"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."
The subject today is the will of Joshua Fisher (1588-1674) of Medfield, Suffolk County, Massachusetts:
The transcription of this will is (transcribed line by line):
[page 121]
[In right margin] Joshua Fisher Will
In the yeare of our Lord one thousand
six hundred
Seventy four the Second daye of may I,
Joshua
Fisher of Medfield Senior in the County
of Suffolk in
New England being by the Good hand of
God preserved
& brought to old age & being
thereby with the infirmi-
ties there upon attending put in mind
of Mortality &
Summoned to appear are longe Before
that great God
to whome I must give an account of all
my wayes who
is pleased out of infinit marcy at this
pursent to give
me the full use of my memory &
understanding Doe
therefore make & ordaine this my
last will & testa-
ment for the quiet of my mind in the
disposing &
selling of that portion of the things
of this life where-
with it hath pleased the lord to
betrust me & having
Committed my soull nto the armes of
Jesus christ
my deare redemer & my Body to the
earth from
whence it was at first taken to be
christianly buried
at the Discretion of my Executors
hereinafter named.
Imprimis I give & bequeath unto
Anne my deere & well
beloved wife & to her heires
forever that my bed as it
now standeth in the Little chamber next
the Staires
with all the furniture belonging there
untoo & allsoe two
grene blankets more & two payres of
sheets & two
[page 122]
pillowes & that trunke now standing
in the bed
chamber below marked A.F. With what
soever is
now in it & all her wearing
apparell as well linen as
wooling & one payer of andiarns one
fire pann one payer
of tonges one Trammell one drying iron
& two heaters one
payer of pothookes two beere vesselles
three milk boulles
one stanning Jugge tipt with Sillver
two chaines two
foure footed stolles two cushings Such
as she shall chuse
& three puter Dishes two of the
begest & one leser one
& my two ketteles one Skillit &
one Iron pott & fouer
bushells of wheat & Fortye pound
wayt of butter & forty
pound of chese & fifty pound wayght
of porke & one Cow
such as shee shall chuse & all my
fire wood that is cut
out when god shall take me away whether
in the
woodes or in my yard & soe much
more of my moveable
goodes as shall be vallued at ten pound
in such
as she shall chuse or else soe much in
good & mar-
chatable wheat as com to tenn pound &
fiften pound
in good & currant New England money
& further my
will & Desire is that my abovesd
wife may live in that
end of the house which I lived in
attending to the
will of my son John Fisher Deceased
until such
time as the heires shall come of age &
then to enjoy free
Ingress & regress with the benefit
of any one now of
the apple trees in the orchard &
then to live in the
other end & there to injoye During
the tearme of
her naturall life all such liberties &
priveledges as
are expressed in my Deed of gift
formerly made to
my son John Fisher & further my
will is that all
the abovesd perticulers given to my
wife shall be
delivered unto her within ten weekes
after my Decease
all which piticulars abovesd being
truly prformed unto
my Deere & well Beloved wife
according to my true intent
& meneing herein it Shall Stand for
ever as a suffient
pleae & bare against my sd wife for
claiming any right
title or Intrest by way of Dowry or any
other way unto
any houses or lands that ayther at
present Doe or
ever did possess ayther in old England
or in New England.
Itm. I will & bequeath unto my
Daughter Mary Battle
the wife of Thomas Battle & his
heires for ever thirty
pound instead of Bed (which I formerly
promised him)
to be paid within the space of twelve
months after
[page 123]
my Decease twenty pounds in Cattle &
moveables the
other tenn pounds in good & currant
Country pay.
Itm. I will & bequeath unto each
of my Daughters Mary
Battles Children twenty shillings in
good & currant Country
pa as they shall come to one and twenty
years of age.
Itm. I will & bequeath unto Joshua
Fisher my grand-
Child fifty pound it being already in
his hands
payd to him out of that estate which I
had in his
fathers lands. Itm. I will &
bequeath unto Mary
Clap my grandchild & wife to Thomas
Clap five
pound to be payd in good & Currant
Country pay
to be pay within the space of one yeare
& ahalfe after
my Decease. Itm. I will &
bequeath unto Abigail Hough-
to wife of John Houghton my grand child
five pounds
to be payd in good & currant
country pay within the
space of two full yeares after my
decease. Itm. I will &
Bequeath unto John Fisher my grand
Child sonn of
Joshua Fisher five pound to be payd in
good &
currant Country pay within the space of
three yeares
next after my decease. Itm. I will &
bequeath unto Hanah
Bawranues my grand child & her
heires for ever five pound
to be payd in good currant paye within
the space
of five yeares next after my Decease.
Itm. I will &
bequeath unto John Fisher the sonn of
my sonn John
Fisher all my lands now lying in
Medfield with all the
buildings thereon with all the rights &
priviledges thereunto
belonging or in any wis appurtaineing.
Itm I will & bequea
to my grand child Elizabeth Fisher the
daughter of
my sonn John Fisher five pounds to be
payd by her
brother John Fisher within one yeare
after he
com to one and twenty yeares of age.
