Monday, February 2, 2015

Amanuensis Monday - Post 254: Administratrix Account for Simon Gates (1739-1803) Estate

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 1804 account of the administratrix for the estate settlement of Simon Gates (1739-1803) of Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts in Worcester County Probate File 23252:



The transcription of this Account is:

[page 105 of 1069]

The Account of Susanna Gates Administratrix on the
Estate of Simon Gates late of Gardner in the County of Wor-
cester Yeoman deceased intestate.

The said Accountant Charges her self with the personal Estate
of said deceased, Amounting to Eighteen hundred Seventy Six
Dollars and Seventeen Cents ….............................................................................. $ 1876=17
The Improvement of his Real Estate
Sundry Debts Received ….......................................................................................        11=08
                                                                                                                                      $ 1887=25

And prays allowance of the following Charges and payments (Viz.)
Funeral Charges to Doods & Miles $15=33 Smarny Glazer $2=00                         $ 17=33
To ^Doctor^ Abijah Hemenway $9=20 Israel Whiton $2 James Carter $16=37   27=57
To Stephen Miles $4=35 Stephen Hoar $17=85 Aaron Wood $11=45 and }
Matthias Mosman $15 Appraizers …......................................................... }                  48=65
Taxes Joseph Edgel $9=08 Do $ 4=09 ….........................................................                13=17
Paid Sundry Debts
To Jemima Miles $44=50 Asa Miles $6=45 Wm Penniman $6=64                      = 57=59
To Samuel Larned $5=80 Rhoda Hale $2 David Wyman $6=61                              14=41
To David Wyman $8=88 Dodds & Miles $5=35 William Edgel $17=23              = 31=46
To Heman Ray $1=17 Sally Thursting $0=86 Merari Spaulding $0=41              = 2=44
To Simon Gates $8=00 Simon Gates $108=50 Simeon Brooks $5=43                 = 121=93
To Isaac Miles $31=35 Joseph Darby $6=21 Oliver Jackson $1=14                     = 33=32
To Silas Wood $0=38 John Dunn $8=21 Elisha Jackson $93=70                       = 100=29
To Orang Osgood $10=20 Exra Moor $13=71 Amos Gates $0=34                      = 24=25
To Ezekiel Flint $3=60 Ephraim Tobin $9=42 Wm Chappel $1=29                      = 14=31
To Levi Fairbank Jr $0=10 Rhoda Tafft $3=50 Levi Fairbanks $2=50                    8=10
Delivered up to Nathan Gates Son of said Simon Gates Deceased }
by the Consent of all parties Concerned in and to said Estate        }                        767=05-6
Notes of hand to the Amount of ….................................................. }
To framing this Account &c (Mark) pd Matthias Mosman for his assistance           2=00
                                                                                                                                       1281=87-6
Gardner May 17 1804 Office fees for selling real estate                                                 5=75
                                                                                                                  Signed Susanna x Gates
                                                                                                                                        1287=62
                                                                                                                                      $ 599=63
We the Subscriber whose Names are hereunto
Subscribed have Examined the Above Account
are Satisfied with Said Account in all it
parts Dated as above
                                   Daniel Gates
                                  Elizabeth Gates

no charge for administering is made, the heirs
agreeing that the Widow shall not be charged on the
improvements of the real Estate

Sworn to                             Widows         199_88
                                                one share     79_95
                                                5 shares     399_75
                                                                      599.63

[image 106 of 1069]

Worcester Ss Probate Court at Templeton May 17, 1804
Personally appeared Mrs Susanna Gates and made
Oath to the truth of the within account and produced
Vouchers for the payments therein contained I allow thereof
hereby it appears she hath a balance in her hands
the sum of $599.63 one third part of which I order
that she retain in her own hands ^being^ the sum
of $199.58 cents and the remainder of said
Balance I order her to pay to the five children
of said Deceased or their legal representatives on
demand with Interest ^annually^ till paid being $79.95 Cents
to each.
                                                     Nath^l Paine JProb.

The source citation for this record is:

Massachusetts, Worcester County, Probate Files, 1731-1925, Case 23252, Simon Gates Estate, 1803, Administratorix Account; digital images, FamilySearch.org,(https://familysearch.org: accessed 12 August 2014); in "Case no 23243-23330, Gates, Sarah-Gay, William, 1731-1881" (images 105-106 of 1069); original records in Worcester County, Mass. Courthouse.

This is the eighth transcription 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, Susanna Gates, the administratrix of the estate, itemizes the payments made to the creditors of the estate.  The shares of the heirs (one third to the widow, and the balance to the five children) are calculated, and the Judge of the Probate Court decrees that what was done was proper and he approved of the results.

Of particular interest to me is that $767.05 from the estate was allowed to son Nathan Gates, who did not share otherwise in the distribution of the estate.  

I believe that most of the debts owed to the creditors were either personal loans to Simon Gates or were accounts of Simon Gates owed to the persons for goods or services rendered and unpaid at his death.

On thing I didn't transcribe was the arithmetic done in the lower right-hand corner of image 105 to determine the shares for each heir.  I also used the punctuation I saw for the money, usually + for the divider between dollars and cents.

This completes the transcription of the papers of interest in the estate file for Simon Gates (1739-1803) of Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts.


Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver


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