Robert Lancaster Estate Continued: Division of Robert Lancaster’s Land in Shelby County, Kentucky

In the January Term 1843 of Shelby County Court, the land of the Robert Lancaster estate was divided among the heirs of Robert Lancaster.[1] Robert’s estate was entered into probate on 12 October 1840 with Josiah Lancaster, John Lancaster, Creath Neel, Robert Myers, Wm Lancaster, and Wm Price as bondsmen. Josiah Lancaster was appointed administrator.[2]

I haven’t discovered yet why they waited over two years to divide the land between the heirs. The division begins,

“On motion of John S. Lancaster, Ellis W. Lancaster, Josiah R. Lancaster and Wm T. Lancaster who filed their notice herein to Creath Neill and Lewis Mary Ann his wife, Robert N Myers and Elizabeth his wife and Creth Neill as Guardian to Eliza Jane Lancaster, heirs of Robert Lancaster dec^d which notice was proven in open court to have been executed on the parties. It is ordered that Wm A. Hamblin, Arthur Chambers, James Maguire & John Crawford or any three of them being first sworn do appraise the lands of which Robert Lancaster dec^d died seized & possessed between his heirs and legal representatives and that they make report thereof to the court.”

The children of Robert Lancaster listed here were sons John S., Ellis W., Josiah R, and William T, and daughters Lennis, Mary Elizabeth, and Eliza Jane. Two of the daughters, Lennis and Mary Elizabeth were married to Creath Neel and Robert N Myers. Creath Neel was also the guardian for Eliza Jane. He had been appointed guardian to Eliza Jane in the January 1843 term.[3]

So why was there a delay in appointing a guardian for Eliza Jane? Is it possible that Robert’s wife was still alive and had since died? There was no mention of a wife in Robert’s first probate papers. One of his sons was appointed administrator instead of a wife. According to a family tree, Robert’s third wife was Mary Taylor, but his second wife, Jane was the mother of Eliza Jane Lancaster, who was born about 1832.[4] There are no sources for the marriages in this tree.

Back to the division of the land. The plat was laid out at 100 poles to inch and drawn in the probate book. 

Division of the land of Robert Lancaster, decd in Shelby Co, Kentucky

The land was surveyed and divided on the 10th, 11th, and 12th of January 1843. My guess, there wasn’t much or any snow on the ground. It was done by Arthur Chambers, James Maguire, and John Crawford. This survey was done on land that was located on the waters of Bullskin and Floids fork. They began by describing the total land:

“Beginning at a stone at A corner to James Neal, Thence with his line S69W 41 poles to a stone at B corner to Charles Ellis, Thence with his line N20 ¼W 162½ poles to a stone corner to Wilson Maddox, Thence with his line N71½E 112¾ poles to a stone corner to said Maddox and the heirs of Samuel Ellis dec^d, Thence with their line N70E 117½ poles to a stone corner to Garland Williams, Thence with his line S20¼E 93½ poles to white oak corner to said Williams, Thence with his line S80¾E 6⅔ poles to a Hickory corner to said Williams, thence with his line S8E 63 poles to a Honey Locust corner to said Williams in Wm Williams line, Thence with his line S69¼W 78¼ poles to a Beech corner to Wm Williams, Thence with his line S19¾E 166¼ poles to a stone corner to said Williams in Allen Kinkeads line, thence with his & James Neals lines S68W 103 3/5 poles to a stone corner to James Neals, Thence with his line N19¼W 170½ poles to the Beginning containing three hundred & thirty eight acres and five poles.”

This describes the land as drawn but also gives clues to the neighbors of Robert Lancaster. Each time the line changed direction there is a “thence” which I have shown underlined. Each of the neighbors are listed above in blue. Next the names of the neighbors could be written in on the lines.

After the surveyors drew up the complete description of Robert’s land, they divided the land into lots. There are a total of 9 lots, even though there were only seven heirs. Each of the lots were also described in the same manner.

