1) Plymouth County [Massachusetts] Probate Records Estate File 17823 - 1834 Will of Charles Sever - Image 6 of 11:
Know that I Charles Sever of Plymouth in the County of Plymouth do make,
ordain, and establish this as my last will and Testament. I do hereby
give, bequeath, and devise to my wife Jane Amaranthia Elliott Sever
all the real and personal property of which I may be possessed of
after the payment of my just debts - with this condition, that my real
estate in the Town of Kingston now improved by my Mother shall be
subject to her improvement during her life. I make no direct
provision for my Children as I have a lofty reliance in the intelligence,
discretion, and affections of their Mother. I wish to be quietly buried
in the Earth with none of the idle pomp of an irksome ceremony, without
the ringing of a Bell, without a vain prayer, useless to the dead
and afflictive of living, or any other religious pagentry, and
with no form of Procession. I trust this wish may be strictly executed.
I do hereby appoint my wife Jane A.E. Sever and my Brother John Sever of
of Kingston Executors of this my Last Will and Testament. I certainly
hope that my Brother John will accept this trust as all my affairs are per-
fectly familiar to him, and as I have an unbounded confidence in his
sense of the obligation of Brotherhood, as well as in his capacity and
integrity. In Witness of this Instrument I do hereunto
set my hand and seal this ____ day of ____ in the year one thousand Eighteen
hundred and thirty two. Charles Sever {seal}
Signed and sealed by Charles Sever }
as his last Will and Testament in }
our Presence who were at the same }
time, in presence of each other. }
2) Plymouth County [Massachusetts] Probate Records Estate File 17823 - 1834 Letters Testamentary for Estate of Charles Sever - Image 7 of 11:
The subscriber named as one of the Executors of
the within written Will begs leave to decline the
trust therein committed to him.
Dec 1, 1834. John Sever
Plymouth Ss. At a Court of Probate holden at Plymouth
in & for the said County on the first day of Dec-
ember A.D. 1834.
Be it known that the foregoing Instrument purporting to
be the last Will & Testament of Charles Sever late of
Plymouth, aforesaid, Gentleman, deceased being presented
to me for Probate and satisfactory evidence having
been produced that all persons interested therein have
been duly notified pursuant to the order of our Court
to attend the Probate thereof this day; and having exam-
ined James N. Sever & John Sever brothers o said deceased
& Nathaniel Russell Jr who made oath that according
to the best of their belief the said Instrument was in
the handwriting of said deceased & subscribed by his own
proper signature & that at the time when said instru-
ment was made said deceased was of sound & dispos-
ing mind & no objection appearing to the Probate
thereof, & Nathaniel Russell Jr. Guardian to said
deceaseds children who are minors being present & assent-
ing thereto ^& Nancy Sever having in writing renounced & waived the provisions to her in Will^ I do prove approve & allow of said Instru-
ment as a Will & Testament of personal estate only &
the same is approved as such accordingly & I do ap-
point Jane A.E. Sever Executor thereof.
William Wood J. Prob.
The source citation for this probate case file is:
Plymouth County [Mass.] Register of Probate, Plymouth County (Mass.) Probate Records, 1686-1881, American Ancestors (https://www.americanancestors.org), Estate file 17823 (11 images), Charles Sever of Plymouth, 1834.
Charles Sever was born 9 April 1795 in Kingston, Massachusetts, the son of John and Nancy (Russell) Sever. Charles died 17 October 1834 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He married Jane Amarinthia Elliott (1805-1871) on 15 June 1827 in Plymouth. Charles and Jane (Elliott) Sever had four children:
* Catherine Elliott Sever (1827-1899).
* John Elliott Sever (1829-1913).
* Jane Elliott Sever (1831-1874), married 1858 Alexander Madera Harrison (1829-1881).
* Charles William Sever (1834-1904), married 1862 Mary Caroline Webber (1841-1923).
This is one of the most unique wills that I have seen. There is no day or month, or witnesses signatures, on the 1832 will of Charles Sever. After his death, guardianship of the four minor children was granted to Nathaniel Russell Jr. in a separate estate file. There is a bond record in the estate file, but no inventory, distribution, or account records.
Nathaniel Russell Jr. (1801-1875) was the husband of Catherine Elizabeth Elliott (1807-1841), a sister of Jane A.E. (Elliott) Sever; Nathaniel was an uncle to the four minor children. Nancy [Russell] Sever (1767-1848), mentioned in the will, was the mother of Charles Sever, the widow of John Sever (1766-1803) and grandmother to the four minor children. James N. Sever and John Sever mentioned in the will and Letters Testamentary were brothers of Charles Sever.
Charles Sever (1795-1834) is my 4th cousin 6 times removed. Our common Seaver ancestor is 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 of records of my ancestors at Amanuensis Monday Posts.
Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver
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