This week's document for Amanuensis Monday is the 1682 will of John Guild of Dedham, Massachusetts in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts Probate Record volumes:
[Volume 6, pages 624-625]
[Volume 6, pages 626-627]
The transcription of the will is:
[page 625]
Know
All Men By These Presents, That I, John
Guild
of Dedham, in the County of Suffolke in
the
Massathusetts Colony in New England, be-
ing
at present weake in body and in expecta-
tion
of my departure out of this world do make
this
my last will and Testament in manner
and
forme as followeth, viz^t. First, I give unto
my
three Children Samuel John & Elizabeth
all
my Wearing apparell to bee equally divi-
ded
amongst them, as well linnen as woolen.
I
give and bequeath unto my daughter Elizabeth
two
Cows, one of which is at present in her
hands,
and my Bed with all belonging thereun-
to
as also all that is in my Chest that is suta-
ble
for her use. Further, I give unto my s^d daugh-
ter
all my Land lying neer the Falls, in the
dividend
called Natick Dividend to her and her
heires
forever, and one Booke of M^r. Burroughs
called
Gosple Conversation. I give and be-
queath
unto my son John Guild, all my
land
lying in Wrentham as well upland
as
meadow, as also my Lott near Meadfield
in
the dividend called Meadfield Dividend to
him
and to his heires forever. Also, I give un-
to
my s^d Son John my Loomes & four Sleays
which
are Sutable for present use as also one
wheele
w^th y^e blades, and a Booke called the
Sound
Believer. I give and bequeath unto
my
son Samuel Guild all my House Lott
with
my dwelling house & Barne with my
land
upon Wigwam plain; as also my
Meadow
at Fowle Meadows & Eight acres of Land
more
or less, at ragged plaine, and also all
Common
rights in Lands to me any waies be-
longing
which are not already mentioned in this
my
will I give to him and to his heires for
ever.
Also I give to my Son Samuel a great
Chest
standing in the Bed Roome and all
my
movables and Household Stuffe which are
[page
626]
not
already given in this my will.
Finally
I do make appoint ordain and Con-
stitute
my Son Samuel to bee Executo^r to this
my
will. And for a full manifestation
that
this above written is my reall will
I
have hereunto Set my hand and affixed my
seal,
this third of October in the yeare of our
Lord
One thousand Six hundred Eighty and
two. John Guild & a Seale
In
presence of Nathaniel Stearns
Thomas
Metcalfe.
Nathan^ll
Stearns and Thomas Metcalfe made
Oath
in Court 3^d Nov^r 1682 that they were
present
and did see John Guild Signe &
seale
& heard him publish this Instrum^t to
bee
his last will and that when hee so did
hee
was of disposeing minde to their understand-
ing. Is^a Addington Ctre
"Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991," indexed database with digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 April 2016), Volume 6, pages 625-626 (images 528-529 of 922), John Guild of Dedham, 1682; original court record books in Suffolk County Probate Court, Boston, Mass.
John Guild (1616-1682) wrote his will on 3 October 1682 and died on 4 October 1682. The will was proved in Suffolk County Probate Court on 3 November 1682. He married Elizabeth Crooke (1618-1669) in 1645 in Dedham, Massachusetts. They had seven children, but only three (Samuel, John and Elizabeth) were still living when he made his will.
Note that this record book is a transcription of the original Probate Court record book (the pages note that this will was on page 389 of the original volume. The original will and other probate papers are probably in the probate packet in the Suffolk County Probate Courthouse in Boston. Therefore, this is a Derivative Source with Primary information and Direct Evidence, but the wording in this transcription may be slightly different from the original handwritten and signed will.
I was able to find the original will, but no other papers, in the Suffolk county Probate Case Files on AmericanAncestors in Case 1251. The will text is substantially as transcribed above with differences in punctuation, spelling and capitalization. Here is the image:
The major difference is that the original handwritten will is divided into sections, but the probate court clerk transcription runs all of the sections together in order to save paper.
And there is a signature of John Guild and the two witnesses from 1682. How cool is that?
John Guild (1616-1682) and Elizabeth Crooke (1618-1669) are my 9th great-grandparents. I am descended through their son, Samuel Guild (1647-1731) who married Mary Woodcock (1653-1703) in 1676 in Dedham.
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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) 2018, Randall J. Seaver
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1 comment:
so I am so sort of relation. My grandfather was Charles Guild. Do you know what ship John came in on. I thought His brother and sister came with him?
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