Monday, June 1, 2020

Amanuensis Monday - 1759 Administration Papers of Joseph Grout (1682-1758) of Westborough, Mass.

This week's documents for transcription is the 1759 administration papers of Joseph Grout (1682-1758) of Westborough, Massachusetts, in Probate Packet 26,009 in the Worcester County, Massachusetts probate court records.  

[page 1, image 5 of 9]

[page 2, image 9 of 9]

[paper 3, image 9 of 9]


The transcription of these three administration papers is:

[paper 1, image 5 of 9, all handwritten]
To the Hon'ra John Chandler Esq'r Judge of

probate &c for the County of Worcester --
These are to Inform your Hon'r That I Together
with my Children the Heirs of my Late Husband
Joseph Grout Late of Westborough Dece'd Have
agreed Respecting s'd Dece'd Estate which Remained
Intestate which was onely some Small Mater of
personall Estate which agreement who shall ????
present to Your Honour if that will do But if
after all administration must be Taken
I Decline Takeing of it my Self and Desire
that my son Jon'a Grout may Take it as
Wittness my Hand this 11'th day of January 1759.

Test:                                                  Mary  Grout

[paper 2, image 9 of 9, handwritten portion in italics]

Know all Men by these presents , That we
Jonathan Grout of Westboro'h husbandman, Joseph Grout
& Daniel Grout of s'd Westborough, Husbandmen, all of y'e County of
Worcester
within his Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, are
holden and stand firmly bound and obliged unto  John Chandler  Esq'r
Judge of Probate of Wills, and Granting Administrations within the
County of Worcester in the full and just Sum of   Two hundred  Pounds,
Lawful Money of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay; to be paid unto
the said  John Chandler  or his Successors in the said Office,
or Assigns: To the true Payment whereof, we bind our selves and each
of us, our, and each of our Heirs, Executors and Administrators, jointly
and severally for the whole and in the whole firmly by these Presents.
Sealed with our Seals.  Dated the   12'th   Day of  January  
Anno Domini, One Thousand Seven Hundred and  fifty nine.

The Condition of this present Obligation is such,
That if the above-bounden  Jon'a Grout who is admitted
admr on the Estate of his late Father Joseph Grout Late of
Westborough Husbandman Deceased
do make or cause to be made a true and perfect Inventory of all and singular the
Goods, chattels, rights and Credits of the said Deceased, which have or shall
come to the Hands, Possession or Knowledge of  him  the said  Jonathan
Grout  or into the Hands and Possession of any other Person or Persons for  him.
And the same to make, do exhibit, or cause to be exhibited into the Registry of the
Court of Probate for the said County of  Worcester  at or before the 12'th
Day of  April  next ensuing; and the same Goods, Chattels, Rights and
Credits, and all other the Goods, Chattels, rights and Credits of the said deceased
at the time of  his  Death which at any time after shall come to the Hands and
Possession of the said  Jonathan   or into the Hands and Possession of
any other Person or Persons for  him  do well and truly Administer according to
Law: And further do make or cause to be made a just and true Accompt of  his
said Administration upon Oath, at or before the   12'th  Day of  January
which will be in the Year of our Lord, One thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty.
And all the rest and residue of the said Goods, Chattels, Rights and Credits which
shall be found remaining upon the said Administrator's Accompt (the same being
first examined and allowed of by the Judge or Judges for the time being, of Probate
of Wills and granting Administrations within the County of  Worcester  aforesaid)
and shall deliver and pay unto such Person or Persons respectively as the said Judge
or Judges by his or their Decree or Sentence pursuant to Law shall limit and appoint;
And if it shall hereafter appear, That any last Will and Testament was made by the
said Deceased, and the Executor or Executors therein named do exhibit the same
into the Court of Probate for the said County of  Worcester  making request to have
it allowed and approved accordingly:  If the said  Jonathan Grout
within bounden being thereunto required, do render and deliver the said Letter of
Administration (Approbation of such Testament being first had and made) into the
said court:  Then the before written Obligation to be Void and of none Effect,
or else to abide and remain in full Force and Virtue.

Sealed and Delivered                                      Jonathan Grout
in Presence of                                                 Joseph Grout
Jacob Foster                                                    Daniel Grout

[paper 3, image 7 of 9, all handwritten]

Worcester SS  To Simon Tainter, Samuel Harrington & Nathael Whitney
                         all of Westborough in the County of Worcester and Sufficient
                        Freeholders within the same Greeting

You are hereby desired and impowered to take an Inventory off and justly
& truly to apprize all the Estate whereof Joseph Grout Late of Westboro'h
aforesaid Husbandman Dec'd Intestate died Seized & possessed off as the
same will be shown unto you by Jon'a Grout admr on s'd Estate to
which you must be duely sworn and make Return hereof with your
doing thereon into the probate office for s'd County as soon as you can
     Dated at Worcester the 5'th Day of February AD1759 in y'e 3rd
year his majestys Reign.                         Timo Paine  Just. Pce

Worcester ss March 22 1759

Personally appeared Simon Tainter Samuel
Herrington and Nathaniel ^Whitney^ the Three above
named Apprizers and Made solmn Oath that in
apprizing the above Estate they would therein act
faithfully and Impartially according to their best skill
and judgment and the Rules above presired.
Before Me                      Edw'd Baker  Justice of Peace

The source citation for this probate case file is:

Worcester County, Massachusetts, Probate case files, Packet #26,009, Joseph Grout of Westborough, 1759 (9 images); "Worcester County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1732-1881," indexed database and digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors  (https://www.AmericanAncestors.org : accessed 30 May 2020); Original records in Worcester County, Massachusetts Probate Court Records, Worcester, Massachusetts.

This probate packet contains 9 separate papers, but five of them are the "wrappers" that introduced each document.  The three papers transcribed above are the preliminaries to taking and reporting the Inventory of the estate, which I will transcribe next week.  There are no papers in this packet for the distribution of the estate or for the account of the administrator.

Joseph Grout died on 13 October 1758 in Westborough, Massachusetts.  His widow, Mary (Harrington) Grout, wrote a letter to the Judge of Probate for Worcester County dated 11 January 1759 and declined being administratrix to her husband's intestate estate, and suggested their son, Jonathan Grout.  Jonathan Grout posted a 200 pounds bond with Joseph and Daniel Grout (brothers or uncles) on 12 January 1759 and was appointed administrator on that date.  The committee was appointed to take an inventory of the estate on 5 February 1759, and the inventory was provided to the Court on 22 March 1759.

Joseph Grout (1682-1758) married Mary Harrington (1692-1774) on 3 January 1717 in Watertown, Massachusetts.  They had seven children, all born in Watertown, except for one born in Sudbury and one born in Westborough.  The children were:

*  Mindwell Grout (1717-1741), married 1735 Silas Brigham (1710-1791).
*  Susannah Grout (1720-1816), married 1745 Levi Brigham (1716-1787).
*  Mehitable Grout (1726-1795), married 1749 Moses Brigham (1725-1769).
*  Joseph Grout (1727-1798), married 1755 Sarah Rice (1734-1808).
*  Jonathan Grout (1730-1801), married 1761 Hannah Merriam (1738-1811)
*  Sarah Grout (1732-????), married 1754 Jason Parmenter (1726-????).
*  Daniel Grout (1736-1809), married 1762 Elizabeth Adams (1743-1822).

Joseph and Mary (Harrington Grout are my probable 6th great-grandparents.  I descend through their daughter, Mehitable Grout (1726-1795) who married  Moses Brigham (1723-1769), in 1749 in Westborough, Massachusetts.

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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) 2020, Randall J. Seaver

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