Chapter 19
John Lippard's Death

Cabarrus County court records list John's Will as one that was probated in 1804, but the courthouse will and estate papers were missing, presumably destroyed in a courthouse fire in the later 1800's. Thus, for a long time, we had no documents informing us of the names of John's children. We also have never found exactly where both John and his wives are buried. However, early on in the process of learning the family history, we came upon one of our best pieces of luck. John's will was literally discovered in the chimney of a descendant's log cabin.

MARVIN COOK'S LOG CABIN

One of John's great-great-great grandsons was an elderly man named Marvin Cook who was a resident of Kannapolis, North Carolina. In 1972 Marvin retired and then had more leisure time to enjoy other interests. Marvin wanted a project to celebrate the then upcoming Bicentennial. Also, he had thoughts of constructing a workshop where he could continue his hobby of refinishing antiques, especially family heirlooms. Suddenly, he inherited a log cabin, which was estimated at that time to be 125 years old, built by his great grandfather and his grandfather. The problem was that the cabin was not located where Marvin lived but was about five miles east of Kannapolis. Marvin decided to dismantle and move the old cabin, rebuilding it in his yard where he could use it as a workshop. The cabin was made of logs covered with weatherboarding on the outside and beaded ceiling boards on the inside. Apparently the old cabin was used for some time before the ceiling boards were added to the interior. As Marvin removed the boards and dismantled the cabin, he discovered that between the logs and in the niches of the chimney the family had stored a number of old bottles and some documents. Imagine Marvin's surprise when he opened a brown package and found his great-great-great grandfather John Lippard's will, dated March 3, 1804, as well as all the associated estate and probate papers. No one in our family expected or even dreamed of such a discovery. Marvin placed photocopies of all these documents in the Historic Room of the Cannon Memorial Library in Concord, North Carolina, so that anyone in this generation or the ones to follow may see them. This cabin Marvin inherited was built by Marvin's great grandfather and grandfather, but how did John's will and estate papers get there? John's son Peter was the executor of his father's estate. This Peter it appears kept his father's will and every scrap of paper related to the probate of John's estate in this brown paper package. The package apparently was passed down through the years to Peter's granddaughter Mary Ann Camilla Cress, who secured them away in a niche in the chimney of her log cabin where they remained until discovered by Marvin Cook in the early 1970's. John's will and estate papers list all of his children and include the signatures of most of those children but also some of his grandchildren, children of John's children who pre-deceased him or were too elderly to make the trip back to North Carolina for the settling of John's estate. At this point we were happy to be able to give positive proof to those scattered Lippards hoping to be among John's descendants.

JOHN LIPPARD'S WILL AND OTHER ESTATE PAPERS

This will was witnessed by John Edelman and William Sieffert.

Notes – In his will John refers to his daughter Catherine Boger [wife of Daniel Boger]; presumably by the time John's estate was settled, Daniel Boger had died, and Catherine had married as her second husband Charles Blackwelder.

Also, we assume that John had another son who was named Daniel Lippard who died in 1802 leaving no heirs.

BOND CONCERNING THE DISTRIBUTION OF JOHN LIPPARD, SR.'S ESTATE -- 4 JUNE 1831

In addition to John's Will, this bond agreed to by the heirs or their family representatives in the cases where John's children themselves were deceased by 1831 helped us verify the list of John's children and in some cases at least one of their children. The following family members signed –

William and John for their father John, Jr.

Henry and Charles for their father Christian

Henry Daniel Sossaman representing his wife Elizabeth

Charles Blackwelder, Sr., representing his wife Catherine

Martin for his father Frederick Andrew

Peter Tobias Klutts representing his wife Barbara

The one heir obviously missing from the list of signers of the bond is the eldest son, William, who a few years previously had migrated west to Ripley County, Indiana. However, among the papers found by Marvin Cook in the brown envelope was a letter from William giving power of attorney to his son John in the settlement of William's father John's estate. However, John with the letter apparently did not reach the Cabarrus County court until 1832.

A final note about burial. John's, his wife Catherine's, and his parents' graves have remained lost to time. Given Wilhelm had no known church affiliation, maybe there was a family plot on his farm, and others used it. John does not appear to be at either Lower Stone or Organ cemeteries; however, many of the tombstones of the period are missing. However, given how many of his children show up in the records of Organ after 1795, and the fact that John must have sided with the more conservative Barger faction at Lower Stone, it is unlikely that the Reformed burial ground was his last resting place.