"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."
The subject today is the 1743 will of Henry Smith (1680-1743) of Medfield, Sussex County, Massachusetts:
The transcription of this will is (transcribed line by line):
[page 333, starts 1/3 down the right-hand page]
In the Name of God amen. The
Seventeenth Day of March
in the year of Our Lord one thousand
seven hundred & forty two, three: I
Henry Smith of Medfield in the County
of Suffolk in his Majesty's Province of
the Massachusetts Bay in New England
Husbandman: being Sick & weak and
under Bodily Infirmities: but of
perfect Mind & Memory, thanks be given unto
God. Therefore calling to mind the
mortality of my body and knowing that
it is appointed to all men once to dye
Do make & ordain this my Last Will &
Testament That is to Say Principally
and First of all I give & recommend my Soul
into the hands of God that gave it,
hoping for Salvation by Jesus Christ alone,
and my Body I recommend to the Earth to
be buried in a decent manner at the
discretion of my Executor. And as
touching such worldly Estate wherewith it
hath pleased God to bless me in this
Life: I give demise & dispose of the Same
in the following manner & form.
Impr's I give & bequeath to Ruth Smith my
beloved Wife for her Dowry & thirds
in my Housing & Lands during the term of
her Natural Life the West End of my
Dwelling House to the middle of the Chimney
with all the privileges thereto
belonging, also a third part of the Barn, also a
third part of the orchard to lye
nearest the House, also a third part of all the
Lands at Home to be set off on the West
Side also a third part of my Bridge
Street Meadow, on that side next the
Meadow of Henry Harding: also three acres
of Meadow lying near the Pine Swamp
Joyning on the Meadow of Samuel Smith
towards the East, also I give &
bequeath to her one third part of my moveable
Estate forever when my Just Expences
are first paid out. I give & bequeath to
my son Daniel Smith besides what I have
already given him by Deed: the
Remainder of that Lott whereon his
House Stands lying Southward of his
House: and in Case that End of the Lott
which I give to him be Judged
as good as that End I give to my Son
Henry, then said Daniel to have
so much Land at the north End of said
Lott as to make his part as good
as said Henry's part provided he pay
out to my Daughter Mary Clark the
Sum of fifty pounds in the Old Tenour:
also an Equal Share in my Movea-
ble Estate with his Brothers and
Sisters after my Just Debts are paid &
my wife's thirds taken out: and my four
youngest Children made Equal in
[page 334]
Moveable Estate to those that are gone
from Me. Also an Equal Share
with his Brothers & Sisters in the
Iron oar. I give & bequeath to my Son
Henry Smith besides what I have already
given him by Deed, the Remaind'r
of the Lott whereon his House stands
lying northward of his House: Excepting s
o much as may be Judged needfull to
make Daniels part of said Lott as good
as his also about one acre & an
half of Meadow lying at a place called Jade
Walk: provided he shall pay out to my
Daughter Sarah Boyden fifty
Pounds in the old Tenour: also an
Equal Share with his Brothers & Sisters
on my moveable Estate after my Just
Debts are paid and my Wife's thirds
are taken out, and my four youngest
children made Equal in moveable
Estate, to those that are gone from Me.
Also an Equal Share with his
Brothers & Sisters in the Iron
ore. I give and bequeath to my Son Jonathan
Smith besides what I have already given
him by Deed fifteen acres of
Land lying on the West Side of the Land
that I have given him at
Home also another piece containing
about four acres lying Eastward
from his House also one third part of
my Bridge Street Meadow to lye in
that Side near the Meadow of the Heirs
of my Brother Samuel Smith deced
provided he pay out to my Daughter Mary
Clark Fifty Pounds in old
Tenour. Also an Equal Share with his
Brothers & Sisters in my Moveable
Estate after my Just Debts are first
paid and my Wife's thirds taken
out: and my four youngest Children made
Equal in Moveable Estate to
those that are gone from Me: Also an
Equal Share with his Brothers &
Sisters in the Iron Oar. I give &
bequeath to my Son Benoni Smith all the
Remainder of my Lands & Buildings
at Home besides what I have disposed
of to my Wife and my Son Jonathan, also
a third part of my Bridge Street
Meadow, also a third part of my Cedar
Swamp lying in Walpole, also a
third part of my Meadow in the Pine
Swamp, provided he pay out to my
two Daughrers Sarah Boyden & Ruth
Smith, to Sarah Boyden Fifty Pounds
and to Ruth Smith one hundred Pounds,
all in the old Tenour: to pay
to Sarah Boyden her part in one year
after he comes to the age of Twenty
One years, and to pay to Ruth Smith the
Sum of fifty pounds when she
come to the age of Eighteen Years, or
at the Time of her Marriage in
Case she should Marry before she attain
to that age. And the other
Fifty pounds within one year after her
Mothers decease, also at the
decease of my Said wife, her Dowry in
the Housing & Lands shall go to my
said Son Benoni Smith, also I give him
