Treasure Chest Thursday - Post 245: a WRONG Death Record for Simon Gates (1739-1803) of Gardner, Mass.

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and genealogy musings.

The treasures today is the  "1809" death record of Simon Gates in Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts:

The snip for the death record of Simon Gates is:

The transcription of the record is:

Simon Gates and Susanna his Wife Record of their Children

       Births                                                        Deaths

Reuben Born April 21st 1786                   Ezekiel Died Aug^t 2^d 1809

Ezekiel Born October 31 1789                 Elizabeth died January 21 1819

Simon Gates the Father of the

Above Children Died March 11th 1809.

The source citation for this record is:

Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 September 2012), "Gardner, Births Marriage and Deaths," page 7 (stamped) (image 12 of 779), Simon Gates death entry.

That's pretty straight-forward, isn't it?  The death of Simon Gates, husband of Susanna and father of at least Reuben, Ezekiel and Elizabeth, is recorded as 11 March 1809 in Gardner, Massachusetts.  The date is repeated in the published Gardner Vital Records book.  Both are WRONG!

However, the letters of administration for Simon Gates says that he died before 6 April 1803 (see Amanuensis Monday - Post 247: Letter of Administration for Estate of Simon Gates (1739-1803)) and his gravestone inscription  (in the photograph in his memorial on Find A Grave) clearly says he died 11 March 1803 in his 64th year.  

My judgment is that the handwritten Gardner Births, Marriages and Deaths book is a copy of an earlier town record book, since the information, which spans decades, seems to be written in one hand.  So the book is a Derivative source, written at an indeterminate time.  The information may have been written incorrectly, or transcribed incorrectly.  The probate record is an Original source, written near the time of the death of Simon Gates, probably on 11 March 1803.

Simon Gates and Susanna Reed are my fifth great-grandparents.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/01/treasure-chest-thursday-post-245-wrong.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Plotting the Metes and Bounds of Simon Gates Home Farm in Gardner, Mass.

In Amanuensis Monday - Post 250: Appraisal of Real Estate of Simon Gates (1739-1803) Estate (posted 5 January 2015), I transcribed the description of the home farm of Simon Gates (1739-1803) of Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts.

I wanted to try to plot these boundaries.  First, I tabulated the corner numbers, the directions, the distance, the marker used, and the neighbor between each marker.  I used a table in Microsoft Word to do that.  The resulting table was (corrected from original posting):

The next task was to see if there are free Deed Mapping software available on the Internet (because I prefer free to cheap or expensive, realizing that you get what you pay for!).  I Googled [ deed mapping software ] and quickly found Deed Mapper (http://www.directlinesoftware.com/deedmapper_42) which costs $99.

There was one free programs that I found immediately:  Deed Platter - GenealogyTools.net (http://www.genealogytools.net/deeds/).

I entered the information in the table above into the online form for "Platting Deeds in Metes and Bounds."  I added more rows to enter information, and the result looks like this (2 screens):

 I clicked on the "Plat Deed" button and saw the lines drawn.  In addition, there was another table for the marker description (e.g., stake and stones) and the neighbors on the boundary.

I did a snip of the resulting platted map of the deed boundaries (after double checking the land description with the table of metes and bounds above), and added the neighbors:

Well, that's close but no cigar here!  The line from Corner 21 should go to Corner 1, but it's off by several rods.  The surveyor may have made a mistake in transcribing the land description,  or I did in entering data into the program table. 

Note that in the land description, I converted the minutes of a degree to a fraction of a degree (e.g., 30 minutes = 0.5 degree) and I converted the number of links to a fraction of a rod (e.g., 25 links = 1 rod).  

Now I have to do the other four land descriptions, and try to find the land on a map of Gardner, Massachusetts.

The FREE metes and bounds program at GenealogyTools.net works great!  Thank you, creator of this tool!!!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/01/plotting-metes-and-bounds-of-simon.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

The Lively Family Massacre Video

I received an email this morning from Madonna Marks, who wrote (quoted with permission):

"I was involved in the production of a show involving genealogy.  The show was produced in 2006 and was shown on PBS stations around the country.  It won an Illinois State Historical Society Award of Superior Achievement, a Telly Award, and was nominated for a regional Emmy Award.  The folks behind the show involved a group of people, all with their own talents, coming together for a project they believed in.  We were unable at that time to obtain financial backing.  I have been watching the various genealogy shows and believe that our project fills a niche that still isn't being met.  We are thinking of trying to put it out there again and I am looking for your opinion."  