“Lot No 1 allotted to William Lancaster Beginning at a stake at near the stable, thence N20¼W 40 poles to a stake at 2, Thence S68W 40 poles to a stake at 3, thence S20¼E 40 poles to a stake at 4, Thence N68E 40 poles to the Beginning containing ten acres.”

As you can see with lot no. 1, it is a small square that has numbers written on the corners. This lot was drawn inside of lot no. 6. His total acreage was ten acres.

"Lot no. 2 and Lot no. 4 allotted to John S Lancaster. No.2  Beginning at a stone at A, thence N68E 47 poles to a stake at 5, thence S19¼E 170½ poles to a stake at 6, thence S68W 47 poles to a stone at L, thence N19¼W 170½ poles to Beginning Containing fifty acres & four poles, No. 4 Beginning at a stone at A thence S69W 41 5/6 poles to a stone at B, thence N20¼W 38 poles to a stake at 7, thence N69E 41 5/6 poles to a stake 8, thence S20¼E 38 poles to the Beginning containing nine acres one hundred and fifty two poles."

John S. received two lots (2 & 4) that totaled 59 acres and 156 poles, much more than William’s share.

“Lot no. 3 and Lot No. 5 allotted to Ellis Lancaster. No 3. Beginning at a stone at K, thence S68W 56 3/5 poles to a stake at 6 corner to Lot No. 2, Thence N19¼W 143 poles to stake at 10, thence N68E 55½ poles to a stake at 11, thence S19¾E 143 poles to the Beginning, containing fifty acres and 3 poles. No. 5 Beginning at a stake at 7 corner to lot No. 4, Thence N20¼W 38 poles to a stake at 9, thence N69E 41 5/6 poles to a stake at 3 corner to Lot no. 1, thence S20¼E 38 poles to a stake at 8 corner to lot no. 4, thence S69W 41 5/6 poles to the Beginning containing nine acres and one hundred and fifty two poles.”

Ellis received two lots (3 & 5) that totaled 59 acres and 155 poles.

“Lot no. 6 allotted to Lenis Ann Neal. Beginning at a stone at A corner to Lot No. 4, thence N20¼W 36 poles to a stake at 4 corner to lot No. 1, thence N68E 40 poles to a stake at 1 corner to lot no. 1, thence N20¼W 40 poles to a stake at 2 corner to Lot no. 1, thence S68W 81 5/6 poles to a stake at 9 corner to lot no. 5, thence N20¼W 86 ½ poles to a stake at 6 corner to Wilson Maddox, thence with his line N71½E 71 poles to a stake at 13 thence S20¼E 79½ poles to a stake at 12, thence N68E 18 poles to a stake at 18, thence S20¼E 80 poles to a stake at 5 corner to lot No. 2, thence S68W 47 poles to the Beginning containing fifty acres and forty five poles.”

Lenis Ann received one lot (6) that totaled 50 acres and 45 poles.

“Lot no. 7 except the graveyard allotted to Eliza Jane Lancaster, Beginning at a stake at 10 corner to Lot no. 3, thence N20¼W 107½ poles to a stake at 18 corner to Lot No. 6, thence S68W 18 poles to a stake at 12 corner to Lot no. 6, thence N20¼W 79½ poles to a stake at 13 corner to Lot no. 6, thence N71½E  41¾ poles to a stone at L, thence N70E 13 3/8 poles to a stake at 14, thence N20¼E 185 poles to a stake at 15 in a line of lot no. ?[hidden by book binding, but from map should be lot no.3], thence S68W 37½ poles to the beginning containing fifty two acres and 31 poles.

Eliza Jane Lancaster received one lot (7) that totaled 52 acres and 31 poles.

“Lot no. 8 allotted to Josiah Lancaster. Beginning at a Bech [Beech?] at J, thence S19¾E 23 Poles to a stake at 11 corner to Lot no. 3, thence S68W 18 poles to a stake at 10 corner to Lot no. 7, thence N20¼W 185 poles to a stake at 14, thence N70E 49 2/3 poles to a stake at 17, thence S20¼E 159½ poles to a stake at 16, thence S69¼ W31¼ poles to the Beginning containing fifty two acres and twenty eight poles.”

