Cesar Tarrant’s Will

Cesar Tarrant, a formerly enslaved pilot in the Virginia Navy, wrote this last will and testament in Hampton on February 19, 1797. Tarrant left his houses and lots to his widow, Lucy Tarrant, stating that the rest of his property should be sold. He called for whatever money was left after his debts were paid off to be split, with one half “applied towards the purchasing of my Daughter Lydia’s freedom” and the other going to his daughter Nancy and her heirs. He specified that if his chosen executor passed away before his still-enslaved daughter (who he called “Liddey” after her first mention) was freed, “that the county court will appoint a person that they can confide in to see justice done my children.”