"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."
The subject today is the 1715 will of Jediah Higgins (1657-1715), of Somerset County, New Jersey:
The transcription of this will is (transcribed line-by-line):
[left-hand side, page 16 (penned)]
In the Name of God Amen The twenty
third day of Aprill in the Yeare of our
Lord one thousand Seaven
hundred and fiveteen I Jedidiah Higgins
of the County of Somerset
in the Province of East New Jersey
Yeaman being sick and weake
in body but of perfect mind and memory
thanks be given unto
God therefore Caleing unto mind the
Mortality of My body and
knowing that it is appointed for all
Men once to dye Doe make
and ordaine this my Last will and
testament that is to Say princi-
pally and first of all I give and
Recommend My soule unto
the hands of God that Gave it and for
my body I Recommend it to
the Earth to be buryed in a Christian
like and decent Manner at
the discretion of my Executors Nothing
doubting but at the Generall
Resurrection I Shall Receive the Same
againe by the mighty pow-
er of God as touching such worldly
estate wherewith It hath plea-
sen God to bless me in this life I Give
devise and dispose of the
same in the following manner and forme.
Imprimis I Give to Mary
my dearly beloved That one third part
of All my moveable estate &
all My now dwelling house during her
Naturall life. Item I Give
unto my Welbeloved Son Jedidiah two
hundred ackers of land to
be laid out towards the Northermost
part of my tract of land hereto
begin at a Small Brooke and so Runing
the said brooke so farr as
it will make two hundred ackers as also
one hundred and twenty
ackers of Land laying at Baynegat Bay
as also two hundred &
fivety ackers of Land which is to take
up belonging to a trust
of a property by me lately purchased.
All which tract and
parcels of land here before mentioned
to be by him freely to be
possessed and enjoyed by him and his
heirs and Assignes for
ever. Item I give unto my Wellbeloved
Son James a Certaine
tract or parcel of Land beginning at
the abovesaid brooke
Runeing up the said brooke till it
Comes to the end of Jedidiah
Land then behind the same till it comes
to the uttermost line
thence downe the said line till it
Comes to Daneell Cornelius
Corner tree so along the said Daniels
line till it Comes to the said
Cornelius Southernmost Corner from
thence a East South East line
till it Comes to a small brooke from
thence up the said brooke
to the place where it first began all
which tract and parcell of
land here before mentioned is by him
freely to be possessed and
enjoyed by him and heirs and Assignes
for ever. Item I Give
unto my Welbeloved Sons Miceall and
Thomas all the rest of
land belonging to the plantation here
to be devided equally be-
twixt them in quantity and quality to
bee by them freely to be
possessed & enjoyed by them and
their heirs and Assignes for ever
Item I Give unto my Welbeloved Son
Joseph the sum Eighty pounds
to be paid to him out of My Estate by
My Executors hereafter
mentioned when he Shall Come to the age
of twenty and one Years.
Item I Give unto my Welbeloved daughter
Mary when she shall
come to age Eighteen Years or at the
day of her Marrage
the Sum of fifty pounds likewise to be
paid her by My
[right-hand page]
Executor. Item I give unto my
Grandaughter Sarah Bloomefield the
Sum of ten pounds to be paid her at the
age of eighteen years by my Exe-
cutors. Also further my will is that
the other two thirds of My movea-
ble Estate be Equally devided amongst
all My Children here before menti-
oned my Just Debts being first paid.
Further my will is that any
of My children Should happen to dye
before the Come to age or
without Issue that their portions or
parsells of land to Returne to the
Surviveing partys Equally to be devided
amongst them. And further I
doe appoint Constitute and make my
dearly beloved wife Mary &
My two sons Jedidiah & James to be
my Executors of this my last
will and testament to see that the Same
Executed and performed &
I doe hereby uterly disalow Revoke and
make Voyd all former
wills testiments or Legacies or
Executors by me in wise before the
time named Ratifieing and Confirming
this to be my last Will &
Testament Judiah Hggns {seal}
Benjamin fitz Randolph Jonathan Hunt
Tho Yates
Proved before
Thomas Gordon Esq by the ???? Mayor
and Sealed the
same date. Inventory Exhibited &
filed J Bass
The source citation for this document is:
New Jersey, Wills and Probate Records, 1656-1999, indexed database with digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com :, accessed 7 September 2015, no longer available), Somerset County, page 16 (penned) (image 339), Jediah Higgins will, 1715.
Jediah Higgins (1657-1715) and his wife, Mary (Newbold) Higgins (1661-1715) married in 1684, and had 11 children:
* Anne Higgins (1684-1702)
* Rose Higgins (1686-1715), married Timothy Bloomfield (1681-1748)
* Mary Higgins (1688-1699)
* Thomas Higgins (1690-????)
* Jediah Higgins (1691-1772), married Hannah Stout (1694-1779)
* James Higgins (1692-1718)
* Joshua Higgins (1694-????)
* Phoebe Higgins (1696-????)
* Michael Higgins (1698-1753), married Anna Bryant (1699-1730)
* Mary Higgins (1700-1773), married Freegift Stout (1693-1769)
* Joseph Higgins (1702-1781).
Six of the 11 children are identified in the will, plus a grandchild, Sarah Bloomfield. Timothy and Rose (Higgins) Bloomfield married in 1707 and had four children, the third being Sarah born in 1710. Rose (Higgins) Bloomfield probably died before the will was written.
Jediah and Mary (Newbold) Higgins are my ninth great-grandparents, and I descend through their daughter, Rose (Higgins) Bloomfield.
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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver
Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver
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3 comments:
I am also descendant from Jediah HIggins b various dates various sources. died 1715 in New Jersey. mar to Mary Newbold.
One book said 1655/6. Eastham Mass. Higgins book different I think. I have a shingle from the STOUT house when it was dismantled some years ago. A cousin lived across street from the home and retrieved several for various STout descendants at that time.
I then descend through Jediah and Hannah Stout. down to James and Sarah Stout Higgins to Joseph Higgins and Mary (Henderson) Higgins to Elizabeth Higgins, whom I have 2 pictures of one young one older. She married Henry Hoffman/Huffman. m 9 April 1826 Greene Co. PA.
I descend through the following lines:
(8th great) -Jediah Higgins 1657-1715 & Mary Newbold 1661-1715,
(7th great) son- Jediah Higgins 1691-1772 & Hannah Stout 1694-1779,
(6th great) son - Jonathan Higgins 1725-1815 & Ann Britton 1730-1811,
(5th great)daughter-Frances Higgins 1773-1807 & Benjamin VanHook 1768-1854,
(4th great)daughter-Frances Sarah VanHook 1803-1850 & Rice Ware Sr. 1798-1880
(3rd great) son- Rice Ware Jr. 1841-1898 & Sarah Cooper 1843-1883
(2nd great)daughter-Nancy Pernadeese Ware 1865-1908 & Silas Monroe Rainwater 1866-1934
(1st great)daughter-Myrtle Tressa Rainwater 1889-1974 & James Harrison Hunley 1889-1972
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