This week's documents for Amanuensis Monday are from the Suffolk County, Massachusetts Probate Court records for John Plimpton (1708-1756) of Medfield, Massachusetts:
a) Volume 84, page 341 (right-hand page, starting at bottom):
b) Volume 84, pages 340-343 (left-hand page, continuing at top):
The transcription of this warrant and distribution of the widow's portion of John Plimpton's estate is:
Volume 84, page 341 (image 187 of 400]
[In right hand margin]
John Plympton
Warrant for
Division
11295
[in main body]
Suffolk Ss By the Judge of Probate &c.
To Mess^rs Daniel
Perry, John Baxter and Asa Hammant.
You are hereby desired
and Impowered to make a just &
equal Divission of that part of
the real Estate of John Plympton late
of Medfield Dece'd which was
set off to his Widow since deceased
provided said Estate is capable
of Divission, if not you are to
appraise it and report to me how
many of the Heirs the same will
conveniently accommodate. You are
to notify all Interested to be present
at the time of making Divission if
they see cause, to be sworn to this
Trust & to make Return of your Doings
as soon as may be. Given under my Hand
and Seal this 15^th
Day of March 1785. O. Wendell Jud. Prob.
Exam^d W^m Cooper Reg.
[in the right-hand margin]
Plympton Johns
Real Estate Divided
11295
[in main body]
To the Hon^ble Oliver Wendell Esq^r
Judge of Probate &c for the County of
Suffolk. We the Subscribers agreeable
to the Warrant annexed after notifying
[Volume 84, page 342 (image 188 of 400]
the Partys and viewing the Premises are
of Opinion that the same will
not conveniently Accomodate more than
one of the Heirs. We have apprai-
sed the same as follows viz^t.
| The Buildings and one Acre and half of Land adjoining thereto at |
£ 31 : :
|
| To four acres and a half of Plow Land lying by the Land of Simon Plymptons |
24 : 15 :
|
| To two Acres of Land in the Clay pits pasture next to the Land of Joseph Clarks |
10 : :
|
| To four Acres and a half of Meadow adjoining the long Cose way |
15 : 15 :
|
| To seven Acres of wood Land on the South side of Hop River the north end of the Lot |
16 : 16 :
|
£ 98 : 6 :
|
Appraisers May 31^st Daniel Perry }
Asa Hammant } Appraisers
John Baxter Jun^r }
Suffolk Ss: I allow of this Return O. Wendell Jud. Prob.
Exam^d W^m Cooper Reg.
[in left-hand margin]
Plympton Johns
R^l Estate settled
on his son Amos
11295
[in main body]
Suffolk Ss: By the Hon^ble Oliver
Wendell Esq^r Judge of the Probate
of Wills and granting Administrations
for the County of Suffolk
in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
duly Appointed and
Commissioned. To all unto whom these
Presents shall come,
Greeting. Whereas it hath been made to
appear to me that that
part of the Real Estate whereof John
Plympton late of Medfield
in the County aforesaid deceased
Intestate, died seized or possessed
which was set off to his Widow lately
deceased, and now remains
to be Distributed or divided to and
among his Heirs or legal Repre-
sentatives, will not admit of a
Divission and Distribution to &
among the said Heirs or legal
Representatives, in proportion
to their Respective Shares or Interest
therein, without great prejudice
[Volume 84, page 343 (image 188 of 400]
to said Estate, and is convenient for
one Settlement only, and
appraisement having been made thereof
and the return of said
appraisement having been Accepted by me
and ordered to be
Recorded in the Registry of Probate for
the aforesaid County,
and Amos Plympton Eldest Son of said
Intestate, desireing
said Estate may be settled on him and
having given Bond
to the other Heirs or legal
Representatives of said Intestate for
their Rateable parts or proportion of
said Estate viz^t: To Abner
Plympton, Unity Boyden and Olive
Peters, other Children of
the deceased or their legal
Representatives Nineteen pounds, thirteen
Shillings and two pence Lawfull Money
each on or before the 19^th
Day of February next with Lawful
Interest until paid, which
together with his own double Share ass
Eldest Son makes the
Sum of Ninety eight pounds six Shillings
the whole appraised
Value of said Real Estate. Pursuant
therefore to the Power &
Authority given me in my Capacity
aforesaid, by the Laws of this
Commonwealth I do by these Presents
Order and assign all the Right
Title and Interest of the said
Intestate in the Real Estate aforesaid
to the said Amos Plympton eldest Son as
aforesaid To Have and
to Hold the same to him the said Amos
Plympton his Heirs &
Assigns forever. In testimony whereof
I have hereunto set my
Hand and caused the Seal of Office to
be affixed, this seventh
Day of June 1785. O. Wendell Jud. Prob.
