This week's documents for Amanuensis Monday are from the Suffolk County, Massachusetts Probate Court records for John Plimpton (1708-1756) of Medfield, Massachusetts:
a) Probate Packet 11,295, image 17 of 27:
The transcription of this bond and distribution of the two-thirds portion (other than the widow's portion) of John Plimpton's estate is:
Know all Men by these Presents That
We Amos Plimpton Thomas Mason & W^m
Peters
all of Medfield in the County of
Suffolk within the
Province of the Massachusetts Bay are
holden & stand
firmly bound and obliged unto Thomas
Hutchinson Esq^r
Judge of the Probate of Wills &c
within & for y^e
County of Suffolk in the full &
Just Sum of Three
hundred Pounds Lawful Money of the
Province afores^d
To be paid unto the said Thomas
Hutchinson his
Successors in the said office or
assigns: to the true
payment whereof we bind our selves &
Each of us
our & Each of our Heirs Executors &
admin^rs firmly
by these Presents. Sealed with our
Seals. Dated the
ninth day of February anno Dom. 1759
and in
the Thirty second year of his Majesty's
Reign.
The Condition of the abovewritten
Obligation is such
that whereas Two Third parts of the
Real Estate of
John Plimpton late of Medfield afores^d
Yeoman deced Intest-
ate will not admit of a Division among
all his children without
prejudice thereto and the said Estate
having been Appraised at
the sum of One hundred & eighty
nine Pounds two shillings
eight pence is assigned unto his Eldest
Son Amos Plimpton the
above bounden he paying thereout unto
his Brother & Sisters
Namely Abner Olive & Unity or their
Legal Representatives
the sum of Thirty Seven Pounds Sixteen
Shillings & Six
pence being their Single Shares of and
in two Third parts of their
said Father's Real Estate with Interest
for wr^d Sums in the
Interim after y^e Rate of six pounds
plent p annum which s^d
Sums are to be paid on or before the
ninth day of February w^ch
will be in the year of Our Lord One
Thousand Seven hundred &
Sixty. Now if therefore the above
bounden Amos Plimpton
fulfill y^e Decree of y^e s^d Judge of
Probate by paying the afores^d
Sums of Money with Interest as afores^d
without Fraud Coven or
Delay then the above written obligation
to be void & of none Effect
or else to abide & remain in full
force & vertue.
Signed Sealed & Delivered
Amos Plimpton
in presence of us
Thomas Mason
John Payne
William Peters
The source citation for this document is:
Probate Packet 11,295, John Plimpton of Medfield, 1756, image 17 of 27; "Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, 1636-1899," digital images, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org: accessed 20 November 2017); citing original records in Suffolk County Probate Court, Boston.
John Plimpton (1708-1756) died 8 May 1756, and his widow, Abigail (Fisher) Plimpton, and eldest son, Amos Plimpton, were appointed administrators of his intestate estate on 2 July 1756.
In Part 1, three appraisers were appointed to make a true and just inventory of the estate, which they did on 20 October 1656. The estate was valued by the appraisers at £375 : 4s : 3d. It included real estate valued at £ 264 : 16s. The personal estate was £ 110 : 8s : 3d.
In Part 2, the administrators, widow Abigail Plimpton and son Amos Plimpton, declared their account, which totaled £70 : 4s, on 22 October 1758. This included fees and charges for the probate court documents, notes and money owed to creditors.
In Part 3, the appraisers divided the real property and set off one third of it to the widow, Abigail (Fisher) Plimpton. They appraised the remaining two thirds of the real property at £189 2s 8d. However, they did not divide the property between the children of John and Abigail Plimpton because it would "prejudice" the division.
In Part 4, the widow Abigail (Fisher) (Plimpton) Clark (who married David Clark in 1770, but became a widow again in 1771) has died in 1785, and this is the account and distribution of her personal property to her four children (Abigail Clark has her own probate packet in the Suffolk County Probate Records, number 18294). The administrator is the son Amos Plimpton, and he again provides an account, charges himself with the personal property at hand, and the court distributes the remainder of the funds to the four children. Note that this occurs 29 years after John Plimpton has died.
In Part 5, the widow's portion of the real estate was appraised at £98 6s, and then divided to the heirs. Amos Plimpton received all of the real estate, provided he paid his three siblings - Abner Plimpton, Unity Boyden and Olive Peters, their shares of the appraised value - £19 13s 2d. Note that Amos Plimpton's share of the appraised value was two shares, since he was the eldest son.
In this part, the heirs two-thirds portion of the real estate, appraised at £189 2s 8d, was divided on 9 February 1759. Amos Plimpton received all of the real estate, provided he paid his three siblings - Abner Plimpton, Unity Boyden and Olive Peters, their shares of the appraised value - £37 16s 6d. Note that Amos Plimpton's share of the appraised value was two shares, since he was the eldest son.
John and Abigail (Fisher) Plimpton are my 6th great-grandparents, through their son, Amos Plimpton (1735-1808), who married Mary Guild (1735-1800) in 1756.
Note that these records are on FHL Microfilm, and are on FHL digital microfilm on FamilySearch.org, but they are not indexed. A researcher has to search the Probate Index for the person's probate packet number, then find the Probate Docket files with the list of papers that are in the probate packet, along with the volume and page numbers, and then find the individual volumes and pages with the documents listed in the Probate Docket.
The Suffolk County Probate Packets were digitized and recently put online by American Ancestors. The document in Part 6 was not found in the Probate court clerk volumes, but it was found in the Probate Packets digitized by American Ancestors.
This set of court clerk volume records are not indexed on Ancestry.com in the "Massachusetts, Will and Probate Records, 1635-1991" collection. They are available in the Ancestry collection, but you have to use the Probate Index and Probate Docket files to find the volumes and page numbers (similar to the process on FamilySearch). They just are not indexed with the correct decedent's name.
==================================================
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."
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/12/amanuensis-monday-probate-records-for.html
Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver
Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
