Lincoln County Probate Records

I Gideon Parkman of Canaan in the County of Lincoln & State of Massachusetts. Sensible that I am mortal & must Soon leave this world & appear before God my final judge, to receive of him according to the Deeds done in the body, & being of Sound mind & memory, I make this my last will & testament ;

And first I commit my Soul to God as my only portion & refuge thro' the merits of Jesus Christ his Son my only redeemer, on whose merits alone I depend for justification & acceptance before God now & in the day of judgment ; & my body I commit to the dust to be decently, but not Sumptuously buried, in a firm belief that it Shall be raised again by the virtue & power of my head Jesus Christ who is the resurrection & the life

And as to the Small temporal interest God hath blessed me with I dispose of it in the following manner, viz

First, I give to Mary my beloved wife all my household goods & furniture for her use during her life, & after her decease to be equally divided (except a bed Noah Parkman lodges on & a bible, Which I give to said Noah) among my Daughters Betty Clark, Rhode Whitman & Mary Prat.

Item I give to my Son Daniel Parkman one pound to be paid by Noah Parkman when he shall be twenty two years old.

Item I give to Noah Parkman my grandson my Cow & calf & all my farming utensils & also all my sheep

Item I give him the said Noah Parkman & to his heirs & assigns all that tract of land lying in Canaan afores'd which I bought of Lieutenant Isaac Smith of Canaan togather with the house & barn & all the appurtanances thereunto belonging for his & their use forever, after the death of Mary my wife ; but I will & bequeath to her the s'd Mary my wife, the sole use & benefit of the afores'd land & buildings during her life

This I declare to be my last will & testament given under my hand & seal this twenty eighth Day of May 1788.

Gideon Parkman (seal)

Signed Sealed & de-
clared in presence of

Nathl. Whitaker
John White
Peter Heywood Jr
Joseph Weston

Schedule : Before the Sealing & delivery of these presents I appoint Mr Brice McCleland to be my Sole Executor to this my last will & testament, which appointment was forgot, till the above was finished.

Probated 15 Sep., 1789. [IV, 118.]

Source: The Probate Records of Lincoln County, Maine, 1760 to 1800 (Portland, Me.: Printed for the Maine Genealogical Society, 1895), p. 193, citing Lincoln County, Maine, Probate Records.