Amanuensis Monday -- Inventory of Jonathan Boyden (1652-1732) of Medfield, Massachusetts

 This week's document for transcription is the 1732 Inventory of the Real and Personal estate of Jonathan Boyden  (1652-1732) of Medfield, Massachusetts, in Probate Packet 6,257 in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts probate court records:

Image 12 of 49:

Image 11 of 49:

The transcription of these papers is:

[Image 12 of 49]

A true Inventory of the Estate Both Real and personal of  Cap't Jonathan Boyden Late of Medfield Deceaced as it was Apprized by the Subscribers hereunto June the 15 1732, viz, as followeth

	£       s    d
To silver money at 15 peny weight with plate	8 –   7 – 0
To paper money in Bills	15 –   3 – 5
To money in Bonds	346 –   0 – 0
To Cloathing of all sorts	23 –   9 – 0
To Books and arms	9 –   0 – 0
To Beds and Beding all belonging to them	42 – 16 – 0
To linin Sheets tabel Cloaths and other linin and new Cloath and wool and hemp and Cotton wool	19 – 16 – 9
To peuter Brass Earthen ware and iron ware in y'e house	15 –   0 – 6
To Tables Chests Chairs tubs killers and other wooden ware in the house	13 – 15 – 4
To a cart and plows harrow and Chains	15 –   9 – 0
To a negro man servant	80 –   0 – 0
To corn Sacks new Boards Shingle and Cedar rails	11 – 16 – 0
To the Stock of Chattle Sheep and Swine	153 –   9 – 0
To Carpender tools and axes hows Sithes and other tools and old iron and Stilyards	17 – 10 – 6
	£ 771 – 12 – 6

[Image 11 of 49]

To the Buildings house and Barns with the Land they Stand on. Barn yards a well with conveniency of improving said Buildings with mill house	70 –   0 – 0
To the home Lott with the orchards	100 –   0 – 0
To all the Land in South plaine belonging to this Estate	200 –   0 – 0
To a trackt of pasture Land neare a hill Called Mount Nebo	70 –   0 – 0
To the medow in Broad Medow	180 –   0 – 0
To the upland and medow Land at the pine swamp neare Joseph Boyden	130 –   0 – 0
To seven acres of pine Swamp	17 – 10 – 0
To thirty eight acres of wood Land in wrentham neare Jade walk	114 –   0 – 0
To the medow in Stop River on both Sides the River	200 –   0 – 0
To thirty nine acres ^a half^ of wood land ^in wrentham^ eare dimon hill	78 –   0 – 0
To twenty four acres lying neare South miski ^in^ wrentham	58 –   0 – 0
To Eight acres neare dick brook in wrentham	16 –   0 – 0
To four acres ^of^ land in wrentham Joyning to Daniel   Laurance  and Thomas Boyden	6 –   0 – 0
To the wood land at noon hill in Medfield	30 –   0 – 0
To there rights in new Medfield	30 –   0 – 0
To fifteen acres of land in Medway	40 –   0 – 0
To acres a half in Cedar Swamp	3 – 15 – 0
	1333 –   5 – 0
Personal estate	771 – 12 – 6
	£2104 – 17 – 6

Suffolk Ss By the Hon'ble Josiah Willard Judge of pro &c

John Boyden & David Jones                                                John fisher }

Admin^rs presented the foregoing                                       John Dwight } apprizers

& made oath that it contains                                                Samuel Smith }

a true & perfect Inventory of the Estate of Cap't Jonathan Boyden late of Medfield Husbandman deceased so far as hath come to their knowledge and that if more hereafter appear they will Cause it to be added. The Subscribing Apprizers were sworn before Jonathan Ware Esq'r as the Law Directs.                                                                        J Willard

Boston June 26'th 1732

The source citation for this probate case file is:

Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Probate case files, Packet #6,527 (49 images), Jonathan Boyden of Medfield, administration granted 1732; "Suffolk County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1636-1893," indexed database and digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (https://www.AmericanAncestors.org : accessed 17 September 2020); from records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives, digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org.

Jonathan Boyden (1652-1732) married (1) Mary Clark (1649-1730?) in 1673 in Medfield, Massachusetts, and they had eight children - Jonathan (1674-1719), Mary (1677-1718), Elizabeth (1678-1756), Mehitable (1680-1756)), Thomas (1682-1770), John (1685-1754), Joseph (1687-1758) and Sarah (1690-????).

Jonathan Boyden married (2) Anne --?-- (1657-1735) in about 1730, probably in Medfield.  They had no children.

When Jonathan died on 30 May 1732 at age 80, Anne declined administration on her husband's estate, and five of the surviving children petitioned to have son John Boyden be named the administrator.  The Probate Court gave a Letter of Administration to John Boyden and David Jones on 9 June 1732.  The Inventory of the estate was taken, and totaled £771 in personal estate and £1331 in real estate, and was approved by the Court on 24 June 1732.  The Negro servant sold for £8 more, plus more credits, which made the total inventory £2114, according to an account approved on 1 November 1732.  After funeral charges (£44!), expenses and fees, the administrator's account totaled £127 at that time.  By 2 July 1733, the account totaled £209.  

The Court commissioned a committee of three to divide the property to the widow and the children or their representatives.  The committee told the Court that the real estate was incapable of being divided equitably, and that it should be settled on one heir.  

The two oldest children had died, and the heirs of the eldest son (Jonathan 1674) were to receive a double share.  They chose Joshua (son of Jonathan 1674, grandson of Jonathan 1652) to receive the double share and to pay his siblings their share.  A Bond and Letter of Administration was given to Joshua Boyden on 25 September 1733.  

Widow Anne (--?--) Boyden died before 28 March 1735, and her third share of Jonathan's estate had to be distributed to all of the heirs.  The widow's thirds of the real estate amounted to £467, so the total value of the real estate was about £1401.  

With 9 shares (8 children, heirs of eldest son Jonathan Boyden 1674 receive a double share), each share was worth £103 for Jonathan's portion, and £51 for Anne's portion.  Grandson Joshua Boyden posted bond and received the order to receive all of the real estate, and distribute the portions to his father's siblings as heirs of Jonathan and Anne Boyden, on 19 April 1735.

There is no Bond and order for John Boyden and David Jones to distribute the estate of Jonathan Boyden 1652 in the probate case file.  Their final account on 19 April 1735 notes that the personal estate was distributed to the heirs, leaving £791 to be distributed to the heirs of Jonathan Boyden (1652-1732).  This does not make much sense to me, but it is what it is.

As noted above, the real estate of Jonathan Boyden (1652-1732) was settled on his grandson, Joshua Boyden (1709-1770), son of Jonathan Boyden (1674-1719), who was age 22 when his grandfather died.  My guess is that the children of Jonathan Boyden 1674 resided with their grandfather Jonathan Boyden 1652 until he died, and it made sense to settle the estate on the eldest grandson.  Joshua Boyden may have had to sell real estate in order to pay his aunts and uncles their share of the Jonathan Boyden 1652 estate.

Jonathan and Mary (Clark) Boyden are my 8th great-grandparents, through their son Thomas Boyden (1682-1770) who married Deborah Wight (1680-1730) in 1707 in Medfield.

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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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