Maine Wills

 From York County Probate Records, Volume Seven (1721-49)

   In the Name of God Amen. The eighth Day of Iuly Anno Domini 1748. I Ionathan Dam of Kittery in the County of York and Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England Shipwright being aged & weak in Body but of perfect Mind and Memory Thanks be given unto God; Therefore calling unto Mind the Mortality of my Body, and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, Do make & ordain this my last Will & Testament, that is to Say, principally and first of all I give & recommend my Soul into the Hands of God that gave it, and my Body I recommend to y^e Earth to be buried in a decent & christian Manner at the Discretion of my Executor hereafter named, nothing doubting but at y^e General Resurrection I Shall 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 demise & dispose of the Same in the following Manner & Form.

   Imp^r I Will that all my just Debts & funeral Charges, and the funeral Charges of my Wife be paid by my Execut^r hereafter named.

   Item. I give and bequeath unto Sarah my dearly beloved Wife my Negro Woman called Diana.

   Item. I give and bequeath unto my well beloved Son Ioseph Dam his Heirs & Assigns forever, all my Right or Proportion in the common Lands, so called, lying in the Town of Berwick which was Set off to me containing about twenty two & half Acres be the Same more or less, and also all my Right in or unto the common Lands lying in the Town of Kittery either divided or undivided being to the whole, and also give to my Said Son Joseph one half of my Pew in the Meeting House at the Point.

   Item. I give & bequeath unto my well beloved Son Ionathan Dam, all that my Tract of Land that I purchased of Abra^m Morrell Dec^d lying on the South West Side of a Hill call'd the third Hill; And is bounded Southerly by the Road that leads from Sturgeon Creek to York, and Easterly by the Land of Capt. Nathan Bartlet the other Bounds may appear by Said Morrells Deed to me, reference thereunto being had, and also give to my Said Son Ionathan a Gun, and the Moiety or one half part of my moveable or personal Estate that Shall be remaining after the Decease of my Self & my Wife and also one half of my Pew in the Meeting House at the Point; Reserving Liberty for my Wife to cut Firewood for her Burning on the Land bought of Said Morrell.

   Item. I give & bequeath unto my well beloved Son Simeon Dam the Moiety or one half part of my moveable or personal Estate that Shall be remaining after the Decease of my Self & my Wife and likewise give & confirm unto him all that Tract of Land whereon I now dwell with the Buildings thereon, and likewise all that Land I purchased of Iohn Rice Benjamin Rice & the relict Widow of Moses Rice and also my Negro Boy named Kittery, which Land and Negro I have conveyed or Sold to him this Day as may appear by a Deed or Instrument under my Hand & Seal : Willing & requiring that the Said Simeon Dam Shall take Care of his Mother in her old Age and Support her in Sickness & Health during her natural Life with all necessarys Suitable for her; and also give to my Said Son my Smallest Gun which I have now in my Possession. And I do likewise constitute & appoint my Said Son Simeon Dam my Sole Executor of this my last Will & Testament; and do hereby utterly disallow revoke & disannul all & every other former Will or Wills Legacies Bequests or Execut^rs by me any ways before named willed & bequeathed, Ratifying and confirming this & no other to be my last Will & Testament. In Testimony whereof I have hereunto Set my hand & Seal the Day year first above written.

Signed Sealed published pronounced    & declared by the Sd Ionathan Dam    as his last Will & Testament In    the presence of us the Subscribers,    Samuel Pray Iohn Godsoe Enoch Stevens.		Ionathan Dam (Seal)
Probated 3 April 1749. Inventory returned 20 Feby 1748, at £1562: 12: 3, old tenor, by Ebenezer Fernald, Samuel Pray and John Godsoe, appraisers. Source: Maine Wills, 1640-1760 (Portland, Me., 1887), p. 596, citing Probate Office, 7, 226.