"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."
The subject today is a will and inventory transcription for John Lothrop (1584-1653) of Barnstable, Massachusetts dated 10 August 1653:
The transcription of this will and inventory is:
The
Last Will and Testament of Mr. John Lothropp the Pastour of the
Church of Christ att Barnstable August 10th 1653.
First,
I will and bequeath unto my wife the house wherein I now dwell with
the furniture thereof and the ground belonging thereunto with the
marsh land that lyeth on the East besides Randevow Creek, and also my
ground in the Common field.
To
my son Thomas my eldest sonne I will and bequeath the house I first
lived in in Barnstable with the ground belonging thereunto and the
marsh joyning to the lower end thereof which butts and bounds upon
the Creeke northward with the condition that hee my said sonne Thomas
is to give to my sonne John in England and to my sonne Benjamin heer
in the bay each of them a good Cow of five pounds.
My
daughter Jane and my daughter Barbarah have had their portions
already.
To
the Rest of my Children both mine and my wives my will is that every
of them shall have a Cow.
My
Will is also that my great lott and my great Marsh shall be sold to
some particular person and that which comes by the sale thereof to
bee equally devided amongst them that have the least portions.
Lastly
for my books if there bee amongst them any that may bee useful to my
children lett every of them have one if there will arise soo many,
and lett their choice thereof bee in order according to their ages.
The
Rest of the bookes lett them bee sold to any honest man whoo can tell
how to make use of them, and that which comes thereby lett it bee
devided as is aforesaid.
Barnstable
County, Massachusetts Probate Records, Volume 1, page 113:
This
8th of december 1653
A
true inventory of the Cattel and goods of Mr. John Lothropp the
Pastour of the Church of Christ at Barnstable late deceased.
₤.
S. d.
Imprimis
Six cowes vallued att 26 00 00
It.
3 two yearlings 17 10 00
It
2 Calves 01 00 00
It
5 Piggs 00 15
00
It
his wearing apparrell of all sorts 13 09 00
It
a bedsteade with bedd and furniture 05 10 00
It
a bedd and furniture 02 00 00
It
Sheets napkins with other linen 02 16 00
It
5 Chests with a Cubbard and hangings 00 14 00
It
Table Chaires and Cushens 01 00 00
It
Table and other wooden Lunber 01 11 00
It
in Pewter 01 15 00
It
Tinn and earthen ware 00 07 06
It
4 brasse kettles with other brasse 02 00 00
It
one Iron pott kettle hangers with other
Iron
00 14 00
It
one Muskett 00 10 00
It
his bookes 05 00 00
It
for other small things omitted 00 05 00
The totall summe
70 16 06
Taken
for us
Thomas dimmock
Henery Cobb
John Cooper
Thomas hinckley
The source citation for this record is:
"Plymouth Colony Records, Wills, 1633-1686, Vols. 1-4," transcriptions, Family History Library (Salt Lake City, Utah), on FHL US/CAN Microfilm 0,567,794, Volume 1, Pages 113-114, John Lothropp will and inventory.
While John Lothrop resided and died in Barnstable, which is now in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable was part of Plymouth Colony in 1653, and the earliest probate records, up to 1686, were recorded in the Court at Plymouth.
Only sons John, Thomas and Benjamin, and daughters Jane and Barbara, are named in the will. Thomas, Benjamin, Jane and Barbara were by his first wife, Hannah House (1590-1634), while John was by his second wife, Anne Hammond (1616-1688). There were other children living in 1653 - sons Joseph and Samuel by his first wife, and Barnabas, Abigail, Bathsheba and Elizabeth by his second wife.
The record images above from the microfilm are transcriptions of earlier writings, probably the original papers written in a Secretary hand. Therefore, this is an image copy of a Derivative Source, with Primary Information and Direct Evidence of the person, the heirs, and the date of the will.
The microfilm includes another transcription of the will (on page 248 of Volume 1):
This record seems to read identical to the earlier image, except at the top it says:
"fac simile of Rev. John Lothrop's Will as recorded at Plymouth.
Nuncupative"
At the bottom of the page is:
"This 8th of November 1653."
The "nuncupative" means that this was a verbal will made to certain unnamed persons who recounted it later to a clerk who recorded it, apparently on 8 November 1653.
I don't know why there are two transcriptions of this will in this one record book.
My ancestry is through the daughter, Jane Lothrop (1614-1683), who married 1635 to Samuel Fuller (1608-1683) in Scituate, Massachusetts.
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/06/amanuensis-monday-post-222-will-of-john.html
copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver
2 comments:
Thanks Randy! Have you seen this site with some wills of selected Plymouth Colony men?http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/wills.html
Meant to add my descent: son Samuel who married Elizabeth Scudder.
Post a Comment