"The Lively Family Massacre" video is on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMqg70usMWY and I have embedded it below:




This is an interesting and well-produced family history video.  It should be of immense interest to persons descended from John Lively and his wife, and their surviving daughter.

I like that they used a "normal person" as the family history seeker investigating their own family, rather than a celebrity whose ancestry is handed to them.  The 25 minute video moves right along from clue to clue to finding records and artifacts.  The use of a reenactment of the massacre is effective.  Seeing the actual sites, and having the seeker participate in finding artifacts, is excellent.

My opinion is that there is a place for family history story videos like this.  It would be great if PBS or another television network sought family history stories like this, and produced them so that millions could watch them rather than hundreds finding it on YouTube.

My opinion is:  Go for it, Madonna!  I hope that you are successful, and that we all enjoy and benefit from your work.

Are there other self-produced videos like this on YouTube?

What family stories do you have that might be a candidate for a family history video like this?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/01/the-lively-family-massacre-video.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

The Ping-Pong Players -- Post 341 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I'm posting old family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they won't be wordless posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.

Here is one of the most precious (to me) images from my Seaver/Carringer family collection:

This is a photograph of Randy (age 23) and his brother Scott (age 11) taken in 1967 (I think) by a family member, probably my mother.  

The setting is the patio just south of the apartment house at 2114-2116 Fern Street in San Diego, adjacent to our apartment house at 2115-2119 30th Street.  The patio was perhaps twenty feet square, with a brick wall on the south side, a planter box on the west side, the apartment house on the north side, and a small grassy area on the east side, with a basketball hoop.  The ping-pong table sat in the middle of the patio, and we played in the north-south direction.  The view above is to the south.

When the weather was good, there were almost nightly battles in this ping-pong arena between me and my brother Stan, between one of us and our mother, and since Stan and I got to where we could beat our father regularly, he retired from active combat.  Our mother was very competitive, and used the unorthodox grip with two fingers on either side of the handle, while the rest of us gripped the paddle like a tennis racquet.  

Little brother Scott became quite good at this game, and eventually was able to whip everybody with regularity.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/01/the-ping-pong-players-post-341-of-not.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Why Aren't Researchers Using the FamilySearch Family Tree?

I presented my "FamilySearch.org - the Very Best FREE Genealogy Website" to the Orange County, California, Genealogical Society (OCCGS) last Saturday in Huntington Beach.

In the talk, I asked the audience (there were over 100 there) how aware they were of, and if they used,  the different features on the FamilySearch.org website.  The responses were approximately:

*  Have you visited the FamilySearch.org website?  About 95% had.

*  Do you search for indexed records on FamilySearch.org?  About 90% had.

*  Do you browse for unindexed records on FamilySearch.org?  About 33% had.

*  Have you been to a FamilySearch Center or the Family History Library in the past ten years?  About 60% had.

*  Have you used the FamilySearch Library Catalog online?  About 33% had.

*  Do you use the FamilySearch Research Wiki?  About 33% had.

*  Do you use the FamilySearch Learning Center Video Courses?  About 20% had.

*  Have you done Indexing for FamilySearch?  About 10% had.

*  Are you in the FamilySearch Family Tree?  About 5% were.

Isn't that strange?  Here is a completely FREE genealogy website with billions of indexed records, access to billions of pages of unindexed records ( most of them original source material),with a significant educational component (the Wiki and Video Courses), a collaborative family tree (featuring sources, notes, record hints, photos, stories, etc.),

These responses were similar to responses I've received  in other presentations in the last two years on FamilySearch.  I think that they are pretty typical (except probably in Utah) of an audience with a range of experience and age.

Unfortunately, my talk did not cover the FamilySearch Family Tree due to time constraints, although I mentioned that it was a separate talk because of all of the features of the Family Tree.  Maybe next year?

Why is there not much use of the FamilySearch Family Tree?  Is it too complicated?  Is it too labor intensive?  Is it because it is collaborative ("Our Tree" where anyone can edit/add/delete content) and not exclusive ("My Tree" where only the owner can add/edit/delete content)?  Maybe it's just too new?  Or is it because it is "for Mormons" and not everyone?

