WILLIAM CAUSEY'S WILL AND SLAVE HOLDINGS

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		  LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF WILLIAM CAUSEY
---executed July 3, 1828, probated July 21, 1828, Amite Co. Willbook I, p. 64.

	"In the name of God, Amen. I, William Causey of the County of Amite and 
State of Mississippi, being of sound mind and memory, but frail in body, knowing 
the uncertainty of life do now make and ordain this my last will and testament in 
manner and form following, viz. I commend my soul to God thro Jesus Christ my only 
Savior and direct that my body after death, be carried by direction of my wife and 
children in hope of a glorious ressurection. As to my will that it be desposed of 
in the following manner:

	1. I will and bequeth to my beloved wife, Susan Causey, two negro women; 
one named Flora, the other an old woman named Philis. Also a riding horse, saddle 
and bridle, a feather bed, bed stead, and furniture. Also two cows and calves. I 
also bequeath to my beloved wife a plantation on which I live together with the 
present crop, horses, and household furniture during her natural life or widowhood; 
in the event of her death or marriage, then the above plantation be rented to defray 
the expenses of the education of my children by her and after all have received equal 
education, I will that my land be equally divided or sold and the proceeds equally 
divided between my four sons, Alexander Scott Causey, Seaborn Tarrant Causey, Ransom 
Jackson Causey, and Zachariah Richardson Causey. Also my wagon and two yokes of oxen 
for the use of my family.
	2. I will and bequeath to my son Alexander Scott Causey a negro boy named 
Ephriam.  Also a cow and calf.
	3. I will and bequeath to my son Seaborn Tarrant Causey a negro named Marsh, 
also a cow and calf.
	4. I will and bequeath to my son Ransom Jackson Causey a negro girl named 
Nancy, also a cow and a calf.
	5. I will and bequeath to my daughter Anna Causey a negro named Matilda, also 
one feather bed, bed stead and firniture, also one cow and calf. 
	6. I will and bequeath to my son Zachariah Richardson Causey a negro named 
Issac, also one cow and a calf.
	7. I will and bequeath to my daughter Cynthia Caroline Causey a negro girl 
named Mary, also one feather bed, bed stead, and furniture, and also one cow and calf.
	8. I will and bequeath to my daughter Amelia Farrar Causey a negro girl, Jane 
Minerva, also a feather bed, bed stead, and furniture, also a cow and calf.
	9. I will and bequeath to my child (yet unborn) a negro girl named Leona. 
(Note: William is referring to James Malcom Causey)
	10. I will and bequeath to my family for their consumption two two-year old 
heifers, and my stock of swine.
	11. I will and bequeath to my five sons and daughter, Solomon Causey, Jonas 
Causey, Thomas Causey, William Causey, John H. Causey, and Betsy Whittington all of 
the remaining rest cattle to be equally divided between them.
	12. I will and bequeath to my son Solomon Causey one negro named Minerva.
	13. I will and bequeath to my son Thomas Causey one negro boy named Gabe.
	14. I will and bequeath to my son Jonas Causey one negro boy named Sam.
	15. I will and bequeath to my son William Causey one negro named July.
	16. I will and bequeath to my son John H. Causey one negro boy named Joe.
	17. I will and bequeath to my daughter Betsy Whittington and the heirs of her 
body a negro woman named Charlotte, and her children according to the tenor of the 
dead of gift-family given.
	18. I will and bequeath to my grandson John M. Daniel a negro boy named Manuel.
	19. I will that a boy by the name of Sam and his wife Creece and Prince be 
given to my son and daughter Alexander Scott Causey, Seaborn Tarrant Causey, Ransom 
Jackson Causey, and Zachriah Richardson Causey, Anna Causey, Cynthia Caroline Causey, 
and Amelia Farrar Causey.
	20. I will that my following named negroes Caroline and his wife Sylva and 
Frank, Philis and Joe be given to my children Solomon Causey, Jonas Causey, Thomas 
Causey, William Causey, John H. Causey and Betsy Whittington.