Exam^d W^m Cooper Reg^r.
The source citation for this document is:
"Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, 1636-1899," on 439 FHL US/CAN microfilm reels, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), : accessed 19 October 2017),"Probate records v. 84 1785," FHL US/CAN film 493,890, Volume 84, pages 341-343 (images 187-188 of 400), John Plimpton's estate, warrant and distribution of widow's portion, 1785; citing original records in the Suffolk County, Mass. courthouse.
John Plimpton (1708-1756) died 8 May 1756, and his widow, Abigail (Fisher) Plimpton, and eldest son, Amos Plimpton, were appointed administrators of his intestate estate on 2 July 1756.
In Part 1, three appraisers were appointed to make a true and just inventory of the estate, which they did on 20 October 1656. The estate was valued by the appraisers at £375 : 4s : 3d. It included real estate valued at £ 264 : 16s. The personal estate was £ 110 : 8s : 3d.
In Part 2, the administrators, widow Abigail Plimpton and son Amos Plimpton, declared their account, which totaled £70 : 4s, on 22 October 1758. This included fees and charges for the probate court documents, notes and money owed to creditors.
In Part 3, the appraisers divided the real property and set off one third of it to the widow, Abigail (Fisher) Plimpton. They appraised the remaining two thirds of the real property at £189 2s 8d. However, they did not divide the property between the children of John and Abigail Plimpton because it would "prejudice" the division.
There must be a division and distribution in another record (not available) of the two thirds of the real estate between the four children, with eldest son Amos Plimpton receiving a double share, and being awarded all of the land, on the condition that he pay the other three children (Abner, Unity and Olive) their share of the value of the two thirds of the real estate.
In Part 4, the widow Abigail (Fisher) (Plimpton) Clark (who married David Clark in 1770, but became a widow again in 1771) has died in 1785, and this is the account and distribution of her personal property to her four children (Abigail Clark has her own probate packet in the Suffolk County Probate Records, number 18294). The administrator is the son Amos Plimpton, and he again provides an account, charges himself with the personal property at hand, and the court distributes the remainder of the funds to the four children. Note that this occurs 29 years after John Plimpton has died.
In this post, the widow's portion of the real estate was appraised at £98 6s, and then divided to the heirs. Amos Plimpton received all of the real estate, provided he paid his three siblings - Abner Plimpton, Unity Boyden and Olive Peters, their shares of the appraised value - £19 13s 2d. Note that Amos Plimpton's share of the appraised value was two shares, since he was the eldest son.
I found the "missing" document in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts Probate Packet 11,295 for John Plimpton on the American Ancestors website (it just came online a week ago), and will report that next week to complete the John Plimpton probate record transcriptions.
John and Abigail (Fisher) Plimpton are my 6th great-grandparents, through their son, Amos Plimpton (1735-1808), who married Mary Guild (1735-1800) in 1756.
Note that these records are on FHL Microfilm, and are on FHL digital microfilm on FamilySearch.org, but they are not indexed. The Suffolk County Probate Packets have not been filmed to my knowledge,so I used the Suffolk County Probate Court Clerk volumes because I found them first. A researcher has to search the Probate Index for the person's probate packet number, then find the Probate Docket files with the list of papers that are in the probate packet, along with the volume and page numbers, and then find the individual volumes and pages with the documents listed in the Probate Docket.
This set of court clerk volume records are not indexed on Ancestry.com in the "Massachusetts, Will and Probate Records, 1635-1991" collection. They are available in the Ancestry collection, but you have to use the Probate Index and Probate Docket files to find the volumes and page numbers (similar to the process on FamilySearch). They just are not indexed with the correct decedent's name.
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NOTE: 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."
Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver
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