"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."
The subject today is the 1755 will of Peter Martin (1693-1756) of Piscataway, Middlesex County, New Jersey:
The transcription of this will is (transcribed line by line):
In the Name of God Amen. I Peter
Martain of Piscataway in the County of Middlesex and Province of East
Jersey being in Perfect Health and of
Sound and Disposing Mind and Memory thanks be Given to God before
Caling to mind the frailty of
Human Nature and the Uncertainty of
this Life So constitute make and Ordain this my last will and
testament. That is to Say
Principally and first of all I Give and
Recommend my Soul into the hands of God that gave it me and my Body
to the Earth to be Buried in
a Christian Like Manner at the
Discretion of my Executors hereinafter Named Nothing Doubting but at
the General Resurection I
Shall Receive the Same 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 Devise and Bequeath
the Same in Manner following, Imprimus it is my will and I do hereby
Order that
first all my Just Debts and Funeral
Expenses be Duly Paid and Satisfied by my Executors hereinafter Named
out of my Personal Estate
Item I Give unto my Grand Son Thomas
Martain Eldest son of my Eldest Son Mulford Martain Deceased the Sum
of ten Shillings
Item It is my will and I do hereby
Order that my thirty Nine Acre Lot Lying by Gershom Martain in
Woodbridg be Equally Divided
by an East – West Line, And the South
half of s'd ^Lot^ and the west Half of my Lot of Salt Meadow which I
Bought of Richard Carmon I
Give Unto My GrandSon Mulford Martain
his Heirs and Assigns forever, the Other Half of sd Lot of Land and
sd Lot of Meadow
I Give Unto my GrandSon Samuel Martain
his Heirs and Assigns forever, But if Either of my Grandsons Mulford
or Samuel Should Die
without Lawful Issue then I give his
Part of the aforesd Lot of Land and Meadow to the Survivor his Heirs
and assigns forever. Item it is
my Will and I Do hereby Order that my
Home Plantation whereon I now Dwell with the Additions Joyning
thereto be Divided by a Line
Beginning at the Northeast Corner of a
Lot of Land John Wilson bought of Joseph Woods thence Running
Easterly to the South East
Corner of my first frehold lot, And all
my Lands and Tenements to the Northward of sd Line Excepting a
Priviledge Reserved for
my wife And the East half of my Lot of
Salt Meadow Lying in Martains Neck, And the South half of my Lot of
Salt Meadow
Lying at the Mouth of the great Pon I
give unto my Son Robert Martain his Heirs and Assigns forever. Item
the Remaining Part
of my Home Plantation with the
Additions Lying to the Sourhward of the beforementioned Line together
with the West half of
my Lot of Salt Meadow lying in Martains
Neck and the North half of my Lot of Salt Meadow at the Mouth of the
great Pon
I give unto my Son Peter Martain his
Heirs and Assigns forever, But if Either of my Sons Should Dye
without Lawfull
Issue then I give his Part of my Land
and Meadow to him given & Bequeathed to the Survivour of them
his Heirs and Assigns
forever. Item I Give unto my Daughter
Zerviah Runyon the Sum of Twenty Shillings. Item I Give unto my
Daughter
Mary Faurat the Sum of Twenty
Shillings; Item I give unto my Daughter Priscilla Martain the Sum of
Twenty Shillings
all which Legacies to Paid by my
Exe't'rs or the Survivour of them Out of my Personal Erstate; Item I
give unto my true and
well Beloved wife Sarah Martain the
East apartment of my now Dwelling House and the one third of the
yearly Rents of
my Son Roberts Part of my Lands as Long
as She Shall Remain my widow, and One feather bed and Beding together
with
One Equal third Part of all the
Remaining Part of my Personal Estate after my Debts Funerals and
Legasies as afors'd
be paid forever, and the Other two
thirds of my Personal Estate ^I Give^ to my Three Children as Namly
Robert Peter and Sarah Martains to be
Equally Divided between them Share and
Share alike. It is my will and Do hereby Order that my afors'd wife
Shall have the Intrest Money Arsing
from my Son Peter and my Daughter
^Sarah^ Portion my Personal Estate till they Respectively Come to the
Age of forteen years for her Bringing
them up. It is my Will that if my Son
Peter Lives to Settle on his part of my Land that my Son Robert Pay
him ten Pounds towards
Building a House. And Lastly I do
hereby Nominate Constitute and Appoint my Son in Law Isaac Faurat and
my Brother in Law Samuel Martain Executors of this my Last Will and
Testament to Se the Same Performed or the Survivour of them And I Do
hereby
Revoke Disanull and make void all
former and other Wills by me at anytime heretofore made Ratifying and confirming this and
No Other to be my Last will and
Testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal
at the this Second Day of Aprill
in the year of Our Lord One Thousand
Seven Hundred and Fifty Five.
Signed Sealed Published Pronounced and
Declared
by the Testator as his Last Will and
Testament in the Presence of Peter Martin {seal}
Nehemiah Dunham
Peter Martin junior
Benjamin Martin
The source citation for this will is:
New Jersey Surrogate's Court, Middlesex County, Wills, 2255L-2946L, File No. 2896, Peter Martin estate file (images 549-569), 1756; "New Jersey, Wills and Probate Records, 1656-1999," indexed database with digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 7 September 2015); citing original data from New Jersey County, District and Probate Courts.
Peter Martin had children by two wives:
* With Marie Mulford (1693-1731), married in 1711: Rhoda Martin (1712-????); Mulford Martin (1713-1744); Zerviah Martin (1715-????); Thomas Martin (1718-????).
* with Sarah Hull (1713-1794), married in 1731: Mary Martin (1732-1767); Priscilla Martin (1736-????); Robert Martin (1738-1800); Peter Martin (1741-1777); Sarah Martin (1743-1825).
In his will, Peter Martin names his second wife Sarah, his sons Thomas, Robert and Peter, and his daughters Zerviah, Mary, Priscilla and Sarah. He also names grandsons Mulford and Thomas Martin, sons of his son Mulford Martin. He names his appoints his son-in-law Isaac Faurat (husband of daughter Mary) and brother-in-law Samuel Martin as his executors. Peter died 17 March 1756, less than one year after writing his will.
Interestingly, the surname Martin is spelled Martain throughout except for Peter's signature! Since Peter's signature looks much different from the rest of the will, he must have dictated the will to another person.
I am descended from Peter Martin's son Mulford Martin (1713-1744) and his grandson Thomas Martin (1737-1767).
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/09/amanuensis-monday-post-285-1755-will-of.html
Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver
Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver
Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
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