	Hereunto I set my hand and seal.  
	(signed)  William Causey"

(Witnessed by) Thomas Toler (Note: This is Thomas Toler, Sr.), Phillip Huff, David 
Cox.  Probated 21st July 1828, V. T. Crawford, Judge of Court.
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			     WILL DISCUSSION & ANALYSES
					by E. R. Killian, March 2, 2001

	William Causey executed his will on July 3, 1828, which date is commonly 
accepted for the date of his death.  The fact that the will makes reference to 
No. 9. "...my child (yet unborn)..." indicates that the will, not executed until 
July 3, 1828, was held in draft form or at least two months before William's death.  
The will was written prior to the birth of his unborn child, James Malcolm Causey, 
born May 2, 1828. That William Causey, 1744-1828, would exercise the foresight and 
planning to have a will at hand, ready for his last minute execution, is evidence of 
his familial consideration, self-confidence and pragmatic character.
	The will was probated on July 21, 1828, eighteen days after its execution.  
The estate inventory was valued at $6,507.78. The final accounting of his estate 
was on June 21, 1830.(page 307, Orphans Court Record, Book R, Vol. 5, 1827-1831) 
The minimum of subsequently recorded documentation dealing with his estate indicates 
that his affairs and estate were well ordered and its assets adequately identifiable 
immediately following his death. This is further evidence of William Causey's 
prudence and pragmatism.

WILLIAM'S ORDER OF LISTING HIS CHILDREN IN HIS WILL 
	It is obvious that William Causey, 1744-1828, gave separate and individual 
considerations to the surviving children of his two marriages, and his consideration 
gives no indication he preferred one family, or one child, over another. The 
individual bequeaths to his children of his second marriage are found in items 2. 
through 9. above. The individual children, and one grandchild, of his first marriage 
are listed in items 12. through 18., detailing their individual portions of his estate.  
	 As John H. Parker pointed out in 1962, it would seem that William Causey 
listed the children of his second marriage in the order of their birth, but note in 
paragraph 19. that in the second family the elder Anna's name precedes Zachariah and 
is therefore out of order in the numerical listing. Similarly, we see that Jonas' 
and Thomas' names of the first family are switched in order as written in paragraph 20. 
	John H. Parker, Chancery Clerk of Amite Co., MS and longtime Causey researcher, 
thought that William Causey, 1744-1828, probably listed those children of his first 
marriage in the order of their births, just as he had seemed to have done with the 
children of his second family. This is a logical and interesting hypothesis, although 
it is difficult to prove that the eighty-four year old William was making some point, 
or confirming some natural order, in his individual listing of the children. There 
is nothing that suggests the order of the names in the will accomplishes any objective, 
except perhaps, to simply list the children in the order of their births so as to not 
give indication of any favoritism. And that may have exactly what William Causey had 
in mind when he drew his will. However, the order of births in the will and the 
analysis offered by John H. Parker does not seem to fit the totality of facts from 
other currently available sources of information, e.g., census and personal vitae as 
presented in this current history. Parker's conclusions cited only information from 
the 1850 Census, indicating that he may not have had the benefit of other census data 
in his analysis. The current analysis utilizes the additional information from the 
1790, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840 and 1850 censuses.
	The analysis conducted by John H. Parker in 1962 needs to be revisited and 
the following analysis is offered for inspection.

ANALYTIC RECONSTRUCTION OF WILLIAM'S FIRST FAMILY
	Using (1) J. H. Parker's 1962 hypothesis regarding the birth order of the 
children, and (2) incorporating new census information to arrive at better estimates 
of the birth years of the children of William Causey's first family, and (3) assuming 
that some individuals of currently unproven relationships are the children of William 
Causey, 1744-1828, then the following tables give some indication of who his children 
were, when they were born and their individual status at the time of his death. 
	The current analysis utilizes additional information from the 1790, 1810, 
1820, 1830 and 1840 censuses. These tables and the status of the children at the time 
of William's death are consistent with the order in which he listed the children of 
his first marriage in his will. There is only one departure from this list that does 
not match the order of births. That departure is for his daughter Elizabeth; William 
evidently listed, although not consistently, his surviving female children of both 
families after the males in his Will provisions, regardless of the order of their birth 
compared with their siblings.  
	In the list below, the fully capitalized names are proven children of William 
Causey, 1744-1828 and listed in his Will.
	Possible additions to be considered in the list of his children are shown as
'>>name' entries.

