Monday, March 20, 2017

Amanuensis Monday -- 1731 Will of John Paine (1660-1731) of Eastham, Mass.

This week's document for Amanuensis Monday is from the Barnstable County, Massachusetts probate documents for John Paine (1660-1731) of Eastham, Massachusetts.  

a)  Barnstable County [Mass.] Probate Records, Volume 5, pages 12-13:



b)  Barnstable County [Mass.] Probate Records, Volume 5, pages 14-15:



The transcription of the will of John Paine is:


[page 13]

In the Name of God Amen. The fourteenth Day of July 1731 I John Paine
of Eastham in the County of Barnstable in the province of the Massachusetts bay in New
England Yeoman being advanced to old age and Labouring under Bodily weakness & Infirmity
but of competent & Sound mind & memory praise be given to God Therefor and mindfull of
the Mortality of my body and that it is appointed for all men once to Die do therefore make and
Ordain this my Last Will and Testament That is to say Principally and first of all I give &
Recommend my Soul into the hands of God that gave it and my body I Commend to the Earth
to be buried with decent Christian burial at the discretion of my Executors hereafter named.
Believing that the General Resurrection I Shall receive it again by the Mighty Power of God, and
as touching such Worldly Estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me in this Life I give demise
and Dispose thereof in manner and form following. That is to say first that my Debts & funeral
Charges being paid & discharged. Item I Give and bequeath to my beloved wife Alice Pain one
third part of my personal Estate & goods & chattles To have hold possess and Enjoy To herself her
Executors & Adm^rs in part of which she shall have Liberty (if she see Cause) to take the best bed
& furniture belonging to the house & also the bed w^ch she brought with her which was hers before
Marriage & the new Chest of Drawers These she may have at the price they shall be Valued.
Also I give to my s^d Wife the one half of my grain both Indian and English w^ch shall be grow-
ing on my Land or by me in any of my houseing or barn at my decease with the one half of
my flax as also one Silver Spoon and four pounds in bills of Credit then Currant this Spoon
is Mark'd IPA Two Last I give to my s^d wife in Special Consideration for Extraordinary Care
& Trouble in tending me in my Long Illness. Further I give my s^d Wife one Stone Jugg or Pitcher
mark'd GR also further I give my s^d Wife one Cow w^ch is now over at Porkey Island a fatting
with one of my Large Swine now at the door and one pig with all the Molasses butter or Cheese
which I shall have by me at my decease. Item I Give and bequeath to my Wife aboves^d
the Eastern End of my dwelling house wherein I now Live from the floor to the Roof with the
one half of the Leanto Chimney & half the benefit of the oven w^ch is in the Western End of my

[page 14]

house half the porch before the Door with half the priviledge of the barn and the Ware house
standing Southward of my dwelling house as also one half of my Cellar Together with one
Third part of all my upland and meadowing divided or undivided whether plain or Wood
Land in part of which she may and I do hereby Give her Liberty to take half the orchard
as it is now Inclosed all Contain'd in this Paragraph from the Wood together to be possess'd
Enjoy'd & improv'd by her Dureing the term of her natural Life also I give to my s^d Wife
the free Use of my Large Iron Kettle to be Improv'd by her for her benefit as Long as
she Continues to be my widow as also the free Use and Improvement of the Crane Trammel
one pair of pothooks and the use of the Iron Dogs & Smal & Irons dureing s^d term also I give to my s^d Wife the Iron Pott & Kettle w^ch she brought with her and were hers before marriage
To have and to hold forever. Item only allowing to my two Daughters Rebecca & Mercy Pain
Liberty (if they or either of them see Cause) as Long as they Live unmarried to dwelling
Easterly End of the house. Item I give and bequeath to my son Thomas Pain The half of my
Dwelling house barn shop or Ware house Leanto Porch and Cellar as above described w^th the
one half of my Orchard as it is now Enclosed To have and to hold to him his heirs and
Assigns forever after the Decease of my Wife Alice Pain abovenamed.