Do local or regional genealogical societies, and regional or national conferences, have presentations about FamilySearch, and especially the FamilySearch Family Tree?  Do genealogy bloggers explore the website and the Family Tree and write about it?  It's like it's invisible, yet it is probably the online family tree with the most potential to be correct, with stories, photos, notes and sources with collaboration.

I don't know the answers to those questions, so I want to ask my readers (all 5,000 of you if possible) to tell me if you are in the Family Tree and if not, why you  are not using it.  Please respond in comments or on Facebook.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/01/why-arent-researchers-using.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Rabbit Trail: Is Hannah (1689-1759), the Wife of Samuel Fletcher (1684-1749), Hannah Foster?

While posting Tombstone Tuesday - Jonathan Keyes (1721-1781) and Elizabeth Fletcher Keyes (1720-1761) of Westford, Mass. today, I noticed that there was a link to the mother of Elizabeth Fletcher Keyes of Hannah Foster Fletcher on Find A Grave.

The inscription provides a clue to her birth date, aged 70 years at her 1759 death, which implies a birth year of about 1689.  The Find A Grave memorial said, in the text, that Hannah Foster Fletcher (1689-1759) was the daughter of Ely and Judith (Keies) Foster.  That tidbit was enough to raise my ancestor seeker interest, so I decided to follow this BSO (bright and shiny object) to determine if it is correct.  If it is, I will be able to add several more ancestors to my database and pedigree chart.

My database identified the mother only as Hannah because I have not found a marriage record for Samuel Fletcher (1684-1749) to a Hannah in the vicinity of Chelmsford, Massachusetts.  I estimated a marriage date of 1712 for Hannah and Samuel, based on the 1713 birth of their first child.

Do other researchers have this Hannah Foster married to a Samuel Fletcher?  I looked in Ancestry Member Trees (assuming a birth in 1690 plus/minus ten years) and an exact spouse's name of "sam* fle*cher:

 Yep, there are at least 16 Ancestry Member Trees that have this marriage.  Five of them identify her parents as Eli Foster and Judith Keyes, and one identifies her parents as Samuel Foster and Sarah Keyes.

Then I looked at Eli Foster and Judith Keyes:

There were lots of trees, and some of them identify Hannah Foster with a birth date of 1689 and some of 1698.  Hmm, what's correct?

I searched on Ancestry in the indexed Massachusetts Town Records for Hannah Foster, and found the birth record in both the published Chelmsford vital record book and the handwritten Proprietors Records.  Here is the latter:

The entry for Hannah (4th from the bottom) reads:

" Hanah Foster the daughter of Ely and Judah Foster was born May the 11 16 98"

So Hannah, the daughter of Eli and Judith (Keies) Foster, was born in 1698 rather than 1689 as stated in the Find A Grave memorial.

There are no marriage records for a Hannah marrying Samuel Fletcher (1684-1749) in Chelmsford or another Massachusetts town in the 1710 to 1720 time period.  Since their first child was born 17 March 1713, it is likely that they married before 1713.  Hannah Foster, daughter of Ely and Judith, was born in 1698, so she would have been under age 15 when her first child was born.  I doubt that happened in Puritan Massachusetts.

I wondered if Eli Foster might have left probate or land records that name Hannah as a daughter or as a Fletcher.  Eli Foster died in 1719, and his probate packet 8194 is online on the NEHGS AmericanAncestors.org website:

I downloaded the nine pages, and carefully read them.  The handwriting was atrocious...but the only mention of Hannah that I found was in a list of the nine children on image 8194:9 of the packet:

 That record proves only that Hannah was alive in 1719, but no married name is indicated.

I looked for a death record, a marriage record and a probate record for Jud* Foster and found none that her likely.  She was alive in 1719 because she received her widow's dower.

I looked for a land record in the Middlesex County, Massachusetts Land Records database on FamilySearch.  There were no entries for Eli Foster in the Grantor or Grantee indexes in the 1700 to 1750 time frame.  There were several land records for a Samuel Fletcher in this time frame, but none were with a Foster.

So I think that I proved to my satisfaction that the Hannah Foster born in 1698 to Ely and Judith foster is not the Hannah that married Samuel Fletcher in about 1712 and had nine children between 1713 and 1729 in Chelmsford.

