This week's document for transcription is from the 1771 Middlesex County, Massachusetts Probate Court estate papers for the intestate estate of Andrew Sever of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
a) Middlesex County, Massachusetts Probate Court Records - Case File 20061, image 16 of 29:
b) Middlesex County, Massachusetts Probate Court Records - Case File 20061, image 17 of 29:
The transcription of these two pages is (handwritten portions in italics):
Middlesex ss. To all People unto whom these Presents shall come:
Samuel Danforth Esq.
Judge of the Probate of Wills, &c, in the County
of Middlesex within the Province of the
Massachusetts-Bay, in New England, sendeth Greeting.
Know Ye, That pursuant to the Acts or Laws of the said
Province, relating to the Settlement or Distribution of the Estates
of Intestates, and the Direction, Power and Authority to me
therein given, I do hereby Order and Assign unto Ebenezer Seaver,
Eldest son of Andrew Seaver late of Cambridge in said
County yeoman Deceased Intestate.
All those Pieces and Parcels of Land, with the Buildings and Appurtenances
thereon and thereunto belonging , the whole of the real
Estate of the said Intestate within the said Province.
and the same is particularly set forth and described in the Return of Commissioners
by me appointed and sworn for the Apprisal thereof, and
by them valued at seven hundred & two pounds five shillings
& eight Pence (as by the Return of the
said Commissioners into the Registry of Probate for the said County, Dated
Sept'r 15 1772 may appear) To Have and To Hold the
hereby ordered and assigned Land and Premises, with the Members and
Appurtenances thereof unto him the before-named Ebenezer,
and to his Heirs and Assigns forever.
Provided he the said Ebenezer,
his Heirs, Executors, or Administrators, shall and do well and truly
pay, or cause to be paid unto the rest of the before-named deceased's
Children, their legal Representatives, or Guardians the several Sums of
Money hereafter in this my Decree to them respectively ordered to be paid,
together with the Interest for their respective Sums or Portions, after the
Rate of Six Pounds per Cent per Annum, to commence on and from
the twenty third Day of March Anno Domini, 1773
and both Principal and Interest to be paid (if demanded) on or before the
twenty third Day of March which will be in the Year of our
Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and seventy four.
ACCORDINGLY I Order the before-named Assignee Ebenezer
Heirs &c in the first Place to pay and clear all Charges
relating to this Settlement, amounting to to retain in his own Hands
five Pounds five shillings for his Time & expenses
relative to this Settlement
and to retain in his own Hands (in Satisfaction
for labour by him done for said Intestate the Certain Sum
of forty Pounds.
Then to pay certain Debts due from said Estate viz.
to William Hyslop fifty one Pounds seven Shillings
& three Pence, Interest included. and to Jonathan
Davis forty Pounds & 50p Interest.
and I further order the said assignee Ebenezer
to pay to his Brothers & Sisters (Children of the said
Intesta) over & above what is coming to them
of the Ballance of his account of administration
as follows - viz. to John for his share in the real
estate & Labour done for his Father, sixty four Pounds
twelve Shillings & four Pence half Penny; to Richard, Sarah,
Elizabeth, Mary Anna & Hannah each fifty two
Pounds twelve Shillings & Four Pence half-penny;
and to his sister Elizabeth twenty pounds nine
Shillings & four pence half Penny; and to his
Sister Jerusha twenty four Pounds three Shill-
ings & an half Penny.
in like Money, Maner, and with the Interest before-mentioned. All which
aforesaid Sums, with the share of the said Assignee, amount to the apprized
Value of the said Estate and (together with what
was advanced by the said deceased in his Lifetime to Elizabeth &
Jerusha ) make each Child's
Share therein to be agreeable to the Direction of Law.
Provided also, in case all or any Part of the hereby assigned Land
and Premises shall be legally evicted from the above-named Assignee, Ebenezer, his
Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Assigns, that then the rest of the
aforesaid deceased's Children, their Heirs, &c (Sharers in this division)
shall refund their rateable Parts, with Law Charges. In Testimony
whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and the Seal of the Probate Office
for the County aforesaid, the twenty third Day of March
Anno Domini, One Thousand Seven Hundred and seventy two [sic?]
and in the thirteenth Year of His Majesty's Reign.
S. Danforth
The source citation for this probate record is:
Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Probate case files, Case file 20061 (29 images), Andrew Sever of Cambridge, 1771; "Middlesex County (Massachusetts) Probate File Papers, 1648-1871," digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (https://www.americanancestors.org: accessed 22 May 2022).