Signed sealed & published
Joshua Fisher & a seale
in the presence of us
John Wilson
Ralph Wheelocke
[In Right margin] Joshua Fisher Codicil
Further my will is that John Fisher the
sonn of my Sonn
John Fisher shall paye forty shillings
to his brother
Jonathan Fisher within the space of two
yeares next
after he shall come to one & twenty
yeares of age. Itm. I will
& Bequeath unto Vigilance Fisher my
grand child
son of my Son Joshua Fisher forty
shillings to be paid
by my Exec^rs when he shall come to
three & twenty yeares
of age & as for the recedue of my
estate bills bonds
[page 124]
debts moveables hous hould Stufe or
whatsoever not for-
merly willd & bequeathed or
contained in this my last
will & testam^t (my just Debts
legacies & funerall ex-
pences being payd) and hereby given &
bequeathed unto
my grand child Joshua Fisher above
named. Itm. I
constitute appoint & ordaine my
trusty & well Beloved
cozen Daniell Fisher of Dedham &
Joshua Fisher my
Grant child executors of this my last
will & testam^t to
whome I give & commit all trust &
power nessecary for them
as the Executors of this my last will
for the Due and
full Execution & accomplishm^t of
the same both all
& every p. thereof as is above
written & my mind & will
is that my grant child Joshua Fisher
shall as my
Exec^r paye unto my loveing Cozen
Daniell Fisher as
a recompence for his paines fouer
pounds & I nominate
& intreat my very loveing Son
Thomas Battle of Dedham
& George Barbur of Medfield to be
overseers of this my last
will & testam^t Desireing them to
be assistant to my
exec^rs in the worke I have committed
unto them unto
whome I in requitall of there love and
paines give
twenty Shillings apece to be payd by my
Exec^rs & I
Doe hereby utterly revocke all other
wills by me at any
time made & in witness that this is
my last will &
testamwent containeing in these two
sheetes of paper I
the abovesd Joshua Fisher have hereunto
Subscribed
my hand & affixed my seale this
second of may
in the above written yeare as is
specified in the first
line of this will. Joshua Fisher & a seale
Signed Sealed & published in the
purcs of us
John Wilson
Ralph Wheelocke Mr. Jno Wilson
appeared
Before Jno Leverett Esq^r Gov^r & Edw Tyng esqr Assistant
the 19^th of 9^br 1674 & made oath
that being pursent subscrib-
ed his name as a witness to this
Instrument which
Joshua Fisher signed sealed &
published to be his
last will & testam^t & that he
was then of a sound
disposingm ind to the best of his
knowledge & also that he saw
Mr. Ralph Wheelocke signe &
subscribe his name as another
witnes this thus done as Attests Free
Grace Bendall Record^r.
Recorded & compared p. Free Grace
Bendall Rec.
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. 5-7, 1666-1674," Volume 6, pages 121-124 (stamped), images 260-262 of 922, will of Joshua Fisher of Medfield, 1674.
This will reads like a stream of consciousness, doesn't it? He signs it and then immediately adds a codicil to finish it.
The record shown above is a probate court clerk's copy, and the spelling and some of the names are inconsistent, but probably the best that a skilled amanuensis could do with the original two pages.
I checked the Suffolk County Probate Dockets, and these are the only two papers in Docket 711.
I checked the Suffolk County Probate Dockets, and these are the only two papers in Docket 711.
The heirs named in the will are:
* Anne, his "deere and well beloved wife"
* Mary Battle, wife of Thomas Battle of Dedham, his daughter
* Mary Battles children
* Joshua Fisher, his grandchild [son of son Joshua Fisher]
* Mary Clap, wife of Thomas Clap, his grandchild [daughter of son Joshua Fisher]
* Abigail Houghton, wife of John Houghton [a daughter of son Joshua Fisher]
* John Fisher, son of son Joshua Fisher, a grandchild
* Hannah Bawranues, a grandchild [daughter of son Joshu Fisher; married name Burroughs]
* John Fisher, son of John Fisher, a grandchild
* Elizabeth Fisher, daughter of son John Fisher, a grandchild
* Jonathan Fisher, son of son John Fisher, a grandchild
* Vigilance Fisher, son of son Joshua Fisher, a grandchild
Of the 8 children of Joshua Fisher (1588-1674) and his first wife, Elizabeth, only daughter Mary (Fisher) Battle was still living when Joshua wrote his will. Sons Joshua and John are, apparently, the only other children that married and had children of their own, and they are deceased in 1674.
Son Joshua Fisher (1621-1672) married Mary Aldus (1623-1653), and they had seven children, including Mary (Fisher) Clapp, Abigail (Fisher) Holton, Joshua Fisher, John Fisher (1652-1727), and Hannah (Fisher) Burroughs. Son Joshua Fisher married (2) Lydia Aldus (1621-1683) and they had two children, Vigilance and James, who died in infancy.
Son John Fisher (1634-1668) married Elizabeth Boylston (1640-1665), and they had four children, but only Elizabeth (Fisher) Plimpton (1659-1674) and John Fisher (1661-1755) lived to marry and have children.
Joshua Fisher (1588-1674) bequeathed real or personal property to each of his known living heirs at the time he wrote his will on 2 May 1674.
Joshua Fisher is my 9th great-grandfather. I am descended from son Joshua Fisher (1621-1672) through his son John Fisher (1652-1727), and also from son John Fisher (1634-1688) through his daughter Elizabeth (Fisher) Plimpton (1659-1694).
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