Josiah R. Lancaster received one lot (8) that totaled 52 acres and 28 poles.

“Lot no. 9 allotted to Mary Elizabeth Myers Beginning at a stake at 16 corner to Lot No. 5, thence N20¼W 159½ poles to a stake at 17 corner to Lot No. 8, thence N70E 53 6/10 poles to a stone at E, Thence S20¼E 92½ poles to a white oak at F, thence S80¾E 6 2/3 poles to a Hickory at G, thence S8E 63 poles to a Honey Locust at H, thence S69¼ W 47 poles to the Beginning containing fifty three acres and seventy poles.”

Mary Elizabeth Myers received one lot totaling 53 acres and 70 poles.

The surveyors’ report continued by saying:

“by the heirs drawing which they aid as follows: Lot no. 1 was drawn by William Lancaster which contains the dwelling house & Lot no. 2 and Lot No. 4 by John S Lancaster, Lot no. 3 and lot no. 5 by Ellis Lancaster, Lot no. 6 by Lennis Ann Lancaster, Lot No. 7 except the one fourth of an acre laid off so as to include the Graveyard by Eliza Jane Lancaster, Lot no. 9 was drawn by Mary Elizabeth Myers. The graveyard was reserved by the request of the heirs and the drawing was done by themselves, their husband, guardian, or agents according to which we allotted to each of them all of which we respectfully report to the Shelby County Court.”

In this last paragraph, we learn that the heirs were part of the allotment and drawing. Some were present, some might have had an agent because they lived elsewhere. By the time his father had passed away, Ellis W. Lancaster was living in Lewis County, Missouri.[5] I cannot tell from this document whether he was present at the division of the land.

We also learned that William Lancaster received the small piece but it had the dwelling house, and perhaps other outbuildings such as a barn and sheds. There was no mention if lots 4 or 5 had any buildings but the way they were cut from lot 6 and their proximity to lot 1 where the house was located, it was possible that other outbuildings were in no. 4 or 5.

Here is a summary of the division in table form where it is easier to see how the division played out for each heir. Also I have labeled the map with the allotments.

Division of the land of Robert Lancaster, deceased
NAME	LOT No.	Amount	Extra Info
William Lancaster	Lot No. 1	Ten acres	Dwelling house
John S. Lancaster	Lots Nos. 2 and 4	59 acres and 156 poles
Ellis Lancaster	Lots Nos. 3 and 5	59 acres and 155 poles
Lennis Ann Lancaster	Lot No. 6	50 acres and 45 poles
Eliza Jane Lancaster	Lot No. 7	52 acres and 31 poles
Josiah R Lancaster	Lot No. 8	52 acres and 28 poles
Mary Elizabeth Myers	Lot No. 9	53 acres and 70 poles	Less the acre graveyard

Division, labeled

Did they children sell the land or keep it and passed it down to their heirs? The next blog post will describe what happened to the shares.

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[1] Shelby County, Kentucky Probate, Bk 15, p. 106-07, Robert Lancaster Division, FHL film 259257, digital image, FamilySearch (https//familysearch.org : accessed 24 Sep 2016).

[2] Shelby County, Kentucky Probate Records, Bonds, p. 171, Robert Lancaster estate, Josiah Lancaster administrator, FHL 259272, digital image, FamilySearch (https//familysearch.org : accessed 24 Sep 2016).

[3] Shelby County, Kentucky Probate Records, Order Book, p. 171, William C Price vs Creath Niell G^d to Eliza Jane Lancaster, heir of Robert Lancaster, dec^d, FHL film 259265, digital image, FamilySearch (https//familysearch.org : accessed 24 Sep 2016).

[4] Nancy Mathews, “Prince Edward Co., VA Lancaster’s,” 23 Mar 2002, Genealogy.com (http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/lancaster/2658/), Robert “Robin” Lancaster (1784-1840) entry.

[5] 1840 U.S. census, Lewis Co, Missouri, pop. sched., p. 186, Ellis Lancaster, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 Jan 2011); citing NARA M704, roll 225.

Copyright © 2017 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family