Item I Give and bequeath to my four Sons John Pain William Pain Theophilus Pain &
Thomas Pain all my Upland Swamp & Meadowing whether Divided or undivided To have
to hold to them Respectively and to their heirs and Assigns for ever Two Thirds thereof
at my decease and The other Third Thereof at the decease of my Wife Alice Pain above-
named To be Equally Divided To them or to their Legal Representatives.

Item I Give and bequeath to my two sons Theophilus Pain & Thomas Pain Each of
them one bed bolsters & Pillows as near in Value as may be to that which I gave to
my son William Pain furthermore I give and bequeath to my s^d son Thomas Pain
my Musquet and one Silver Spoon mark'd TPM moreover it is my Will and I do
hereby give to my Wife abovenamed The free and full use of all the Tillable ^land^ & the
Meadow which shall fall to my son Thomas in the division thereof until my s^d
Son arrive to Eighteen Years old. Item I Give and bequeath to my four maiden
Daughters Vizt Rebeckah Pain Mercy Pain Alice Pain and Hannah Pain so
much out of my personal Estate & Goods & Chattells as will make them Equal for
quantity & quality as near as may be To what I have Given to my three daughters
Married Vizt Mary Freeman Sarah Knowles & Elizabeth Snow. Moreover I give &
bequeath to my two Daughters Alice and Hannah Pain my Large Silver Cup & each
of them one Silver Spoon also I give & bequeath to my s^d beloved Wife one third part
of my Mare which is a Black mare with a white star in her forehead. Item I give &
bequeath to my son John Pain my Cane and one of my Iron Chains. Item I give
to my four sons John Pain William Pain Theophilus Pain & Thomas Pain
all my wearing apparrell to be divided Equally among them after my decease.

Item The remaining part (if any there be) of my personal Estate & Goods & Chattels I
give and bequeath to my Seven daughters Viz. Mary Freeman, Sarah Knowles,
Elizabeth Snow, Rebeckah Pain, Mercy Pain, Alice Pain, & Hannah Pain.to be
Equally divided to them or to their Legal Representatives. Finally I do hereby Nominate
Constitute & Appoint my Two sons John Pain & William Pain Joint Executors of this my
Last Will and Testament . Witness my hand and Seal the Day & Year first abovenamed.

Sign'd Seal'd and declared to be the Last Will & Testament                  John Paine {seal}
of the abovenamed John Paine in Presence of
Nathaniel Mayo
Samuel Higgins

Jonathan Higgins Ju^r

The source citation for this probate record is:

"Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991," indexed database with digital 
images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 December 2016), Barnstable County, "Probate and Guardianship Records, Vol. 3-6, 1720-1747," Volume 5, pages 13-17 (images 462-464 of 882), 1731 will and inventory of John Paine.  Original data from Barnstable County [Mass.] Probate Court clerk books.

John Paine had two wives, and two sets of children.  He had 13 children with his first wife, Bennett Freeman (1671-1716) between 1690 and 1714:  John, Mary, William, Benjamin, Sarah, male, Elizabeth, Theophilus, Josiah, Nathaniel, Rebecca, Mercy and Benjamin.  Of those, only John, Mary, William, Sarah, Elizabeth, Theophilus, Rebecca and Mercy were alive when John Paine wrote his will in 1731.   After Bennett (Freeman) Paine died in 1716, John Paine married (2) Alice Mayo (1686-1748) in 1720.  They had five children between 1721 and 1728:  Hannah, James, Thomas, Alice and Hannah.  The last three were alive when John Paine wrote his will in 1731.

The will provides for his second wife, Alice, four sons, and seven daughters, including the three married daughters, Mary Freeman (wife of Samuel Freeman, Sarah Knowles (wife of Joshua Knowles), and Elizabeth Snow (wife of Jabez Snow).  In two places, the last name of the daughter "Alice Pain" is crossed out for some reason.  Alice was born in 1728, so she was only three years old at the time of her father's death.  

John Paine's will was proved on 19 January 1731/2.  He died 18 October 1731 according to the Eastham town records, and is buried in Orleans Cemetery in East Orleans, Massachusetts.  

John Paine is my 7th great-grandfather.  I am descended through his daughter, Elizabeth (Paine) Snow (1702-1772).  

==============================================

NOTE:  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 URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/03/amanuensis-monday-1731-will-of-john.html

Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver


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