In Order of Will Listing....Order in Item 20 list of Will
Listed in order of birth..Listed in order of birth in Will
#  name.........born...name/status at time of will.........notes...........
1. Absalom-----(1768).......(deceased in SC)
2. SOLOMON-----(1769)..........SOLOMON
3.>>(Unknwn)---(1772)?.......(deceased SC)......Unknown SC daughter or Ezekial.	
4. (~DANIEL)---(1775)....(deceased SC daughter).John M. Daniels' mother
5. THOMAS------(1778)...........JONAS
6. JONAS-------(1779)...........THOMAS
7.>>ELIZ-------(1784).....(misplaced in list)..'Betsy' married Aaron Whittington
8.>>(Mary)-----(1787).....(deceased in Yazoo?)..Mary C. Bell Scott, to Yazoo Co., MS
9. WILLIAM-----(1788)..........WILLIAM
10. JOHN H.----(1790)........JOHN HIRAM
11.>>(Frances)-(1792)?.(deceased in Wilkinson?).Frances C. married Jon Gordon in 1815 
<<...........................ELIZABETH.(Note: Elizabeth listed out of order in Will)

Notes:  
(1) The above table assumes that a) Absalom of SC, b) the Unknown daughter to whom he
gave 320 acres in SC, c) Mary Causey who married Eleazer Bell and later Burwell Scott 
and moved to Yazoo Co., MS and d) Frances Causey who married in 1815 in Wilkinson County 
to John Gordon are children of William Causey, 1744-1828. However, these associations 
are not proven.
(2) The birth years of the known children of William Causey, 1744-1828, have been 
calculated from, and are consistent with census data. (3) These census calculations do 
not support previous assignments of birth years by J. H. Parker or other authors.
(4) It is assumed that individuals enumerated as 1., 3., 4., 8. and 11. were deceased 
at the time of William's own death in 1828.
(5) The analysis provides no satisfactory proof that Absalom, Mary or Frances are 
children of William Causey, 1744-1828.
(6) The above analysis is consistent with the 1790 Census, Beaufort Co., SC, which is 
the last census in which most of the children were still in the household of William 
Causey, 1744-1828, i. e.,:

1790 Census SC - Beaufort District page 11
Will'm Cossee (sic) 1-5-3-0-0
1 male over 16.........(William, Sr.)
5 males under 16.......(Solomon, Thomas, Jonas, William Jr., John Hiram)
3 females..............(Wife, Dau. who married Daniels, Elizabeth or Mary?)
0 other free persons
0 slaves
Note: Absalom is absent in William's household, but present in his own household 
recognized in the Census. One female is absent, an elder daughter perhaps having 
married, the younger daughter not yet born.

ANALYSIS OF BIRTH LOCATIONS OF THE CHILDREN OF WILLIAM CAUSEY'S FIRST MARRIAGE
	Based upon the results in the above table indicating the birth years of children 
from William Causey's first marriage, the following table compares prior reports of their 
birth sites with those birth sites indicated in the Census data utilized in the previous 
table and with William Causey's indicated locations prior to 1804. 
	Fully capitalized names are proven children of William Causey, 1744-1828, as 
listed in his Will. Possible additions to be considered in the list of his children are 
shown as '>>name' entries.

