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Scotch Settlement testators who left wills were on average 64½ years old. The average bond posted by the executors was just over $1600 and ranged from the $150 bond posted for the estate of Margaret Smith to $10,000 for the estate of William McGillivary, each of whom died in 1848 (Table 1).10 Most of those who wrote wills did so shortly before death and presumably were men and women who knew that the end was near and decided to tidy their affairs. It is also possible that these same people had heirs who knew the trouble that would ensue if their parent died intestate. Those included in Probate Court records who did not leave wills had an average age of 50 and average bond posted of $900 (Table 2). If the age of death were known for more of these individuals, the average would very likely be less. The younger age and smaller estates suggest that these were people who were not expecting to die quite so soon, and perhaps were victims of an accident or sudden illness.
Those with land to bequeath used partible/non-partible inheritance almost exclusively.11 Those who did not used strict partible inheritance. The average number of heirs to each farm was 2.1 and the average number of total heirs was 5.8. In nineteen cases the owner devised land to a single heir and in fourteen cases they gave the land to two or three heirs, effectively bequeathing them a joint tenancy.12 These multiple land heirs frequently included daughters. In all cases, heirs who did not receive land received compensation with either cash or personal property. However, the compensation was not always equal and in most cases daughters were paid less than their brothers, and unmarried daughters received more than their married sisters. Grandchildren were generally mentioned in wills only if their parent had died; the exception being when a grandson and grandfather shared the same given name.
Payments for compensation could require that the principal heir either sell or mortgage the farm so that the obligations to the remaining heirs could be met.13 Mitigating this problem somewhat was the fact that payments were rarely more than $200, and in several cases payments were to be spread out over a number of years without interest. Additionally, minor children were not to be paid until they reached their majority, and, in a few instances, no payments were to be made to them until after the death of the widow. These stipulations eased the burden on the principal heir and made a mortgage or outright sale of the land less likely.
Occasionally, children received only token bequests. Generally, these were sons who had already established themselves, presumably with the assistance of their father. For example, John McIntosh, who received only one dollar from his father (also John McIntosh, who died in 1845), had purchased land from his parents in 1832.14 Angus Noble, who received a token bequest from his father (Alexander, who died in 1826), had purchased land from his parents in 1825.15 Married daughters were also among those who received only token bequests, perhaps because they had received a dowry upon marriage.
Few individuals left their land to more than three people. In two cases, several of the heirs were still minors when their father died. In these instances the mother was left in charge of the property. It was to be sold upon her death and the proceeds divided among the children. In a third case, John McPherson left his sons separate, but adjacent, parcels of property and left a third property, located in Mercer County, to be sold with the proceeds to be divided among his three daughters.
As discussed previously, entail was not permitted in the United States . However, this did not prevent some men in the Settlement from attempting to create something similar to it. As a condition of inheritance the heirs of these men were not permitted to sell the farm, and upon their death the property was to go to a specified grandson or grandsons. In 1837, Daniel Smith left his land to his wife Margaret for her natural life, upon her death the land went to their son Alexander for his natural life. It was only after the death of Alexander in 1853 that anyone received this land in their own right, namely Daniel's grandsons Angus and Philip.16 Hugh McBean, who died in 1842, had essentially the same provisions in his will. The land went first to his wife, then his son William, who was not permitted to sell the land as stipulations indicated that it would eventually pass to his own heirs.17
