Maine Wills

 From York County Probate Records, Volume Two (1698-1718)

   In the name of God Amen the twenty ninth day of December In the year of our Lord one ThouSand Seven Hundred & fourteen I Silvanus Tripe of Kittery in the County of Yorke in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay : in New England, weaver, being very Sick & weak in body but of perfect mind & memory thanks be given unto God therefroe Calling unto mind the Mortality of my body do make and 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 gave it & for my body I commend it to the Earth to be buried in a Christian like & decent manner at the discretion of my Executrix 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

   Imprimis I will that all my just Debts be honestly paid as Soon as conveniently may be after my decease.

   Item. I give & bequeath after my decease to Margaret my dearly beloved wife during her widowhood the vse & Improvment of all my Estate both real & perSonal for her Comfortable Subsistance & for the maintainance of my Children untill they Shall be of Suitable age to be put apprentise and if it Should So be that She cannot Subsist upon the Incom of my Estate rather then She Shall Suffer for want of Support; I do hereby Impower & authorise her to dispose of So much of it either Lands or moveables, or both as Shall be necessary for her releife provided & be it always underStood that She Sell what She Shall alienate to my Children if they will buy but if they Shall refuse to buy then She may Sell to any that will purchase but if after my decease She Should marry again She Shall then quit all Claim Right & Interest to my Estate or any part of it to my Children forever.

   Item After the decease of my wife if till then She Shall remain a Widow or if She Should marry : I then give to my Well beloved Children Willian Tripe Silvanus Tripe Samuel Tripe Thomas Tripe Roberd Tripe Ioanna Pope Margaret Tripe & Mary Tripe all my Estate both real & perSonal conSisting of Lands housing & moveables to be Equally divided among them upon a just prizal in the following manner & form that is to Say my Sons aforeS^d to have & enjoy to them their heirs & assigns forever all my Lands according to an equal division William to have that part fronting to the river whereon my house now Stands, and then the rest to take their lot or part Successively according to their age; and whereas the housing and a ConSiderable part if not all of the orchard will be on that part of the Land which will belong to William part—

   It is my will that what the buildings & orchard Shall be vallued at by men chosen to vallue them when he Shall enter into the possession of them he Shall pay to his brethren So much as Shall make all of them Equall partners in my Estate and if any of my Sons Should die before they come to the age of twenty one years to receive their parts their portion Shall be equally divided among my Surviving Children onely my Sons Shall enjoy their Land and my daughters Shall have paid to them their proportion of the deceased part by their brethren that Inherit the Land and if any of my Sons Shall See cause to Sell their part of Land herein given to them their brethren Shall have the offer thereof made to them and if they will give So much as another they Shall enjoy it, but if they refuse to buy it it may be Sold to any perSon that will purchase it.

   And to my above Said daughters I give So much of my moveable Estate as Shall make their parts equal in vallue to their brethren and the remainder to be divided among my Sons equally But if my moveables Should not amount thereto then my Sons Shall pay to my daughters So much in money as Shall make all their parts equal.

   Item For the Conveniency & vse of my Children their heirs & assigns that Shall inherit my Land it is my will that there be a Convenient Space of Land allowed at the point before the house for a common Landing place for them & from the Said landing place or water Side a Convenient quantity of Land next to the widow Sarah Gear her Land for a highway for them to the Country road & from the Said road to the water Side to remain a common way for them their heirs & assigns forever.

   Item I Constitute make & ordain my dearly beloved wife my onely & Sole Executrix of this my Last will & Testament willing her to ask & take the Councel & advice of my much reSpected frends M^r Roberd Cutt & Iohn Newmarch whom I deSire & appoint to be the overSeers of this my Last Will & Testament in the disposal of my Children and Estate or any part thereof; & I do hereby utterly revoak & disanull all & every other former Testaments Will & Legacies Bequests & Execut^rs by me in any ways before this time named Will & bequeathed Ratifying and Confirming this & no other to be my Last Will & Testament In Witness whereof I have hereunto Sett my hand & Seal the day & year above written.

Signed Sealed Published Pronounced    & declared by the Said Silvanus    Tripe as his Last Will & Testament    in the preSence of us the Subscrib-    ers vizt    Iohn Newmarch    Walter X Deniford    his mark    Hezekiah X Elwel    his mark		Silvanus Tripe (Seal)
Probated and Recorded 10 May 1716. Inventory returned at £212: 06: 0, by William Fernald, William Bryer and Diamond Sargantt, appraisers, 2 July 1716. Source: Maine Wills, 1640-1760 (Portland, Me., 1887), p. 188, citing Probate Office, 2, 117.