Monday, December 19, 2022

Amanuensis Monday -- 1863 Will of Persis Seaver (1790-1872) of Sterling, Massachusetts

 This week's document for transcription is the will of Persis Seaver of Bolton, Massachusetts, in Worcester County estate file 52916, filed in 1872. 

Worcester County, Massachusetts Probate Court Records - Case File 52916 image 5 of 14:

Worcester County, Massachusetts Probate Court Records - Case File 52916 image 6 of 14:

The transcription of this will is:

"Know all men by these presents that I, 
Persis Seaver of Bolton, in the County of Worcester 
and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
being of sound mind and disposing mind and memory 
do make and publish this my last Will and 
Testament.

"First, I give and bequeath unto my son Samuel 
Howe Seaver, all my Personal Estate and Real 
Estate.

"It is not my intention to give any of my 
personal or Real estate to my other children, 
Joseph Sawyer Seaver, John William Seaver, 
Silas Howe Seaver, Persis Howe Seaver, & Mary 
Ann Seaver.

"Second, I ordain and appoint my son Samuel Howe 
Seaver Executor of this my last will and testament.

"In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand 
an seal, and publish and declare this to be my 
Last Will and Testament in the presence of the 
witnesses named below, this Twenty ninth ^29th^ day of 
September, in the year eighteen hundred and
sixty three.
                                                                            Persis Seaver"

Signed sealed, published and declared by the said
Persis Seaver to be her last Will and Testament
in presence of us, who in her presence, and in the
presence of each other, and at her
request have hereunto subscribed our
names as witnesses.
                                   Amory Holman, 
                                   Samuel H. Pierce 
                                   Charlotte S. Pierce.

The source citation for this probate case file is:

Worcester County, Massachusetts, Probate case files, Case file 52916 (14 images), estate of Persis Seaver of Bolton, 18272, "Worcester County (Massachusetts) Probate File Papers, 1731-1881," digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors  (https://www.americanancestors.org: accessed 18 December 2022).

Persis (Howe)  Seaver (1790-1872) was born on 25 January 1790 in Northborough, Massachusetts, the daughter of John and Molly (Green) Howe.  She died on 27 September 1872 in Sterling, Massachusetts at age of 82.  She married Joseph Seaver (1778-1848) on 27 November 1810 in Boylston, Massachusetts. He was born about 1788 in Sterling, the son of Joseph and Abigail (Sawyer) Seaver, and died 14 February 1848 in Sterling..   They had seven children, and six were living when she wrote her will.  

Persis wrote her will on 29 September 1863.  She named all of her children, and named her youngest living son, Samuel Howe Seaver (1823-????) as the executor of her last will and testament.  The will was proved on 5 November 1872 in Worcester County Probate Court.

Why did she bequeath all of her estate to her youngest son, Samuel Howe Seaver?  He was age 15 when his father died, and Persis raised him after her husband died.  It may be that the estate of Joseph Seaver bequeathed real and personal property to the other five children, but not to Samuel Howe Seaver, who perhaps was to receive his mother's property after her death.. Samuel Howe Seaver did not marry until 1874, so he was probably living in the house of Persis Seaver at the time of her death.

Persis (Howe) Seaver (1790-1872) is the wife of my 2nd cousin six times removed, Joseph Seaver (1788-1848).  My common Seaver ancestor is my 7th great-grandfather Joseph Seaver (1672-1754).

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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."

Read other transcriptions of records of my ancestors at Amanuensis Monday Posts.

Copyright (c) 2022, Randall J. Seaver

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