Amanuensis Monday - Probate Records for Estate of John Plimpton (1708-1756) of Medfield, Mass. - Part 6

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)  Probate Packet 11,295, image 17 of 27:

The transcription of this bond and distribution of the two-thirds portion (other than the widow's portion) of John Plimpton's  estate is:

Know all Men by these Presents That

We Amos Plimpton Thomas Mason & W^m Peters

all of Medfield in the County of Suffolk within the

Province of the Massachusetts Bay are holden & stand

firmly bound and obliged unto Thomas Hutchinson Esq^r

Judge of the Probate of Wills &c within & for y^e

County of Suffolk in the full & Just Sum of Three

hundred Pounds Lawful Money of the Province afores^d

To be paid unto the said Thomas Hutchinson his

Successors in the said office or assigns: to the true

payment whereof we bind our selves & Each of us

our & Each of our Heirs Executors & admin^rs firmly

by these Presents. Sealed with our Seals. Dated the

ninth day of February anno Dom. 1759 and in

the Thirty second year of his Majesty's Reign.

The Condition of the abovewritten Obligation is such

that whereas Two Third parts of the Real Estate of

John Plimpton late of Medfield afores^d Yeoman deced Intest-

ate will not admit of a Division among all his children without

prejudice thereto and the said Estate having been Appraised at

the sum of One hundred & eighty nine Pounds two shillings

eight pence is assigned unto his Eldest Son Amos Plimpton the

above bounden he paying thereout unto his Brother & Sisters

Namely Abner Olive & Unity or their Legal Representatives

the sum of Thirty Seven Pounds Sixteen Shillings & Six

pence being their Single Shares of and in two Third parts of their

said Father's Real Estate with Interest for wr^d Sums in the

Interim after y^e Rate of six pounds plent p annum which s^d

Sums are to be paid on or before the ninth day of February w^ch

will be in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred &

Sixty. Now if therefore the above bounden Amos Plimpton

fulfill y^e Decree of y^e s^d Judge of Probate by paying the afores^d

Sums of Money with Interest as afores^d without Fraud Coven or

Delay then the above written obligation to be void & of none Effect

or else to abide & remain in full force & vertue.

Signed Sealed & Delivered Amos Plimpton

in presence of us Thomas Mason

John Payne William Peters

The source citation for this document is:

Probate Packet 11,295, John Plimpton of Medfield, 1756, image 17 of 27; "Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, 1636-1899," digital images, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org: accessed 20 November 2017); citing original records in Suffolk County Probate Court, Boston.

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.  

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 Part 5, 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.  

In this part, the heirs two-thirds portion of the real estate, appraised at  £189 2s 8d, was divided on 9 February 1759.  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 - £37 16s 6d.  Note that Amos Plimpton's share of the appraised value was two shares, since he was the eldest son.  

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.  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.

The Suffolk County Probate Packets were digitized and recently put online by American Ancestors.  The document in Part 6 was not found in the Probate court clerk volumes, but it was found in the Probate Packets digitized by American Ancestors.

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."

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