That still leaves the Anna Foster born to Samuel Foster (1656-1730) and Sarah Keyes (1656-1718) born in 1684 as a viable candidate.  And any other Hannah females born around 1689 in the vicinity of Chelmsford or Westford.

I need to send a message to the creator or owner of the Hannah Foster Fletcher memorial on Find A Grave to request modification to the record there.

I did the research for this study in about an hour and a half using only online resources.  Two years ago, it would have taken several months to do the study at a local FamilySearch Center, or in one day at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (and probably at NEHGS in Boston too).

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/01/rabbit-trail-is-hannah-1689-1759-wife.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Tombstone Tuesday - Jonathan Keyes (1721-1781) and Elizabeth Fletcher Keyes (1720-1761) of Westford, Mass.

Two of my fifth great-grandparents are Jonathan Keyes (1721-1781) and his first wife, Elizabeth (Fletcher) Keyes (1720-1761).

They are memorialized in different cemeteries in Westford, Massachusetts, and there are Find A Grave memorials for them:

1)  Jonathan Keyes (1721-1781) (in Fairview Cemetery):

Jonathan has an interesting inscription and message to his friends.

2)  Elizabeth (Fletcher) Keyes (1720-1761) (in Hillside Cemetery):

Why are they in two different cemeteries?  Elizabeth died in 1761, and Jonathan married Elizabeth  "Betty" (Hartwell) Read (1732-1826), widow of Peter Reed in 1762.  After Jonathan died in 1781, Betty married Pelatiah Fletcher.  Jonathan, Betty and Pelatiah are all buried in Fairview Cemetery.

Exploring the parents of Elizabeth (Fletcher) Keyes, I see that her mother's name is given as Hannah Foster, daughter of Eli and Judith (Keyes) Foster.  I need to explore this lead since I don't have a maiden surname for Hannah in my database!

I have not visited these two cemeteries yet, but I want to the next time we visit New England.  I need my own photographs of these gravestones, and many more for this family line!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/01/tombstone-tuesday-jonathan-keyes-1721.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

New or Updated FamilySearch Record Collections - December 28, 2014 to January 4, 2015

I'm trying to keep up with the new and updated record collections at FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list).  As of 4 January 2015, there were 1,873 record collections on FamilySearch (up 7 from last week).

*  Belgium, Hainaut, Civil Registration, 1600-1913; 197,522 indexed records, with images, add or updated 02 Jan 2015
*  Belgium, Liège, Civil Registration, 1621-1914; 79,005 indexed records, with images, add or updated 02 Jan 2015
*  Belgium, East Flanders, Civil Registration, 1541-1910; 212,210 indexed records, with images, add or updated 02 Jan 2015
*  Belgium, Brabant, Civil Registration, 1582-1912; 8,758 indexed records, with images, add or updated 02 Jan 2015
*  Belgium, Antwerp, Civil Registration, 1588-1909; 238,573 indexed records, with images, add or updated 02 Jan 2015

*  Belgium, Luxembourg, Civil Registration, 1580-1920; Browse Images (no index), added or updated 02 Jan 2015
*  Austria, Upper Austria, Catholic Church Records, 1581-1919; 35,269 indexed records, with images, add or updated 02 Jan 2015
*  Minnesota, Clay and Steele County Obituaries, 1865-2006; 29,797 indexed records, with images, add or updated 02 Jan 2015
*  Germany, Saxony-Anhalt, Halberstadt Kreisarchiv, City Directories, Citizen Rolls, Residence Lists, and School Directories, 1700-1933; Browse Images; (no index), added or updated 02 Jan 2015

*  Hawaii, Honolulu Passenger Lists, 1900-1953; 1,437,913 indexed records, with images, add or updated 02 Jan 2015
*  Texas, El Paso Manifests of Arrivals at the Port of El Paso, 1905-1927; 76,069 indexed records, with images, add or updated 02 Jan 2015
*  United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925; 932,030 indexed records, with images, add or updated 31 Dec 2014
*  Texas and Arizona Arrivals, 1903-1910; Browse Images (no index), added or updated 31 Dec 2014
*  Italy, Napoli, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1865; 412,251 indexed records, with images, add or updated 30 Dec 2014