..............Calc.Indicated..Previous..Analysis..Analistic birth location supported 
# name...........year..birth.reptd. birth.comments..by Wm Causey's indicated movements:
1. Absalom.....(1768)..MD..died in SC...logical........In Maryland 1768-1776
2. SOLOMON.....(1769)..MD..reptd.  MD...logical.................|
3.>>Unkn. Dau..(1772)?.MD..died in SC...logical.................|
4. DAU=Daniels.(1775)..MD..died in SC...logical.........To VA & NC 1776-1778
5. THOMAS......(1778)..NC..NC by Census.logical.................|
6. JONAS.......(1779)..SC..reptd.  SC...logical...........To SC 1778-1804
7. ELIZABETH...(1784)..SC..reptd.  VA...not indicated...........|
8.>>Mary.......(1787)..SC..no report....logical.................|
9. WILLIAM.....(1788)..SC..reptd.  VA...not indicated...........|
10. JOHN HIRAM.(1790)..SC..reptd.  MD...not indicated...........|
11.>>Frances...(1792)?.SC..no report....logical.............To MS 1804

Notes: 
(1) The same typographical notations for listed names used in the previous table 
are applicable in this table.
(2) Mary Causey, born about 1787 in SC, married Eleazer Bell in 1805 in Effingham 
Co., GA. The couple moved to Amite Co., MS ca. 1810, and later settled in Pike 
Co., MS. Widowed about 1820, Mary married Scott Burwell and moved to Yazoo Co., MS.
(3) Frances Causey married John Gordon August 10, 1815 in Wilkinson Co., MS. Her 
birth location is unknown. The date of this marriage suggests that Frances Causey, 
born about 1795, is of an age to be a possible daughter of William Causey.
(4) There is currently no satisfactory evidence to support Absalom, Mary or Frances 
being the children of William Causey, 1744-1828.

CONCLUSIONS
	Based upon the preceding analyses the order, timing and locations of the 
births of William Causey's known children of his first marriage are logical and 
consistent with census and reported data. The results are cohesive within the 
analysis and indicative of the history of each of the individuals. Although these 
results may appear compelling, there are many questions that remain unanswered and 
there are many assumptions that must withstand facts from any additional information 
subjected to such an analysis.
	The above analyses are best used to assist the researcher in focusing upon 
those facts that are needed to support, or refute, the suggested conclusions of the 
analysis. It is believed, however, that the current results improve upon the 
previously recorded histories of these individuals, particularly in the assignment 
of birth years and locations of those births.  
	Only limited conclusions can be drawn from these analyses, the results of 
which suggest, and may improve upon, certain probabilities.

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				WILLIAM CAUSEY'S SLAVES

	The William Causey, 1744-1828, family in South Carolina is said to have been 
prosperous and owned 'several' slaves. That William had slaves in Mississippi is 
without question. In his will he bequeathed some 27 slaves to his wife and children.  
This is a relatively large number of slaves and speaks to the wealth and productivity 
of the Causey Springs Plantation. Listed are the names, or oblique references, of 
slaves in his will:

1.  two negro women; one named Flora, (and...)
2.  the other an old woman named Philis,
3.  a negro boy named Ephriam,
4.  a negro named Marsh,
5.  a negro girl named Nancy,
6.  a negro named Matilda,
7.  a negro named Issac,
8.  a negro girl named Mary,
9.  a negro girl, Jane Minerva,
10. a negro girl named Leona,
11. one negro named Minerva,
12. one negro boy named Gabe,
13. one negro named July, (See note below)
14. one negro boy named Joe,
15. a negro woman named Charlotte...(and...)
16. her children (infers at least two, not named in the following)
17. a negro boy named Manuel,
18. a boy by the name of Sam...(and...)
19. his wife Creece (and her son...) 
20. Prince,
21. Caroline...(a male, and...)
22. his wife Sylva, (and...)
23. Frank, (and...)
24. Philis, (and...)
25. Joe 

Note:  Robert 'Robin' Causey cites in his report (RHC) that James Causey of Liberty, 
MS, family historian, tells of two slave brothers, January and July (see 13. above), 
possibly twins, who were separated when one was sold and sent to Bastrop, LA. 'Robin' 
Causey recently met a black man, Mr. Flood Causey, of Bastrop, LA at the United 
Theological Seminary in Monroe, LA. Mr. Flood Causey told the story that his family's 
oral history says that they came from a plantation owned by a 'Captain Causey.'

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