Monday, January 13, 2014

Amanuensis Monday - Post 201: Will of Daniel Dinkel (1713-1755) of York, Pennsylvania

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started his own Monday blog theme many months ago called Amanuensis Monday. What does "amanuensis" mean? John offers this definition:

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

The subject today is the will of Daniel Dinkel (1713-1755) of York township, York County, Pennsylvania.  It was written 6 April 1754 and registered in the Probate Court on 7 November 1755.  It starts near the bottom of the left-hand page on the first image below, and concludes near the top of the right-hand page on the second image below:




This is a probate court clerk transcription, and the original will is probably in the York County, Pennsylvania Probate Court Records files. The images above are from Volume A, pages 119-123 in the Probate Court Clerk files:

[page 119, near bottom of page]

1  In the Name of God Amen,
2  The Sixth day of Apprill in the Year of our Lord one
3  thousand seven hundred and fifty four.  I Daniel Dinkel
4  in the Town & County of York and Province of Pensil-
5  vania Yeoman being at Present well & healthy in body
6  & of Perfect Mind & Memory thanks be given unto

[page 120]

7  God therefore calling unto Mind the Mortality of my bo-
8  dy and knowing that it is appointed for all Men once
9  to Dye, do make and Ordain this my last Will & Testamt.
10 That is to say principally and first of all I give & Recommend
11 my Soul into the Hands of God that gave it and for
12 my Body I recommend it to the Earth to be buried in
13 a Christian like and Decent Manner at the discretion
14 of my Executors, nothing doubting but at the General
15 Resurrection I shall receive the same again by the
16 Mighty Power of God and as touching such wordly
17 Estate wherewith it hath Pleased God to bless me
18 in this life I give devise & dispose of the same in the
19 following Manner and Form (Viz)

20 Imprimis It is my will and I do order that in the first Place
21 all my Just Debts & Funerall Charges be paid & satisfied.
22 I give and bequeath unto Mary Ursula Dinkel me dear-
23 ly beloved Wife my Fedder Bed & Bead Stead and
24 all what belongs thereunto for her own for ever, like-
25 wise all her apparell and all my whole Estate Real
26 & moveable during her life Time, but if it should hap-
27 pen that She should Marry again to another Husband
28 then it shall be divided one half of my said Real
29 & moveable Estate one half to her & the other half to my
30 Six Children which half shall be Equaly divided
31 amongst them Namly Daniel dinkel & Peter Dinkel
32 and Margaretha Salome Dinkel Annamary Dinkel Mary 
33 Catharina Dinkel and Mary Dorothea Dinkel and
34 not before She intend to Marry again, and as for the
35 other half it is to be in her Possession During her life
36 Time, and if she should get Children with the other
37 Husband then the said half of her shall after his Decease
38 be Equaly divided among the aforenamed the afore-
39 named Six Children but if She should Dye without
40 Children by the next Husband then it shall fall to 
41 my said six Children be Equaly divided amongst them
42 as aforesaid.

[page 121]

43 Lastly, I Constitute nominate and appoint my Dearly beloved
44 Wife Mary Ursula Dinkel and my trusty Friends George
45 Jon & George Christian Sinn to be my only & Sole Exec^rs
46 of this my last Will & Testament And I do herby Utterly
47 Disallow Revoke and Disannual all & every other former
48 Testaments Wills Legacies and Exec^rs by me in anyways be
49 for ^this time^ named Willed & bequeathed Ratifying & Confirming
50 this & no other to be my last Will & Testament.  In Wit-
51 ness whereof I have hereunto Set my Hand & Seal dated
52 the Day & Year first above written.

53 Signed Sealed Published               }   Daniel Dinkel  {Seal}
54 Pronounced & Declared                }
55 by the said Daniel Dinkel               }
56 as his last Will & Testament          }
57 in the presence of us the Subscri-   }
58 bers Viz    Jacob Billmyer              }
59 Jacob Fackler   Barth Maul            }
60 York County 
61                       Before me George Stevenson Esq^r
62 Deputy Register for the Probate of Wills and gran-
63 ting Letters of Administration for the County of York
64 Personally came Jacob Billmyer & Jacob Fackler two
65 of the Subscribing Witness to the Foregoing Instrument
66 of Writing and on there Solemn Oath respectively do say
67 that they saw & heard Daniel Dinkel Sign Seal
68 Publish and declar the foregoing Instrument of
69 Writing as & for his Testament and last Will that
70 they subscribed their Names as Witnesses to the same
71 and saw Barth^o Maul subscribe his Name as a witness
72 and that the Testator was of sound & disposing Mind
73 and Memory at that Time.
74 Sworn & Subscribed          }  Jacob Billmyer
75 the 7^th of Novem^r 1755  }  Jacob Fackler
76 Cor Geo Stevenson D^y R^r
77                           A true Copy SS  Geo Stevenson D^r R^r

[page 122]

78 We George John & George Christian Sinn Executors in the foregoing
79 Will named do hereby renounce the said Executorship  Witness our Hands
80 and Seals the 7^th Nov^r 1755.                    George John               {Seal}
81 Sealed & Delivered in the presence of us }  George Christian Sinn  {Seal}
82 Tho^s Armor   Jacob Billmyer                }

83 Memorandum that Letters Testamentary in common form
84 were Granted to Aushilla Dinkel (the other Exec^r have renounced) Executrix of
85 the Testament and last Will of Daniel Dinkle Deced Inventory to be
86 exhibited into the Registers Office at York on or before the twenty ninth Day
87 of January ^next^ and an Accompt or reconing on or before the twenty ninth
88 Day of December next Given under my Hand & the seal of the s^d Office at
89 York the twentieth day of December Anno Domini 1755.  SS Geo Stevenson D R

The source citation for this will, entered into the Probate Court clerk record book and accessed on FamilySearch.org, is:

"Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994," digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org), Daniel Dinkel will, written 6 April 1754, registered 7 November 1755; accessed in York County, “Wills, 1749-1779, Vol. A-D,” Book A, pages 119-123, images 84-85 of 647.

The will names his wife Mary Ursula Dinkel, and his six children, including: Daniel Dinkel; Peter Dinkel; Margaretha Salome Dinkel; Annamary Dinkel; Mary Catharina Dinkel; and Mary Dorothea Dinkel.  

Daniel Dinkel (1713-1755) and his wife Maria Ursula (Von Ernest) Dinkel (1713-1793) are my fifth great-grandparents.  I descend through the daughter, Maria Dorothea Dinkel (1748-1835) who married Rudolf Spangler, whose son Daniel Spangler (1781-1851) married Elizabeth King (1796-1863), my third great-grandparents.


Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Absolutely fascinating, in my other life I was to be a historian and enjoy your interesting posts. Well done & nice to meet you.

Ella's Mom said...

Hi Randy, Thanks so much for posting this. I'm a descendant of Johann Daniel Dinkel & Maria Ursula. I contacted you probably a year ago, and you got back to me, but I have neglected to keep in touch. I hadn't seen this before, and don't live in PA where I could access it easily. So thanks again. I have heard that some relics of this family are in the York County Heritage Trust, such as Ursula's cane handle. Don't know if it's true, though.
Regards,
Laura Mackinson