*  Belgium, West Flanders, Civil Registration, 1582-1910; 184,816 indexed records, with images, add or updated 30 Dec 2014
*  Italy, Mantova, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1496-1906; Browse Images (no index), added or updated 30 Dec 2014
*  Italy, Reggio Calabria, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1896-1943; Browse Images (no index), added or updated 30 Dec 2014
*  Wisconsin, Milwaukee Passenger and Crew Lists, 1922-1963; Browse Images (no index), added or updated 30 Dec 2014
*  Currentobituary.com index, 2001-2014; 42,607 indexed records, with images, add or updated 30 Dec 2014

*  Belgium, Limburg, Civil Registration, 1798-1906; 50,161 indexed records, with images, add or updated 30 Dec 2014
*  Indonesia, Jawa Tengah, Mungkid, District Court Records, 1985-2013; Browse Images (no index), added or updated 29 Dec 2014

*  Delaware, Marriages and Marriage Licenses, 1713-1894; 5,490 indexed records, no images, add or updated 29 Dec 2014

Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell which collections are brand new and which ones are updated.  The asterisk they use is for "Recently added or updated."  I am particularly interested in new collections, for the obvious reasons.

In order to select a specific collection, go to https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list and use the "Filter by collection name" feature in the upper left-hand corner.

Each one of the collections listed above has a Research Wiki page (use the "Learn more" link).  It would be very useful if the Wiki page for each collection listed the dates for when the collection was added as a new collection and the major updates also.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/01/new-or-updated-familysearch-record.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

First Look at FindMyPast Hints in My Tree

I posted FindMyPast Introduces Hints in Family Trees - UPDATED on 17 December 2014, but have not had time since to explore the Hints provided by FindMyPast in my FindMyPast Family Tree.

In my Family Tree on FindMyPast, I clicked on the "Family Trees" tab, selected my tree, and saw the Family View chart (it went to the last person I looked at):

I clicked on the orange "My Hints" link in the upper right-hand corner and saw:

At this time, I have 3,924 Hints to process.  Each one is listed on the page above, with more appearing as I scroll down.  I could have looked at each one from this list, but they were for a range of persons and record types.

I prefer to look at Hints one person at a time, so I went back to the first screen above (the Family view screen) and noted that several of the persons in that view had orange circles (with numbers in them).  I clicked on the orange Hints circle for Shubael Seaver.  The screen showed the three Hints for Shubael Seaver:

Users have to click on them one at a time.  I clicked on the blue "Review" button for the first one, and saw:

The information from the Hint is shown on the left, and the information for the person in my free is on the right.  Down at the bottom of the screen above are blue action links next to "Are these the same people?" for "No, reject," "Maybe" and "Yes, next step."

I wanted to check the resource provided, so I clicked on the "View record" link (in the Hint summary).  This brought up the record summary for this Hint (in this case, from the "Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850" collection):

I can view the record using the blue "View image" link on the right-hand side of the screen above:

The page from the record is shown.  This is my Shubael Seaver, son of Robert, born 31 11th month 1639.  I could attach the record to the person using the blue "Attach to tree" button on the screen above.

I chose to go back to the record to tree comparison page, and clicked on the "Yes, next step" link.  I saw:

The screen above notes "This record has been attached to your tree" at the bottom of the screen.

I clicked on Shubael Seaver's name to go to his profile, and saw that the record summary was now in the "Media" section:

All in all, this process is intuitive, works reliably, and adds very useful information to profiles in my family tree.  I like the use of color for different functions.

Users should take the time to go through the steps above to Review the Hints and accept or reject them and not automatically accept the Hints.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/01/first-look-at-findmypast-hints-in-my.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - Post 250: Appraisal of Real Estate of Simon Gates (1739-1803) Estate

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."

The subject today is the 1803 Appraisal of Real Estate for the estate of Simon Gates (1739-1803) of Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts in Worcester County Probate File 23252:

The transcription of the Appraisal is:

[image 80]

Pursuant to a Warrant to us directed by the Honourable

Nathaniel Paine Esquire Judge of Probate of Wills &c for the

County of Worcester

We the Subscribers having been first Sworn as the said Warrant directs

having appraised all the Real Estate whereof Simon Gates late of Gardner

in said County of Worcester Died Seized and possessed within the Common-

Wealth as follows (viz)