Andrew Sever, husbandman of Cambridge, died intestate, and his probate records are in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Probate Records, Probate Docket # 20,061. The probate file includes:
* 25 June 1771: Bond for L 1000 by Ebenezer Sever, husbandman, Nathaniel Sparhawk, husbandman, and Edward Jackson, innkeeper, all of Cambridge. Ebenezer Sever appointed administrator of the estate.
* 25 June 1771: Order to apprize estate to James Sparhawk, Captain Eiphalet Robbins, and Abraham Watson Jr. to take an inventory of real and personal property.
* 9 July 1771: Inventory taken; the Real property was valued at £ 1212.17.10 and the personal property was valued at £ 91.4.4
* 21 April 1772: Order to apprize estate to Abijah Learned, Nath Sparhawk, Thomas Gardner to take an inventory of the real and personal property.
* 15 September 1772: Inventory taken. The creditors accounts were valued at L133.17.10, and the Real property was valued at £702.06.08.
* 19 February 1773: Account of Ebenezer Seaver submitted. After debts collected and paid, and funeral and administrator charges, the balance was £74.0.6-3/4. Each sibling was to receive £5.16s.3-1/2d. It names 3 sons and 7 daughters: eldest son now living Ebenezer, John, Richard, Elizabeth, Jerusha, Sarah, Abigail, Mary, Anna, Hannah.
* 23 March 1773: Order to assign all real estate to Ebenezer Seaver (£ 702.6.8). He to pay portions to other children by 23 March 1774 (transcribed above):
** to John: £ 64.12.4
** to Richard, Sarah, Abigail, Mary, Anna, Hannah £52.4-1/2 each
** to Elizabeth £ 20.9.4-1/2 plus what was given to her
** to Jerusha £ 24.3.0-1/2 plus what was given to her.
* 23 March 1773: Bond of Ebenezer Seaver, Nathaniel Sparhawk and Edward Jackson for £ 1000 to ensure administrator distributes the estate to the heirs. Bond is void if performed without fraud or delay.
* 12 April 1773: Affidavit from heirs that Ephraim Burrage, husband of Elizabeth Seaver, gives £ 32.03 to cover items from father's estate; Edward Park, husband of Jerusha Seaver, gives £ 28.9.4; son John Seaver should be granted £ 12 for 10 months of work for his father.
* 21 February 1785: Bond of Simon Whitney, Aaron Hill and William How for £ 10,000 to sue Ebenezer Sever to pay what is due to the other heirs.
* 5 January 1786: Bond of Simon Whitney, Aaron Hill and William How for £ 10,000 to sue Ebenezer Sever to pay what is due to the other heirs.
* 5 September 1787: Citation to Edward Jackson requiring Ebenezer Seaver to appear in court on 6 September 1787 to bring the estate to a speedy setllement.
* 6 September 1787: Edward Jackson says Ebenezer Seaver will not appear in court.
* 4 August 1791: Richard Seaver yeoman of Northborough, Jonathan Patterson of Northborough, and John Stone of Sudbury post £ 10,000 bond and sues previous bond put up by Ebenezer and others in 1771.
* 2 March 1792: Richard Seaver yeoman of Northborough, William Fisk of Waltham, and Jonas Temple of Boylston post £ 10,000 bond and sues previous bond put up by Ebenezer and others in 1773. [This Richard Seaver (1757-1800) is certainly the son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Boylston) Seaver of Cambridge.]
* 6 November 1792: Order to constable to require Ebenezer Seaver and Edward Jackson to appear in Court on the first Tuesday of December 1792.
* 8 November 1792: Constable reply says Ebenezer Seaver and Edward Jackson were notified.
And there are no more papers in this estate file that explain what happened after 1 December 1792! Did Ebenezer Seaver appear in the Probate Court and agree to distribute money (with interest!) to his siblings? Why did this take so long to settle this estate? Did the Judge use the two Bond payments of 1000 pounds each (with interest?) to the siblings, or deprive Ebenezer of his land and then sell the land for the siblings' inheritance? Any of those, or some other action, are possible outcomes. Perhaps there are newspaper accounts of this case?
Andrew Seaver was my 2nd cousin 8 times removed, with our common Seaver ancestor being Robert Seaver (1608-1683) of Roxbury, 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."
Read other transcriptions for records of my ancestors at Amanuensis Monday Posts.
Copyright (c) 2022, Randall J. Seaver
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