one ox & one cow & one Mare, also
a third part of all my Tackling for the
Team with Tools for Husbandry, also an
Equal Share with his Brothers &
Sisters in the Iron Oar. I give & bequeath to
my two youngest Sons Moses Smith &
Asa Smith all my Lands in Walpole
which I have not otherwise disposed of,
also two thirds of my Meadow in
the Pine Swamp also two Oxen, two cows,
also two third parts of all my
Tackling for the Team, and Tools for
Husbandry, and so much more of my
Moveable Estate ass to make ^each^ them
Equal to what my other Children had when
they went from Me, also an Equal Share
with their Brothers & Sisters in the
rest of my Moveable Estate after my
Just Debts are paid and my Wife's thirds
taken out: also each of them an Equal
Share with their Brothers & Sisters in
the Iron Oar. Moreover I do will &
bequeath that my Daughters within
named Mary Clark & Sarah Boyden
shall have besides what I have already
given them at their Marriage or
otherwise: and also my Daughter Ruth
Smith shall have such certain Legacies
within ordered to be paid in Each of
them: and each of them shall have an
Equal Share in my Moveable Estate
with their Brothers, and also an Equal
Share with their Brothers in the
[page 335]
Iron Oar: The Iron Oar to be Dugg in a
Time of Year when it may
do less Damage. I do also constitute
make & ordain Daniel Smith and
Henry Smith my Sons within named: to be
Executors of this my Last
Will & Testament, and I Do hereby
utterly Disallow Revoke & Disannul
all & every other & former
Wills Testaments Legacies & bequests & Executors
by Me in any wise before named Willed &
bequeathed: Ratifying & Confirm-
ing this & no other to be my Last
Will & Testament. In Witness whereof
I Do hereunto set my Hand & Seal
the Day & year abovewritten. Henry
Smith and a Seal. Signed Sealed
pronounced & declared by him the said
Henry Smith as his Last Will &
Testam't in prsence of us the Subscribers
Samuel Clark Ephraim Chenery Nathan
Plimpton,
Exam'd And'w Belcher Reg'r
Suffolk Ss By the
Hono'ble Josiah Willard Esq'r Judge of Probate &c
The foregoing Will being presented for
Probate by the Executors therein
named Samuel Clark Ephraim Chenery &
Nathan Plimpton made oath that
they saw Henry Smith the Subscriber to
this Instrument Sign & Seal & heard
him publish & declare the same to
be his Last Will & Testament and that
when he so did he was of Sound
disposing Mind & Memory according to these
Depon'ts best discerning and that they
set to their hands as Witnesses
thereof in the Said Testator's
presence.
Boston May 24. 1743. J. Willard
att.d And'w Belcher Reg'r
The source citation for this will is:
Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991, indexed database with digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), Suffolk County, "Probate Records, Vol 35-37, 1740-1745," Volume 36, Pages 333-335 (images 512-513 of 927), Henry Smith will, 1743.
Henry Smith had nine children by three wives - Daniel Smith (1706-1749) by his first wife Deborah Pratt (1684-1706); Mary Smith (1709-1770), Henry Smith (1711-1785), Jonathan Smith (1714-1784), Sarah Smith (1717-1748), and Benoni Smith (1725-1752) by his second wife, Mary Adams (1681-1725); Ruth Smith (1730-1813), Moses Smith (1732-1806), and Asa Smith (1740-1795) by his third wife, Ruth Barber (1696-1761).
His first two wives died shortly after giving birth to their last child, but the children lived. Note that Mary's last child was named Benoni, which usually signifies a time of sadness.
Henry Smith named his third wife, and all nine of his children in his will, dividing the property evenly between all of them. Sons Daniel and Henry, and daughters Mary and Sarah, had married by the time he wrote the will, and he had, apparently, provided some land by deeds. He left his wife Ruth her dowry and her thirds, for her natural life, and not until she married again. I have no record that indicates that Ruth married again. There is no indexed entry in the Massachusetts Wills and Probate Record database on Ancestry.com for Ruth Smith.
There may be other probate records for Henry Smith - perhaps the inventory, a distribution and an account. There may be guardianship records for the four youngest children in the probate records. I need to check for those also but haven't done so in the Ancestry database by browsing the Suffolk County Probate Docket index.
Perhaps the most interesting item in the will is the equal sharing of the "Iron Oar." There must have been a mine or quarry on the Smith property that was worked by the family and perhaps others.
Henry Smith (1680-1743) is my 6th great-grandfather, and I descend through his son Moses Smith (1732-1806). Moses Smith, who was age 11 when his father died, was to receive his father's lands in Walpole with his younger brother, Asa. Moses married Patience Hamant in 1762, a year after his mother died. I wondered how or why Moses had settled in Walpole, to the southwest of Medfield, and this is probably the main reason - he was bequeathed land from his father.
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