Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a Monday blog theme years ago called "Amanuensis Monday." John offers this definition for "amanuensis:"
"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."
The subject today is the 1803 decree of partition in the estate settlement of Simon Gates (1739-1803) of Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts in Worcester County Probate File 23252:
The transcription of this Decree of Partition is (with handwritten portions in italics):
[page 102 of 1069]
Worcester
Ss.
To all People unto
whom these Presents shall come,
Nathaniel Paine
Esq.
Judge of the
Probate of Wills, &c., in the County
of Worcester
within the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts,
sendeth Greeting.
KNOW YE, That,
pursuant to the Acts or Laws of the said
Commonwealth,
relating to the Settlement or Distribution of the
Estate of
Intestates, and the Directions, Power and Authority
to me therein
given, I do hereby order and assign accept the
foregoing
report of the
Committee by and order and assign –
all those Pieces
and Parcels of Land, with the Buildings and Appurtenances
thereon and
thereunto belonging, as -
and
the same is are particularly set forth and
described in the Return of
Commissioners by me
appointed and sworn for the Apprisal thereof, and
by them valued at
three thousand Seven hundred and
ninety six
Dollars – (as by Return of the
said Commissioners
into the Registry of Probate for the said County
-------------------
may appear) TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the
hereby ordered and
assigned Land and Premises, with the Members and
Appurtenances
thereof unto ---- the before named (excepting
what in set
off to the Widow of sd Deceased for
her (Dower) unto the several assignees
therein mentioned –
and to
their Heirs and Assigns
forever.
PROVIDED
they the said
Assignees who have more than their share ^set to them,^
their Heirs,
Executors, or Administrators, shall and do well and truly
pay,
or cause to be paid unto the rest of the before-named deceased's
Children,
their legal Representatives, or Guardians, the several Sums of
Money
hereafter in this my Decree to them respectively ordered to be paid,
together
with the Interest for their respective Sums or Portions, after the
Rate
of Six Pounds
per Cent, per Annum, to commence on and from
the
1st Day of
April last Anno
Domini,
and
both Principal and interest to be paid (if demanded) on or before the
17th
day of November
which will be in the Year of our
Lord
One Thousand Seven
eight Hundred
and four.
[page
103 of 1069]
ACCORDINGLY
I Order the before-named Assignee s ^Simon Gates & Danl
Gates^ their
-----
Heirs, &c, in the
first Place to pay and clear the Charges
relating
to this Settlement, amounting in the whole to
Then
to pay out to the other heirs as follows, viz. -
the said Simon Gates and Daniel
Gates to pay or cause to be
paid unto Elisabeth Gates their
sister in part of her portion
the sum of four hundred and eighty
four Dollars thirteen Cents
and half a cent and to Ezekiel Gates
his share amount-
ing to five hundred and Six Dollars
thirteen Cents & one third of a
Cent and to Reubin Gates the Sum of
Sixteen Dollars thirteen
Cents and one third of a Cent in
part of his portion – the said
Elisabath, Ezekiel and
Reubin, having the rest of their portions in
Said Real Estate assigned to them in
Real Estate payment to be made
in like money.
In
like Money, Manner, and with the Interest before mentioned. All
which
aforesaid
Sums, with the Share of the said Assignee s amount
to the apprized
Value
of two thirds of sd Real Estate and
(together with what
was
advanced by the said deceased in his Life Time to Nathan
Gates -----------------------------)
make each Child's
Share
therein to be agreeable to the Direction of the Law.
PROVIDED
also, in case all or any Part of the hereby assigned Land
and
Premises shall be legally evicted from the above-named Assignee
s
their ---------------------
Heirs,
Executors, Administrators or Assigns, that then the rest of the
aforesaid
deceased's Children, their Heirs, &c. (Sharers in this division)
shall
refund their rateable Parts, with Law Charges. In Testimony
whereof
I have hereunto Set my Hand and the Seal of the Probate Office
for
the County aforesaid, the 17th Day
of May
in the
Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven
^eight^ Hundred and
four,
Nath^l Paine JProb.
The source citation for this record is:
Massachusetts, Worcester County, Probate Files, 1731-1925, Case 23252, Simon Gates Estate, 1803, Decree of Partition; digital images, FamilySearch.org,(https://familysearch.org: accessed 12 August 2014); in "Case no 23243-23330, Gates, Sarah-Gay, William, 1731-1881" (images 102-103 of 1069); original records in Worcester County, Mass. Courthouse.
This is the seventh of several transcriptions from the Estate packet for Simon Gates (1739-1803), my 5th great-grandfather. He died 11 March 1803 in Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts.
In this part of the estate file, the Judge of the Probate Court decrees that what the Commissioners, appointed by the Judge, did in setting off real estate to the widow and the children of Simon Gates, was proper and he approved of the results.
I like to transcribe all of the document because there are so many nuances in the forms, which reflect the Law at the time of the event. The Judge crossed out several phrases, and inserted other phrases, to reflect the actual circumstances.
In the next post, I will transcribe the final account of the executors of the estate of Simon Gates. That will complete my transcriptions of the records in this probate packet.
Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver
