Lincoln County Probate Records

In the Name of God. Amen. I Andrew McFarland of Boothbay in the County of Lincoln and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Esquire being weak and pained in body, but of sound disposing memory & judgment, apprehending myself near to the period of this mortal life, do make & ordain this my Last Will & Testament.

Imprimis, I give up my immortal Spirit to God who made it, thro' the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ ; and my body to the dust from which it came, to be interred by decent Christian burial, in assurance of its rising again at the general resurrection of the dead.

And, touching such worldly goods or estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me in this life, I do dispose thereof in the manner following viz.

Item secondly, I ordain that all my just debts & funeral charges be in the first place paid out of my personal estate

Item thirdly, I do constitute & appoint my dearly beloved wife Elizabeth, my beloved son Andrew McFarland & my trusty friend William McCobb Esquire all of Boothbay aforesaid to be the Executors & Executrix of this my last will and Testament.

Item fourthly, I appoint & ordain that my dearly beloved wife aforesaid still endeavour to keep my young children under her own eye, & in my family ; & with the consent of my other Executors, that she take care to furnish each of them, my said children, with a good education suitable to their circumstances ; and I farther ordain that all the expence & cost of the maintenance & education of all my said young children until they shall severally have arrived at the age of maturity, be defrayed out of the income of my house & farm whereon I dwell in said Boothbay, & out of the profits arising from the live-stock kept on said farm; & also out of the earnings of the sloop now a building for me by Charles Bryant of Newcastle ; But if all these resources shall be found not to suffice for this purpose, the remaining demands which cannot be answered by them I order to be paid out of such parts of my personal estate, not hereafter otherwise devised, as she and my other said Executors shall think proper.

Item fifthly, I order to enable my said wife faithfully to fulfill this trust, & for the sake & behoof thereof I do give & bequeath unto her the possession & improvement of my said mansion house with all the buildings thereunto belonging ; likewise of the farm on which it stands ; & of the live stock kept on said farm ; together with the use & improvement of said sloop & of every part of my personal estate not herein specially devised, in trust for the above use, & for the uses hereinafter mentioned : of all which she is to continue possessed until my beloved Son John McFarland shall have arrived at the age of maturity.

Item sixthly when the period last mentioned shall have been completed, I appoint & ordain that my beloved wife shall declare before my other executors whether she doth choose to have a full & honorable maintenance for herself secured & furnished to her by my said Son John, out of his part or inheritance hereinafter bequeathed to him ; or in lieu thereof to appropriate to herself, the possession, use, & improvement of one third part of my said houses, farm & live stock ; & if she shall make choice of the former I do hereby give & bequeath the same to her, out of the portion of said John, during her widowhood ; if the latter is her choice I give & bequeath the same to her during her natural life.

Item seventhly, I give & bequeath unto my beloved son Andrew McFarland & to his heirs for ever, all my lot of land lying on the East side of the meeting house in said Boothbay ; also one half of my estate of land on Spruce-point, so called, in said town ; also one half of a lot of land of two hundred acres on Barter's island, so called, in said town, now possessed by the family of Samuel Barter junior ; or in lieu of said lot, one half of the debt due thereon ; if it shall be redeemed by said family ; also one half of my part of little Green island, so called, in Penobscut-bay ; also one half of a pew in the diamond of the Meeting house in Boothbay aforesaid, which pew I bought of my brother Ephraim McFarland ; also one half of my pew in the gallery in said Meeting house, next to the singer's pew ; also one quarter part of the sails, rigging, & iron formerly belonging to the sloop I lately lost ; likewise one pair of steers of three years old, & one colt of one year old ; as the whole of his inheritance in my estate real & personal.

