Will of John Norman, Marblehead, Essex County, MA, 25 Feb 1708/9

In the Name of God, Amen. The twentie fifth day of february In the year of our Lord on [sic: one] thousand seven hundred & eight nine [25 Feb 1708/9]. I John Norman of Marblehead, in the County of Essex in New England Carpenter & Joyner, being very sick & weak in body, but of perfect mind & memory, thanks be given unto God, therefor [sic] calling to mind the mortality of my body, & knowing that it is appointed for men once to dye [sic], do make & ordain this my Last will & testament, that is to say,

principally & first of all, I give & recommend my soul into the hands of God that give it, hoping through the merits, death & passion of my Saviour Jesus Christ, to have full & free pardon & forgiveness of all my sins, & to Inherit everlasting Liffe [sic]; And my body I commit to the earth, to be decently buried at the discretion of my executrix hereafter to be named nothing doubting but at the General Resurrection, I shal [sic] receive the same again by the mighty power of God. And as touching such worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me in this Life, I give, devise & dispose of the same in the following manner & form: that is to say.

first I will that all those debts & duties, as I do owe in right or Conscience to any manner of persons whatsoever, shall be well and truly contented & paied [sic], or ordained to be paied in convenient time, after my decease by my executrix heareafter [sic] named out of my personal estate & houshold [sic] goods.

Item, [I give] & bequeath to Sarah my dearly beLoved wife, whom I [________: presumably ``hereby or ``duly] constitute, make & ordain my only & sole executrix of th[is my Last] will & testament, all & singular my estate, both real [________] whither [sic] of my owne [sic], in possession or by Inheritance, or an[y other] way to me accruing, in Lands, messuages & tenements, by her freely [owne]d possessed & enjoyed the ful [sic] time and term, til her youngest child come to the age of eighteen years.

Item, I will that when my youngest child shal [sic] come to the age of eighteen years that then all my estate that remains shall be divided amongst my children or them that Legally represent them equally, only my wife her thirds of real to be enjoyed by her during her life, and also my oldest son a double portion.

Item, I Appoint & ordain Mr. Richard Trevet & Mr. Eleazar Ingolls overseers of this my Last will & testament and that my executrix is to consult & advise with them, & not to sell or alienate any of my said estate without their consent and approbation. And I do hereby utterly disallow, revoke & disannul all & every other former testaments, wills & Legacies, bequests & executors by me in any ways before this time, named, willed & beqweathed [sic], Ratifying & Confirming this & no other to be my Last will & testament.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & soul the day & year above written.

<signed> John Norman

know all men by these presents that I the above named John Norman do hereby establish the above written to be my Last will & testament and doe [sic: do] add with my wife my executrix my son Moses Norman to be joint executor wh [with] her, and that they have power in themselfs [sic] to sell & alienate & dispose of that peice [sic] of Land that lying in Salem which I recovered of Joseph Neal (late of Salem) to pay my funeral charges & what they see fit. as witness my hand & seal the twentie fifth day of february 1708/9 [25 Feb 1708/9]

<signed> John Norman

Signed, sealed, published, pronounced & declared by the said John Norman, as his Last will and testament in presence of us the subscribers. Viz. as also the Appendix or codicil was signed sealed, published, & declared to be the sd. [said] John Norman his will and testament

<signed> Authur Ferguson <signed> Robert Saskey <signed> William Bronn [Brown?]

• Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data:Massachusetts County, District and Probate Courts.
• Randy Seaver, Genea-Musings blog, https://www.geneamusings.com/2010/01/amanuensis-monday-will-of-john-norman.html, accessed 21 May 2023.