they Judge most advantagious and for them to execute Lawfull Deeds of Conveyance for the same.

Item.  I give and Devise unto my Beloved wife one good Feather Bed, Bestead, and the necesary Beding and I Direct my Executors to pay out of my Estate as much as shall be sufficient to Support my Widdow comforably for one year after my Decease, and I also give my Executor in trust the sum of Three hundred pounds, which sum I Direct them to put out upon Intrust as soon as they can safely do it.  And to pay the Intrest arising thereon anually as soon as they Recieve it to my Widdow for her support and In Case that Is not sufficient for that purpose they are upon Necessary occasions to Expend so much of the said three hundred pounds as appears to be needfull, which maintainance I give unto my Widdow In lieue of her Right of Dower, and in case any part of the said sum Remains unoccupyed at the Decease of my Widdow after paying for her Burial and other Expences the Residue Is to be devided among my Heirs agreeably to the Distribution hereafter Discribed.

Item.  I give and Devise unto my Daughter Lydia Combs one good Feather Bed, Beadstead and the necessary Beding and also the Sum of Fifteen pounds In money to Be paid by Executor as soon after my Deceas as they Convenently can.  And I Direct my Executor to sell and Dispose of all the Residue and Remainder of my moveable estate and after paying all my just Debts and Burial Charges and Complying with what I have allready Directed, to Devide all the moneys Belonging to my estate Equally among all my Children Sons & Daughters Share and Share and Share alike and In Case any of my Children Decease Before me or Before the Devidend Is made and leaves Lawfull heir or Heirs there Devidend Is to go to them.

And Lastly I nominate and appoint my Friends, Edward Taylor and Samuel Craft, Executors of this my last will and testament.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal this Nineteenth day of the third month called March and the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred and six, 1806.  – James Combs --

Signed, Sealed, Published and Declared by the said James Combs to be his last will and Testament.

-- Noah Cain

--Samuel Evernham

--George Craft his mark

N. B.  The words (heir) & (or) was Interlined before Executing of this Will.

Samuel Evernham, one of the witnesses to the within will, being duly sworn on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, did depose and say, That he saw James Combs, the Testator therein named, sign and seal the same, and heard him publish, pronounce and declare the within writing to be his last will and testament- that at the doing thereof the said Testator was of sound and disposing mind and memory, as far as this Deponent knows and as he verily believes; and that Noah Cain and George Craft, the other subscribing Evidences, were present at the same time, and signed their names as witnesses to the said will, together with this Deponent, in the presence of the said Testator.

--Samuel Evernham--

Sworn at Freehold the 23d day of March 1813 before me- R. Throckmorton, Surrogate

Edward Taylor and Samuel Craft, the Executors in the within Testament named, being duly affirmed according to law, did severally declare and say, That the within Instrument Contains the true last will and testament of James Combs, the Testator therein named, so far as they know and as they verily believe- that they will well and truly perform the same, by paying first the debts of the said deceased and then the legacies in the said Testament specified, so far as the Goods, Chattels and Credits of the said deceased can thereunto extend- that they will make and exhibit into the Surrogates Officies of the County of Monmouth a true and perfect Inventory of all and singular the Goods, Chattels and Credits of the said deceased, that have or shall come to their hands or possession, or the possession of any other person or persons for their use- and render a Just and true account when thereunto lawfully required.

--Edwd Taylor

--Samuel Craft

Affirmed at Freehold the 23d March 1813.

Before me R. Throckmorton, Surrogate

The foregoing Will, being proved Probate was granted by me unto Edward Taylor and Samuel Craft the Executors in the said Will named, the being first duly Affirmed well and truly to perform the same, exhibit a true and perfect Inventory and render a just and true account when thereunto lawfully required.  Given the Surrogate Seal of the County of Monmouth, the day and year last above said.

--R. Throckmorton, Surrogate

DNA shared with a Third Cousin

In a prior post, we were introduced to a third cousin who reached out to me.  The common ancestors are a pair of German great great grandparents who settled in Newark, New Jersey: David Uhl (1834-1884) and Clara Patschke (1840-1914).  I featured pictures of the heirlooms from these ancestors- some passed down through my branch and others through his branch.

Just as the heirlooms from these ancestors were dispersed to the succeeding generations, so was DNA.  This cousin kindly added his DNA to the ongoing genetic genealogy studies of the family at 23andMe.

My father and his three siblings all share autosomal DNA with this third cousin.

 The amount of shared DNA for three of the siblings is on the high end, while the other sibling is on the low end, sharing only 43 cM.

This picture represents where on each chromosome these 3rd cousins match.  The colored lines represent segments of DNA that traveled four generations from David Uhl and Clara Patschke to their great great grandchildren.

Many people- "DNA Cousins"- match my father and his siblings on these segments.  If these DNA Cousins also match the known third cousin, then we know to look into the branch of our family that holds David Uhl and Clara Patschke.  I will have information that the DNA Cousins do not, and vice versa, and we will break down brick walls.

When compared to my father and his two children (my sister and me), we see interesting results.  I inherited most of my father's DNA that he shares with this third cousin.  My sister received almost nothing:  13 cm over two segments.  This is such a small amount that a DNA testing company may not even recognize it as a match on its own.  Imagine if my sister were the only one who tested her DNA.  A match this small would likely be disregarded, yet it is fully solvable based on surnames and locations.

Two years ago, we compared DNA to another third cousin from a different branch- great great grandparents Calvin Cook (1826-1889) and Mary Neal (1830-1898).  The amount of shared DNA was lower than what we see with the Uhl/Patschke cousin, with a low of 70 cM to a high of 121 cM.  The next generation- my sister and me- inherited none of this DNA.

Long Single Segment DNA Matches

New close matches appeared at 23andMe for my father and one of his siblings.

The person who shares 1.02% over three segments could be a 2nd to 4th cousin, which is workable on my end.  The shared ancestors could be as close as great grandparents, or a little more distant if this is a half relation.

Most intriguing are the two people who share just one segment because the segment is extremely long.  They may be sisters:  they appeared at the same time, share a maternal haplogroup (J1c2) with each other, and both match in the same manner- one very long segment.

No other information is revealed about these people.  I initiated contact through 23andMe's messaging system.  Most matches never answer.  My paternal tree is pretty full with or without input from these individuals, though their DNA comparisons would certainly help me and others.  I can imagine the grief that an adopted person would feel, having these close matches dangling in front of them, ignoring requests to explore their familial ties.

Any thoughts on the rarity of sharing just one very long segment?