The hom????? farm lying in the Northeastwardly part of Gardner in Said

County Containing Ninety Eight Acres and Seventy three rods of Mowing

Plowing Orcharding Pastureland and Woodland together with Two

dwelling Houses Barn and other out buildings, Said land bounded as fol-

loweth: Beginning at the Southwestwardly Corner a Stake and Stones

Being the Southeastwardly Corner of Josiah Kendalls Land thence North

Eighty Seven Degrees forty five Minutes East twenty one rods one link by a

Town way to Mr. Daniel Hows land a Stake and Stones thence North

one Dregree West one rod to a Stake and Stones thence North Eighty

Seven Degrees forty five Minutes East by Said Hows land and Widow Rays

Dower fifty nine rods four links to a Stake and Stones thence North

two degrees fifteen Minutes West thirty Six rods twenty three links

by a road Called Dun's Road to a bend in the wall thence North Tw-

enty one Degrees fifteen Minutes East four rods seventeen links

by Said road to a bend in the wall thence North two Degrees

Thirty minutes West fourteen rods and four links by Said road

to a bend in the wall thence North four Degrees forty five Minutes

West forty four rods fourteen links by said Road to a bend in

the wall thence North fifteen Minutes East fifteen rods four

links by said road to a bend in the wall thence North thirty

five Degrees forty five Minutes East five rods two links by said road

thence North nine Degrees East five rods fifteen links by said road to

a Corner of a Wall thence North Sixty five Degrees fifteen Minutes West

four rods nine links by John Dunns land a Corner of the fence thence

North four Degrees West thirty four rods by said Dunn's land to a Stake

and Stones thence South Eighty Seven Degrees West Sixty one rods

Eighteen links by Lucas Dunn's land to a Stake and Stones thence

South Eighty Seven Degrees thirty two Minutes West Sixty three rods twelve

links and an half by Said Dunn's land and Edward Jacksons land to a

Stake and Stones thence South three Degrees East Eighty two rods

by said Jacksons land to a Stake and Stones thence North Eighty five

Degrees fifteen Minutes East thirteen rods twenty links by Josiah Kendalls

land to a Stake and stones thence North nine Degrees forty five Minutes

East Six rods and fifteen links by Said Kendalls land to a Stake and Stones

thence North Eighty five Degrees East three rods by said Kendalls land

to a Stake and Stones South Seventeen Degrees East Six rods fifteen

links by said Kendalls land to a Stake and Stones thence North

Eighty five Degrees East twenty four rods twenty five links by Said

Kendalls land to a Stake and Stones thence South two Degrees

thirty three Minutes East Seventy Nine rods Eight links

[image 81]

by said Kendalls land to the first Mentioned Corner bound amount-

ing to the Sum Two thousand five hundred and twenty five Doll-

ars --------------------------------------------------------------------$2525=00

Also another tract of land lying in the Eastwardly part

of said Gardner Called the Conant land Containing accord-

ing to Deed thirty acres of Pasturing and Woodland

Butted and bounded as followeth (viz): Beginning at a

Stake and Stones the Northeastwardly Corner of Said premises

thence Westwardly bounded northwardly by a Town way

to a Stake and Stones thence Southwardly bounded west-

wardly by land of John Peirce and William Chappel

to a Stake and Stones thence Eastwardly bounded South-

wardly on fourth Divisions thence Northwardly by boun-

ding East by Edward Jacksons land to the first mentioned

Corner bound amounting to the Sum of three hundred

and thirty Dollars ------------------------------------- $ 330=00

Also another tract of land lying in the Southeastwardly

part of Said Gardner Called the Marshel Lott Containing

Forty Eight Acres one hundred forty nine rods of mow-

ing Pasturing and woodland bounded as followeth (viz):

