A Glimpse of Eighteenth Century Charleston Extracts from the Will of John BRETON of Charleston, South Carolina South Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, images online at the Ancestry website. This collection includes both handwritten and typewritten will transcripts.     Will dated: 3 Oct 1738 Probate date: 12 Nov 1739 Note: Words in square brackets are editing additions. In the Name of God Amen I John Breton of Charleston in the province of South Carolina merchant .... I give and devise unto Breton Cooper (son of Thomas Cooper of Charleston merchant and his late wife Mary [Margaret Magdalen (née Beauchamp)]) .... the southernmost part of a Town Lot Number forty nine formerly purchased by me from the widow Royer situate lying and being in Charleston aforesaid fronting to the street commonly called Church Street and running backward the whole breadth of the said front unto the rails or fence of the land belonging to Mr Benjamin D’hariette together with the two tenements thereon built now in the tenure or occupation of Doctor James Killpatrick and David Noble together also with all the edifices and buildings whatsoever thereon standing .... Also I give and bequeath unto Stephen Beauchamp son of my daughter-in-law Magdalin Juno [Jouneau or Juneau] one thousand pounds current money of South Carolina .... Also I give and bequeath unto John Methringham three hundred pounds current money of South Carolina .... Also I give and devise unto the said John Methringham .... all that part of the before mentioned Town Lot Number forty nine situate lying and being in the alley [Chalmers Street?] leading into Church Street together with all and singular the tenements edifices and buildings thereon standing .... lately in the tenure or occupation of Christopher Smith deceased .... Also I give and bequeath unto Elizabeth Withers [née Beauchamp] wife of Laurence Withers three hundred pounds current money of South Carolina .... Also I give and bequeath unto the said Elizabeth Withers one silver porrenger and one silver cup with one handle. Also I give bequeath and devise all the rest and residue of my estate real and personal .... unto my daughter-in-law Magdalin Juno .... Lastly I constitute nominate and appoint Gabriel Manigault esquire and Isaac Mazyck merchant executors and my daughter-in-law Magdalin Juno executrix of this my last will and testament .... Note: The will refers to Town Lot No. 49. The will of Thomas Corker, probated in 1772, stated that the correct reference for this property is Town Lot No. 44 ‘but by mistake in the deed is called 49 formerly bought of Noah Royer’. Family History Notes John Breton was buried at St Philip’s Church, Charleston on 13 October 1738. He was survived by his daughter-in-law Magdalen. It is inferred that she married as her first husband John Breton’s son, who died young. Her second husband had the surname Beauchamp. Magdalen married her third husband James Jouneau (or Juneau) at St Philip’s Church on 2 January 1721. The legacies in the will suggest that John Breton considered Magdalen like a daughter. The three Beauchamp children mentioned in the will were Stephen, Margaret Magdalen and Elizabeth. Margaret Magdalen Beauchamp became the wife of Thomas Cooper (1); their marriage was recorded in the parish register of St Philip’s Church towards the end of 1728 (the exact date has been lost). Their son Breton Cooper, born on 1 October 1730, was baptised three weeks later at St Philip’s Church. The wedding of Elizabeth Beauchamp and Laurence Withers took place at St Philip’s Church on 10 September 1732. Laurence Withers was a cousin of Thomas Corker. The family connection to John Methringham (or Metheringham) named in the will is not clear. John Metheringham, the son of John and Mary Metheringham, was baptised at Christ Church, Charleston, on 19 June 1728 (2). The register of Christ Church parish recorded: ‘John Metheringham, senior, departed this life December 11, 1755 aged 54 years & buried at the Church’ (3). Notes Births, baptisms, marriages and burials at St Philip’s Church, Charleston are transcribed in the Register of St Philip’s Parish, Charles Town, South Carolina 1720–1758 (Internet Archive ). (1) The family history by Frederick Tuckerman, Thomas Cooper of Boston and his descendants, 1890, pp. 4–6, (Internet Archive ) states that Thomas Cooper was born in Boston on 20 August 1705. (2) South Carolina Births and Christenings, FamilySearch database. (3) Mabel L. Webber, editor, ‘The Register of Christ Church Parish’, The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, 1918, p. 129 (pdf file ). prepared by WhistlerHistory, 2020.