Last  Will  and  Testament
of
George  W. House, deceased

I,  George W. House,  of Waldron Shelby County, Indiana, do hereby make and declare the following as my last Will and Testament.

Item 1.  I will and direct that all of my just debts, burial expenses and the expense of administration of my estate shall first be paid out of my estate.

Item 2.  I will and bequeath to my grand daughter  Maud V. House  the sum of Twenty five ($25.00), and it is my will that in no event shall the said Maud V. House receive more of my estate than the said Twenty Five Dollars.

Item 3.  It is my will and I hereby give and devise to my beloved wife  Rhoda H. House  such an interest and part of my estate as she would take or may take under the laws of descent in the State of Indiana.

Item 4.  I will, devise and bequeath to my daughter  Louisa Rossell  the one third of the residue of my estate both real and personal.

Item 5..  I will, devise and bequeath to my daughter  Annie B. Means  the one third of the residue of my estate both real and personal, remaining after the gifts and bequests at No's. 2 and 3 of this will shall have been paid.

Item 6.  I will, devise and bequeath to my following named grand-children,  Rhoda J. Stapp,  Aaron Mason,  Bertha Louis  and  Stella Means, who are children of my deceased daughter  Irene Mason,  the one third of the residue of my property remaining after the payment of the gifts and bequests mentioned at No's 2 and 3 of this will shall have been paid.

Item 7.  It is my will and I hereby give and devise to my daughters Louise Rossell and Anna B. Means, each the one third part and interest to and in the fee simple of the lands of which my said wife is given and will take by Item 3 of this will for and during term of her natural life, and to my said grand children Rhoda J. Stapp, Aaron Mason, Bertha Lewis and Stella Means, the One Third part and interest to and in the fee simple of said lands, share and share alike.

Item 8.  I hereby nominate and appoint  Francis M. Means,  Executor of this will.

Item 9.  I hereby revoke all former wills by me made.


          In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 26th day of January, 1917.

George W. House



          Signed, sealed and acknowledges by the said George W. House as his last will in our presence, and signed by us as attesting witnesses, thereto, at his request, in his presence and in the presence of each other this 26th day of January, 1917.

Chester Wheeler
Elmer Bassett




State of Indiana, Shelby County, SS:

          Be it remembered that on the 16" day of October A. D., 1919, the 10" judicial day of the October Term of the Shelby Circuit Court in said year, come into open Court Elmer Bassett and produces in Court an instrument in writing purporting to be the last Will and Testament of George W. House, deceased, and now moves the admittance thereof to probate and record, and in proof of said will introduces Elmer Bassett one of the subscribing witnesses thereto, who being duly sworn by the Clerk of said Court, on oath, declare and testify as follows, that is to say:  That on the 26th day of January, 1919 he saw the said George W. House sign his name to said instrument in writing as and for his last Will and Testament; and that this deponent, at the same time, heard the said George W. House declare the said instrument in writing to be his last Will and Testament, and that the said instrument in writing was the same, at the request of the said George W. House attested and subscribed by the said Elmer Bassett and Charles Wheeler in the presence of said testator, and in the presence of each other, as subscribing witnesses thereto, and that the said George W. House, was, at the time of the signing and subscribing of said instrument in writing, as aforesaid, of full age (that is more than twenty one years of age) and of sound and disposing mind and memory, and not under any coercion or restraint, as the said deponent verily believes, and further deponent says not.

Elmer Bassett



          Whereupon it is ordered, adjudged and decreed by the Court that saidinstrument in writing purporting to be the last Will of George W. House deceased, is the last Will and Testament of George W. House, deceased, and is hereby admitted to probate and record in this Court. Gordon Thurston, Clerk


State of Indiana, Shelby County, SS:
          I, Gordon Thurston, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Shelby County, Indiana, do hereby certify that the within annexed Will and Testament of George W. House has been duly admitted to probate, and duly proved by the testimony of Elmer Bassett one of the subscribing witnesses thereto, that a complete record of said Will,and of the testimony of the said Elmer Bassett in proof thereof, has been by me duly made and recorded in Book 7 at Pages 437 & 438 of the reocrd of Wills of said County.
          In Attestation Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed the seal of saidCourt, at Shelbyville, Indiana, this 16" day of October 1919.
Gordon Thurston, Clerk Circuit Court Shelby County

Transcribed by Pat Lorentzen

I noticed a discrepancy in the typed transcript:  Will was supposedly signed on 26 Jan. 1917, but in the third line from the bottom of my transcription it said 26 Jan. 1919 - possibly a typo by the typist?? - PL

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