Have you uncovered a will that outlines descendants, including grandchildren, but can’t find the family on FamilySearch? That was my experience recently while researching descendants of Jeremiah Browning. According to Jeremiah’s will, he had a daughter, Cassandra who was the wife of Seth Clarke.
An Ancestry hint for Seth Clarke’s daughter Elizabeth led to a West Virginia will. Using FamilySearch’s full text feature, the will and its transcription was located. Using the transciption, ChatGPT produced the following summary to which I added FS IDs:
Summary of the Will of Seth Clark
Brooke County, Virginia (now West Virginia)
Will dated: 17 April 1855
Proved: June Term 1856
Testator
- Seth Clark, of Brooke County
Family Members Named and Bequests
Wife
- Cassandra Clark (wife)
- To receive a full and competent support from the estate, should she survive him
- No specific property named
Children
Daughter: Margaret Browning
- Identified as “my daughter Margaret Browning”
- Received:
- The farm on which Seth Clark resided, approximately 183 acres
- The Bradford Tract, approximately 113 acres
- 20 acres off the east end of the Ferry Tract, cut by a line parallel to the west line of the Bradford Tract
Daughter: Elizabeth Tiernan
- Identified as “my daughter Elizabeth [Tiernan]”
- Received:
- The Mill Tract on Cross Creek, approximately 259 acres
- The remainder of the Ferry Tract, approximately 150 acres
- Interest:
- Granted for her lifetime, then to her heirs
Grandchildren
Grandsons
- Morris Jones
- Received:
- 30 shares of stock in the North Western Bank of Virginia
- $400 from the surplus fund of the bank, provided sufficient dividends were available
- Received:
- Seth Clark Jones
- Received:
- $3,000 in cash, to be paid from the estate
- Received:
Granddaughter
- Cassander R. Hughes
- Received:
- 20 shares of stock in the North Western Bank of Virginia
- Received:
Residual Heirs (Grandchildren)
All remaining real and personal estate not otherwise disposed of was to be equally divided among the following six grandchildren:
- John Tiernan
- Michael Tiernan
- Francis Tiernan
- Leander Browning
- Elizabeth C. Browning
- Margaret C. Browning
Executors
- Lewis Browning – identified as son-in-law
- John Tiernan – identified as grandson
Seth Clark requested that no security be required, though bond was later entered as required by the court.
Witnesses
- Leander Browning
- Clelland Browning
Genealogical Notes
- This will clearly establishes:
- Seth Clark’s wife Cassandra
- Two daughters: Margaret (wife of a Browning) and Elizabeth (wife of a Tiernan)
- Grandchildren from Browning, Tiernan, Jones, and Hughes families
- The correction from Sieman to Tiernan resolves likely phonetic or clerical confusion and aligns with known Browning–Tiernan family connections
- The will provides strong evidence for multi-generational relationships linking Clark, Browning, Tiernan, and Jones families in Brooke County
Using the family structures from the will, I located profiles on FamilySearch that appeared to match. In the process, I discovered two profiles for both of Seth Clarke’s daughters:
- Margaret Clark [GM17-WJY] and [KC63-X2Q]
- Elizabeth Clark [9DHW-PTG] and [KFN1-L7R]
The GM17-WJY profile for Margaret Clark includes the grandhilden named in the will: Morris Jones, (Seth) Clark Jones and Cassander Jones (Hughes) but does not connect to Seth Clarke and his wife Cassandra. The GM17-WJY profile contains the Browning grandchildren: Leander, Elizabeth and Margaret and also connects to Elizabeth’s parents, Seth Clarke and his wife Cassandra.
The 9DHs-PTG profile for Elizabeth Clark connects to the parents but does not link to a spouse or any children. The KVN1-L7R profile shows 5 TIERNAN children for Elizabeth including John, Michael and Francis.
While the will supports merging the profiles, it may not be sufficient evidence that the two Margaret Clarks and the two Elizabeth Clarks are the same people.
SOURCE:
West Virginia, Brooke County. Will BOoks, 1809-1872. Film #7616421. Seth Clark, 17 April 1855; page 410; 310 of 412, digitized images, FamilySearch familysearch.org : viewed online 21 January 2026.