Item eighthly, I give & bequeath to my beloved son Ephraim McFarland, & to his heirs for ever, all my right in the real estate of my father John McFarland ; together with the lot of land adjoining to said estate, which I bought of John McKechnie ; also my lot of land bounding on the north part of said estate ; likewise one half of the two hundred acre lot above mentioned on Barter's island, so called, in said Boothbay, or in lieu thereof, one half of the debt due thereon, if it should be redeemed by the family of Samuel Barter junior now possessing the same ; also one half of my estate of land on Spruce-point aforesaid ; also one half of my right in little Green island already mentioned, & one half of each of the pews aforesaid ; also one quarter of the sails rigging & iron formerly belonging to the lost sloop last mentioned, or the just value thereof in money to be paid him out of the earnings of the of the new sloop now building for me by the above mentioned Charles Bryant, at such times and proportions as the exigencies of my family shall, in the judgment of my said Executors & Executrix, admit, also one pair of steers of three years old ; one colt of one year old, & one good new silver watch or money sufficient to purchase the same, as the whole of his inheritance in my estate real & personal.

Item ninthly, I give & bequeath unto my beloved son John Murray McFarland and to his heirs for ever, under the conditions and incumbrances mentioned in favor of my beloved wife & minor children, in the fourth, fifth, & sixth articles in this my last will & testament, all and singular estate and estates real & personal belonging, or in any wise appertaining to me, that shall be remaining over and above the estates and legacies herein already devised and bequeathed, or that shall be bequeathed in the articles following.

Item tenthly, I give and bequeath unto the lawful heir of my late beloved daughter Jane Reed twelve shillings in lieu of all inheritance, she the said Jane having received her full portion of my estate in her life time.

Item eleventhly, To my daughter Mary Reed, & to my daughter Elizabeth McFarland, also to my other daughters Sarah, Rosanna, Margaret, & Susannah McFarland I give & bequeath & to the heirs of of each of them, respectively forever, one feather bed & bedding each, as the whole portion of my estate of right belonging to them ; & further I do hereby empower my said Executors & Executrix if they shall think it fit, & also shall find, when the above articles are executed, that the circumstances of my family & estate will justly afford it, to give to each of my daughters mentioned in this article one cow or heifer when they shall all have arrived at the age of maturity.

Item twelfthly, if one of my said sons should die in minority, or without lawful heirs then my will is and I do hereby ordain, that in that case all the estate & legacies herein bequeathed or devised to him shall be divided in equal shares between my two surviving sons or their heirs ; to be by them & their heirs respectively enjoyed as their own proper patrimony : If two of my said sons should die as aforesaid, then I ordain that all the estate real & personal herein bequeathed to them shall go, without any deduction, to the one surviving son & his heirs forever ; & if all my sons should decease in the case above mentioned, I order the whole of their inhertance to be divided in equal shares amongst all my daughters and their heirs as their proper patrimony for ever.

Item 13thly if my said Executors & Executrix shall be unanimously of opinion, when my said son John shall have arrived at the age of maturity, that after bearing all the burdens above laid on his patrimony, there does still remain so much out standing debt due to my estate, in good hands, & easily recoverable, as shall make the inheritance of the said John greatly to exceed in value the inheritance of either of his said brothers, then & in that case I ordain that so much of said debts as that overplus shall amount to, shall be divided, in equal shares, amongst my three sons aforesaid, as part of their patrimony respectively : & if it shall appear to my said Executors at that time, that the inheritance of my said son John is not equal to that of either of his brothers, then I ordain that so much shall be paid to him by each of my other sons out of his respective patrimony as my said Executors shall judge necessary to make the inheritance of the three equal.

And finally, hereby dissannulling & revoking all other testaments, I do hereby ratify & confirm this & no other to be my last will & testament : In wittness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal, this tenth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred & eighty.

Andw. Mc,Farland (seal)

Signed, sealed, published, pronounced
and declared by Andrew McFarland
to be his last will and testament,
in presence of us

Jno Murray
Paul Reed
John Reed

Probated 1st Wed. of Oct., 1781. [II, 176-8.] Inventories by John Leishman, Samuel McCobb and John Holten, all of Boothbay, 31 July, 1781, £814 : 0 : 8. [II, 229.] 26 Sep., 1782, £41 : 16: 8. [II, 230.]

Source: The Probate Records of Lincoln County, Maine, 1760 to 1800 (Portland, Me.: Printed for the Maine Genealogical Society, 1895), p. 114, citing Lincoln County, Maine, Probate Records.