Begining at a Stake and Stones at the End of a wall adjoining

a Town leading from said Gardner to Westminster and being

the Northwestwardly Corner of Said premises thence runing

South forty Six Degrees West one hundred fifty two rods by land of

David Sheeds to a Stake and Stones within three rods of the

Southeastwardly Corner of the Brattle Lott So Called thence South

Thirty Seven Degrees forty minutes East twenty four rods Eightteen

Links by said Reeds Land to a Stake and Stones thence North

Forty four Degrees fifteen Minutes East forty two rods fifteen

links by Ephraim Pratts land to a Stake and Stones thence

South Seventy four Degrees East thirty nine rods five links by

said Pratts land to a Stake and Stones thence North forty nine

Degrees East Ninety Six rods by John Peirce's land and Jabez

Biglows land to a Stake and Stones thence North two De-

grees twenty Minutes West Nineteen rods five links by

William Pennemans land to a Stake and Stones by said

Road thence North Sixty Eight Degrees twenty Minutes

West twenty five road ten links by said road to a bend in

the wall thence North Sixty Nine Degrees West Seven

Rods thirteen links by said road to a bend in the Wall

thence North fifty one Degrees fifteen Minutes West

Eighteen rods thirteen links by Said road to the first

Mentioned Corner bound Amounting to the Sum

of four Hundred and Ninety Dollars ------------------ $ 490=00

Also two fourth Division Lotts Number Ninety nine

and One Hundred Containing or by Deed thirty seven acres

be the same more or less Butted and bounded as followeth (viz):

Beginning at a Stake and Stones thence Westwardly bounded on

Lott Number One hundred and one One hundred and

Eighteen rods to a Hemlock Tree Marked thence Southeastwardly

thirty Eight rods to a Spruce tree Marked thence South-

eastwardly Twenty one rods fifteen links to a Spruce tree

[image 82]

Marked thence Eastwardly about twenty five rods to a Stake

thence Eastwardly about fifty five rods by land belonging

to Aaron Wood Esq to a Hemlock tree Marked thence North-

wardly about Twenty five rods by lott Number thirty to the

first Mentioned Corner bound Amounting to the Sum of

One hundred and Eighty give Dollars -----------------------185=00

Also another tract of swamp land lying in the North-

wardly part of Westminster in said County of Worcester

Containing Eighteen Acres one Hundred and nine rods

Called the Coburn Swamp butted and bounded as follow-

eth (viz): Begining at a Stake and Stones the Southwest-

wardly Corner of said premises and northwestwardly Corner

of Lt Biglows land thence runing North three degrees

West forty seven rods seven links by Jewel and

Wilkinsons land to a Stake and Stones thence North-

Sixty Eight Degrees forty nine Minutes East fifty

Two rods by David Cowee's land to a Stake and Stones

thence South Sixteen Degrees East forty Eight rods

Sixteen links by Baldwins and Maynards land to

a Stake and Stones thence South forty six Degrees

three minutes West twenty one rods by lott Num-

ber one hundred twenty two fourth Division land to a

Spruce tree Marked thence Eight Eight Degrees forty

three Minutes West forty four rods by Lieutenant

Biglows land to the first mentioned Corner bound

Amounting to the Sum of One hundred and Ninety

Dollars ------------------------------------------------------- $190=00

Also a Pew in Said Gardner Meeting house Number fifteen

on the Lower floor appraised at forty four Dollars ----- $ 44=00

Also a Pew in the Galleries in Said Meeting House Appraised

at Twenty Seven Dollars ------------------------------------- $ 27=00

Also a Horstable Near Said Meeting House Appraised at

five Dollar ------------------------------------------------------- $5=00

Amounting in the Whole Sum total of three thousand

Seven hundred and Ninety Six Dollars --------------------$ 3796=00

One third of which is One Thousand two hundred

Sixty five Dollars thirty three Cents and one third

of a Cent ------------------------------------------------------- $ 1265=33-1/3

The source citation for the appraisal of the real estate is:

Massachusetts, Worcester County, Probate Files, 1731-1925, Case 23252, Simon Gates Estate, 1803, Appraisal of Real Estate; digital images, FamilySearch.org,(https://familysearch.org: accessed 12 August 2014); in "Case no 23243-23330, Gates, Sarah-Gay, William, 1731-1881" (images 80-82 of 1069); original records in Worcester County, Mass. Courthouse.

This is the fourth of several transcriptions from the Estate packet for Simon Gates (1739-1803), my 5th great-grandfather.  He died 11 March 1803 in Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts.  

There are five plots of land, two pews and a horse stable appraised in this document, and the sum of the real estate is $3796.00.  

In the next post, I will transcribe the remainder of this document wherein the appraisers will divide this Real Estate between the named heirs - the widow and the children of Simon Gates.

I need a Deed Mapping program in order to plot out the four land parcels described in this document, and to try to find the location of these parcels in present-day Gardner and Westminster.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/01/amanuensis-monday-post-250-appraisal-of.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver