This week's document for Amanuensis Monday is the 1755 will of Jonathan Oatly of South Kingstown, Rhode Island in the South Kingstown town council records:
[Volume 5, page 25]
[Volume 5, page 26]
The transcription of this will is:
[Volume 5, page 25]
In the Name of God amen, I, Jonathan Oatly of South
Kingstown in ye County of Kings County in ye Colony of Rhode
Island &c. yeoman Being sick & weak of Body but of a
Sound mind & in perfect memory Do make and ordain
this my last Will & Testament That is to say principally &
first of all I commend my soul into ye Hand of God who
gave & my Body to ye Earth to buried in decent Christian
manner according to the Discretion of my Executor herein
after named my just Debts & funeral charges
being first paid by my said Executor, I give devise and bequeath
of my Worldly Estate in ye following manner & Form.
Imprimis - I give & bequeath unto my well beloved wife
Mary Oatly, my large black Chest and all that part of my
Household Stuff which she brought with her to me together
with all my stock without Doors & any part of my House
she shall incline to Improve for and During ye Time of her
widowhood. I likewise give her ye sum of Fifty Pounds
in Bills of publick Credit to be paid her by my sd Executor
in Two years after my decease.
Item - I give & bequeath to my beloved son Samuel Oatley ye sum
of Five Pounds in Bills of Credit to be paid by my said Executor
or within two years after my decease.
Item - I give & Devise unto my beloved son Benedict
Oatly all my Housing & Homestead Bounded Northerly on an
Highway Easterly & Southerly on Land of Joseph Torry &
Westerly on land of James Willson. To him his heirs and
Assigns forever, He paying to his mother in Law & his
Brother Samuel the legacies before mentioned and given, and
all my Just Debts also I bequeath to him my great Bible.
Item - I give & bequeath unto my beloved Daughter
Rebecca Champlin ye one half of all my Household goods not
herein disposed of to her mother, to her, Her Heirs and assigns for
ever I likewise give her ye use & improvement of ye other
[Volume 5, page 26]
half Solong as Ephraim Drake (my daughter Rhoda's
Husband shall live) at whose decease the one Half as aforesaid
I give & bequeath unto my beloved Daughter Rhoda
Drake her Heirs & assigns.
But it is to be understood & my will is that my daughter
Rebecca (before any Division is to be made) shall have one
Feather Bed & Beding.
Item - I give and bequeath unto my two sons Samuel and
Benedict all my wearing apparel and what Cloath is in ye
House not made into any garment to be Equally divided
Between Them -- and my Will is that all my Books
not herein before disposed of be equally divided between
my said Wife and my said son Benedict.
"Lastly, I do hereby constitute, ordain & appoint my
Beloved son Benedict Oatly Sole Executor of this my Last
Will and Testament Revoking and disanulling all former
Wills and Testaments by me heretofore made Ratifying and
Confirming this and this only to be my Last. In Witness
Whereof I have hereunto set my Hand & Seal ye Twentyeth
Day of July Anno que Domini one Thousand Seven
Hundred and Fifty five.
Signed, sealed, published,
pronounced, & declared by ye said
Jonathan Oatly to be his Last
Will & Testament in Presence
of us ye subscribers.
................................................................................... Jonathan Oatly {seal}
Latham Clarke
Martha Clarke
William Steward.
South Kingstown September
the 8th 1755 Mr. William Clark and[Volume 5, page 27]
and Mrs. Martha Clarke personally appeared ye day and year
aforesaid and did declair on their Solemn Engagement before
ye Town Council of South Kingstown aforesd that they saw ye above
Named and Subscriber Jonathan Oatley late of said Town
aforesd deceased Sign Seal and declair ye above & within written
Instrument to be his Last will and Testament and that in his
Presence you set your hands as witnesses hereunto and that you
see William Steward Jr sign as a Witness at ye same Time
and that ye said Testator was in his perfect mind & memory
at ye same time.
The aforesaid Will being thus proved it is approved of
by ye Town Council of said South Kingstown aforesd.
Test Wm Robinson Council Clerk for ye day
Recorded Septr
ye 15th 1755
by W.P. C.C.
he source citation for this estate file is:
South Kingston (R.I.) Town Clerk, "Town Council Records, 1704-1943," (South Kingston, R.I.), Family History Library (Salt Lake City, Utah : accessed 3 February 2007), on 8 microfilm reels, Volume 5, Pages 25-27, Jonathan Oatly estate papers, on FHL Microfilm 0,931,834.
Jonathan Oatley had four children by his first wife, Deliverance --?-- (????-1734): Samuel Oatley (1726-1794); Rebecca Oatley (1728-????); Rhoda Oatley (1730-1757); Benedict Oatley (1732-1821). By his second wife, Mary --?-- (1702-1786), he had two children: Jonathan Oatley (1737-????); Joseph Oatley (1739-????). All children were born in South Kingstown.
In his will, Jonathan provided for his current wife, Mary, and for his first four children - Rebecca (Oatley) Champlin, Rhode (Oatley) Drake, Samuel Oatley and Benedict Oatley. He did not mention his two younger sons by his second wife - perhaps they did not survive to adulthood.
Jonathan and Deliverance (--?--) Oatley are my 6th great-grandparents. I am descended through their son, Benedict Oatley who married Elizabwth Ladd (1735-1814).
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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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