Amos JUSTICE

                   This source lists birth year as 1766?

This Will was found in the Powhaten Museum, Lawrence County, AR. in thefile for CHARLES HATCHER. The community in which Amos lived wasDAVIDSONVILLE (now Old Davidsonville, in Randolph County, AR).

On Page 130: 10 March 1829:
Charles HATCHER appointed administrator of the estate of Amos JUSTICE,dec'd.

On Page 134-135: 15 August 1829 - Last Will & Testament of Amus JUSTICE

In the name of God Amen. I, Amos JUSTICE, now an inhabitant of the Countyof Lawrence and Territory of Arkansas, being in my right mind, yetconsidering the frailities of human nature and the uncertainty of lifeand the certainty of death, do, in the presence of Almighty God, makethis my Last Will and Testament. I will and bequeath unto my wife,Margaret JUSTICE, all the improvement on which I now dwell and my stockof hogs now in my possession. Also all of the balance of my cattle overand above and remaining after the just payment of all of my debts, andall of my household furniture and kitchen furniture. I choose and appointmy son, John D. JUSTICE, to be executor of this my Last Will andTestament to receive all my papers in my possession, all debts coming tome and execute to collection and make an equal distribution of allbalances between the several heirs. Given under my hand the day and dateabove written.

(Signed) Amus JUSTICE

Witnesses:
David ORR
John MARTIN

P.S. In addition to the above, I will and bequeath unto my wife onehorse, one mare and one colt. The two year old colts to my twostep-daughters, Matilda and Darky.

(Signed) Amus JUSTICE

Same witnesses

Proved in open court during the April 1829 term by the oath of David ORR.The Will was recorded on 5 May 1829 by Thomas S. DREW, Clerk.

On Page 140-141: 7 May 1829
John D. JUSTICE appointed executor of the estate of his father, AmusJUSTICE, dec'd

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Information from JoMMarch@aol.com from Justis, Justus, Justice for All,reports that he bought land from Thomas, Sr. on July 16, 1798--100 acreson McDowell Creek, Rutherford Co., NC. (From Norma Mize Justus, LawrenceCounty, Ark, Historical Society: A Thomas Justus was summoned to testifyin a court case.  His signature was on this document, Lebanon Twp.,lawrence Co., 23 Oct. 1818 and also on some loose circuit records in1823.  An Amos J. Justus was in Lawrence County by 1826.  (Arkansas wasan area of free land at this time.)
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Information from a brief prepared by Laurence Anson Justice, found inHenderson County Historical Society files.  Copy on file with Bob & MikeJustice.

"The Life of Amos Justice -- After leaving North Carolina, by LauerenceAnson Justice:

Three present day descendants of Amos Justice have done research on hislife and the lives of his descendants.  Mr. Joe Cowart of 829 IndianRiver Drive, Cocoa, Florida 32922 has evidently attempted to identify andwrite brief biographical sketches on every descendant of Amos Justicethat he can find.  I have worked mainly with my own direct ancestors backto Amos and have especially concerned with Amos' grandson, Amos Jeffersonand with Amos' great great grandson Amos Josiah who was my grandfather.I have publish biographical booklets on both.  I was introduced to myinterest in the Justice genealogy in 1975 by the master Justicegenealogist, Mr. Neil Justice of 3110 Cliffoak Drive in Dallas, Texas75233.  Neil has spent over forty years ransacking libraries andcemeteries, sleuthing out otherwise forgotten items of historicalinformation concerning our Justice ancestors clear back to the Jamestowncolony in 1651.  Credit for much of the material in this article goes toNeil.

In the spring of 1812 Amos Justice left Buncombe County North Carolinafor some unknown destination in Tennessee.  The first time he emerges inhistorical records is in the fall of 1817 when he arrived by flatboat inthe first permanent settlement in Missouri Territory, St. GenevieveCounty.  He soon moved on to St. Michael ( now Fredricktown) thirty milesto the southwest of St. Genevieve.  He was now fifty one years old.

In St. Michael Amos signed a petition asking for a change in the mailroute to St. Michael from the east.  This petition was dated March 18,1818.  A copy of this petition is found in the U.S. government records"Louisiana-Missouri Territory 1815-1821" vol XV page 360.  The countyrecords of Madison County Missouri book I page 4 show that Amos wasappointed constable of the Township of St. Michael while he was there.

About the spring of 1825 Amos and his family moved again, this timesouth-westward into Arkansas Territory (Lawrence Co.).  they located inDavidson Township near present day Dalton.  Indians still lived in thisarea at the time.

It is believed that Amos had with him at this time his second wifeMargaret Nettles (his first wife having been Mary McBreyor), his son JohnD., John's wife Sarah Nettles Justice, John and Sarah's daughter andAmos' adopted children Shadrack and Matilda Nettles.  Other children andpossible children of Amos Justice include Daniel D. Justice (named inAmos' will), Amos Jr., Thomas, and Dorcas Nettles.

This was to be the last move for Amos.  He settled down here and becamefor a short while a solid and somewhat important citizen.  The"Territorial Papers of the United States" vol XIX 1819-1825 Territory ofArkansas, page 806 lists Amos Justice Sr. as a county magistrate (Justiceof the Peace) commissioned in 1827.  Her Amos died at the age of sixtythree half a continent away from where he had been born.

Neil Justice has summarized the life of this Justice ancestor with thesewords "He died as he had lived, on the frontier.  Here in the southwestended the life of a man who was born in Virginia, a British subject, grewto manhood in North Carolina, and served in the Continental Militiaduring the Revolutionary War.  He was at one time or another a landspeculator, business man, farmer, constable and judge."

I have in my possession a copy fo Amos' will which I obtained from theold courthouse in Powhatan, Arkansas in 1976.  It is from "Probates andWills 1817-1834" Lawrence County Arkansas page 134.

On several trips to Lawrence Co. Arkansas my wife Lyndy and I havesearched over thirty cemeteries for the grave of Amos Justice.  We havefound the graves of some of the Nettles, but not that of Amos, nor of hiswife Margaret."

The brief then lists on page three descendants of Amos Justice who werein the direct line of the author.